Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Charlestown, RI

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Westerly State Airport, RI, 7 miles west of Charlestown at 81 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 82°F and low of 66°F; January is the coolest, at 40°F and 25°F. October is the wettest at 4.3 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.8 inches; the year adds up to 42.9 inches over 73 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 50% of the year's precipitation (21.6 of 42.9 inches). September has brought the most of the 60 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (24); a normal September there has highs of 74°F and 3.8 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 3 days a year, almost all from July. Lows fall below freezing on about 109 nights a year. That 42.9 inches is more than at 1 of the 10 Rhode Island stations used on this site (10%). Wakefield, 8 miles east, has its own station (Kingston 1 W, RI): 51.7 inches a year, 8.8 more than here, and a July average high of 80°F against 82°F.

Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Newport, RI, 20 miles northeast, averaged 72°F in August and 39°F in February over 2021–2025. No month averaged 80°F. Sea level at the Newport tide gauge, 20 miles from Charlestown, has risen 1.17 ± 0.03 inches per decade from 1930 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 11.7 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 68 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 41 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Charlestown: 18 thunderstorm wind reports, 12 floods, 7 flash floods and 4 lightning strikes. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $4.4 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 83 mph, on August 4, 2015. July has had the most flash floods, 4 of 7. Of the 49 Rhode Island cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 7 have had fewer than Charlestown.

Flood insurance policyholders in Charlestown's ZIP code 02813 have filed 226 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $2.6 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Hurricane Sandy in 2012: 91 claims (40% of all) and $1.8 million, then March 2010 Nor'easter in 2010 with 52 and Hurricane Bob in 1991 with 33. 82% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 38 Rhode Island cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 28 have fewer than Charlestown.