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NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Centreville, VA

Every tropical system within 75 miles since 1851 and every tornado within 25 miles since 1950.

Data: NOAA NHC HURDAT2 and NOAA SPC tornado and hail reports, through 2025 · Updated

26 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Centreville, Virginia since 1851, 3 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Zeta in 2020. Since 1950, 99 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 5 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
3

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
23

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
99

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
5

5 deaths in all

What the records show for Centreville

The strongest storm to pass near Centreville was an unnamed storm in 1878, a Category 1 hurricane with 92 mph winds when its centre passed 14 miles away. The closest pass by a hurricane was Hazel in 1954, whose centre came within 6 miles. The record near Centreville begins with an unnamed storm in 1876; the most recent system was Zeta in 2020, a tropical storm 55 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1890s, with 5 systems, one of them at hurricane strength. Of the 26 systems, 3 have come since 2000. Centreville has more hurricanes within 75 miles than 33% of the 364 Virginia cities on this site. The highest rating among the 99 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 2 times; the most recent, on April 28, 2002, came within 25 miles. Of the 99, 9 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 62 have come since 2000. September has had the most tornadoes, 21. The most recent tornado was on August 8, 2024. Centreville has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 93% of the 364 Virginia cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 151 times since 1968, with stones up to 2.5 inches (tennis ball size). Centreville has more hail reports within 10 miles than 95% of the 364 Virginia cities.

Compare Centreville's storm record with another city →

Tropical storms and hurricanes near Centreville

Tropical systems that passed within 75 miles of Centreville, Virginia, newest first
YearStormClosestStrength when closestPeak
2020ZetaOct 2955 miTropical storm (52 mph)Category 3
2020IsaiasAug 462 miTropical storm (68 mph)Category 1
2006ErnestoSep 240 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 1
1979DavidSep 660 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 5
1955DianeAug 1821 miTropical storm (44 mph)Category 2
1955ConnieAug 1348 miTropical storm (59 mph)Category 4
1954HazelOct 156 miCategory 1 (84 mph)Category 4
1952AbleSep 115 miTropical storm (55 mph)Category 2
1949Unnamed 1949 stormAug 2927 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 4
1945Unnamed 1945 stormSep 1842 miTropical storm (40 mph)Category 4
1944Unnamed 1944 stormAug 259 miTropical storm (40 mph)Category 1
1943Unnamed 1943 stormOct 141 miTropical storm (47 mph)Tropical storm
1934Unnamed 1934 stormJun 1918 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 2
1933Unnamed 1933 stormAug 2414 miTropical storm (62 mph)Category 4
1929Unnamed 1929 stormOct 235 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 4
1928Unnamed 1928 stormSep 2016 miTropical storm (52 mph)Category 5
1915Unnamed 1915 stormAug 42 miTropical storm (47 mph)Category 1
1902Unnamed 1902 stormOct 1274 miTropical storm (40 mph)Category 2
1899Unnamed 1899 stormNov 140 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 2
1896Unnamed 1896 stormSep 3063 miTropical storm (70 mph)Category 3
1893Unnamed 1893 stormOct 2336 miTropical storm (43 mph)Tropical storm
1893Unnamed 1893 stormOct 1434 miCategory 1 (75 mph)Category 3
1893Unnamed 1893 stormAug 298 miTropical storm (63 mph)Category 3
1885Unnamed 1885 stormOct 1331 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
1878Unnamed 1878 stormOct 2314 miCategory 1 (92 mph)Category 2
1876Unnamed 1876 stormSep 183 miTropical storm (67 mph)Category 3

Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Centreville: a hurricane's worst winds sit within a few dozen miles of its centre, and inland cities are usually past that.

Tornadoes within 25 miles of Centreville

By decade

  • 2020s12
  • 2010s25
  • 2000s25(2 EF3+)
  • 1990s18
  • 1980s7
  • 1970s6(3 EF3+)
  • 1960s2
  • 1950s4
Strongest tornadoes near Centreville, Virginia
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
Apr 28, 2002F425 mi38 mi3 / 122
Sep 24, 2001F422 mi10 mi0 / 2
Sep 5, 1979F314 mi17.9 mi1 / 6
Jan 26, 1978F325 mi0.7 mi1 / 10
Apr 1, 1973F37 mi9.8 mi0 / 37
Sep 17, 2004F21 mi15 mi0 / 1
Sep 17, 2004F215 mi4 mi0 / 0
Sep 17, 2004F215 mi13 mi0 / 0
Sep 17, 2004F221 mi8 mi0 / 0
Jun 24, 1996F2in town20 mi0 / 1
Sep 27, 1993F212 mi3 mi0 / 2
Oct 13, 1983F214 mi1 mi0 / 0

The strongest 12 of 99, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

Hail in Centreville

The Storm Prediction Center has 151 hail reports within 10 miles of Centreville since 1968, made on 72 separate days. Of these, 107 were 1 inch across or larger, and 4 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.5 inches (tennis ball size), fell on July 2, 1968. The most recent report is from August 29, 2024. May has the most reports, 48.

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.

Radar-estimated hail days in Centreville since 2019 →

Weather by month in Centreville

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Washington Dc Dulles Airport, VA, 7 miles north of Centreville at 290 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 88°F and low of 67°F; January is the coolest, at 43°F and 25°F. May is the wettest at 4.7 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.6 inches; the year adds up to 43.2 inches over 74 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 53% of the year's precipitation (22.7 of 43.2 inches); the other six months are drier. October has brought the most of the 26 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (9); a normal October there has highs of 68°F and 3.7 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 33 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 102 nights a year. Snowfall averages 21.0 inches a year, most of it in February. That 43.2 inches is more than at 22 of the 109 Virginia stations used on this site (20%). Clifton, 4 miles southeast, has its own station (Vienna, VA): 43.5 inches a year, 0.3 more than here, and a July average high of 84°F against 88°F.

Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Washington, DC, 23 miles east, averaged 84°F in July and 39°F in January over 2021–2025. It averaged 80°F or warmer from July to August. Sea level at the Washington tide gauge, 23 miles from Centreville, has risen 1.40 ± 0.05 inches per decade from 1924 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 14.0 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 84 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.

Monthly climate normals 1991–2020 at Washington Dc Dulles Airport, VA
MonthHigh °FLow °FPrecip. inDays ≥ 0.1"Snow inWater °F
Jan43252.966.939
Feb46272.667.041
Mar55343.573.950
Apr67433.560.160
May75534.780.069
Jun83624.370.077
Jul88674.270.084
Aug86653.560.082
Sep79583.960.076
Oct68453.750.066
Nov57363.150.354
Dec47293.362.842
Year664543.27421.062

Averages for 1991–2020 at Washington Dc Dulles Airport, VA (290 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals; water temperature: average of hourly readings 2021–2025 at the NOAA tide station Washington, DC, from NOAA Tides & Currents. Normals describe the station; the farther a place is from it, and the bigger the difference in height, the more its weather can differ.

Virginia weather by month, station by station →

Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Centreville

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 712 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Centreville: 426 thunderstorm wind reports, 175 floods, 106 flash floods, 4 lightning strikes and 1 heavy rain event. They killed 1 person and injured 6, and the NWS estimated $10.3 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 90 mph, on June 22, 2026. July has had the most flash floods, 37 of 106. Of the 364 Virginia cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 337 have had fewer than Centreville.

  • September 8, 2011: flash flood 10 miles from the centre of Centreville — 1 killed.

  • July 27, 2008: thunderstorm wind 3 miles from the centre of Centreville — 3 injured, $5,000 damage.

  • August 3, 2002: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Centreville — 1 injured, $1.5 million damage.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, events whose starting point is on record, 1996 to June 30, 2026. Damage is the NWS estimate in the dollars of the year, not insured losses, and NWS notes that some reports are unverified.

Flood insurance claims, disaster declarations and FEMA risk ratings

Flood insurance policyholders in Centreville's 2 ZIP codes have filed 30 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $72,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 2011, with 11. 13% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 183 Virginia cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 68 have fewer than Centreville.

Fairfax County, which includes Centreville, has been named in 19 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1972, 13 of them major disasters (by incident: 5 hurricanes, 5 snowstorms, 4 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on April 2, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Fairfax County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for lightning; Relatively High for hail, inland flooding, strong wind and heat waves; Relatively Moderate for hurricanes; Relatively Low for tornadoes and coastal flooding. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $219.1 million a year, the highest of 133 Virginia counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $154.7 million (71%), is from inland flooding.

Claims: FEMA, OpenFEMA Dataset FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims – v3, summed over ZIP codes; payments in the dollars of each year, not adjusted for inflation. Declarations: Disaster Declarations Summaries – v2, by county. Retrieved October 25, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

Risk ratings: FEMA, National Risk Index county table, December 2025 (v1.20), retrieved October 26, 2026; ratings compare counties nationwide, are meant for planning and are no substitute for a local risk assessment. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

What counts as a pass, the distances and the sources: how this storm history is built.

Cities near Centreville