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NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Chesapeake City, MD

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

36 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Chesapeake City, Maryland since 1851, 3 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Ida in 2021. Since 1950, 78 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 2 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
3

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
33

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
78

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
2

1 deaths in all

What the records show for Chesapeake City

The strongest storm to pass near Chesapeake City was an unnamed storm in 1878, a Category 1 hurricane with 89 mph winds when its centre passed 46 miles away. The record near Chesapeake City begins with an unnamed storm in 1861; the most recent system was Ida in 2021, a tropical storm 14 miles away. The 1870s and the 2020s were the busiest decades, with 4 systems each. Of the 36 systems, 7 have come since 2000. Chesapeake City has more hurricanes within 75 miles than 14% of the 239 Maryland cities on this site. The highest rating among the 78 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3, reached 2 times; the most recent, on July 27, 1994, came within 15 miles. The deadliest, an F2 on September 5, 1979, killed 1 person. Of the 78, 5 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 24 have come since 2000. July has had the most tornadoes, 18. The most recent tornado was on August 8, 2024. Of the 239 Maryland cities, 71% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Chesapeake City. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 24 times since 1977, with stones up to 2 inches (hen egg size). Of the 239 Maryland cities, 82% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Chesapeake City.

Compare Chesapeake City's storm record with another city →

Tropical storms and hurricanes near Chesapeake City

Tropical systems that passed within 75 miles of Chesapeake City, Maryland, newest first
YearStormClosestStrength when closestPeak
2021IdaSep 114 miTropical storm (39 mph)Category 4
2021ElsaJul 967 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 1
2020ZetaOct 2972 miTropical storm (52 mph)Category 3
2020IsaiasAug 4overheadTropical storm (66 mph)Category 1
2012SandyOct 3019 miTropical storm (68 mph)Category 3
2008HannaSep 636 miTropical storm (52 mph)Category 1
2006ErnestoSep 246 miTropical storm (43 mph)Category 1
1999FloydSep 1675 miTropical storm (64 mph)Category 4
1996BerthaJul 1334 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 3
1992DanielleSep 262 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1971DoriaAug 2855 miTropical storm (67 mph)Tropical storm
1961Unnamed 1961 stormSep 1571 miTropical storm (59 mph)Tropical storm
1960BrendaJul 3055 miTropical storm (58 mph)Tropical storm
1955DianeAug 1835 miTropical storm (40 mph)Category 2
1955ConnieAug 1349 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 4
1952AbleSep 141 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 2
1944Unnamed 1944 stormAug 353 miTropical storm (40 mph)Category 1
1943Unnamed 1943 stormOct 151 miTropical storm (41 mph)Tropical storm
1934Unnamed 1934 stormJun 198 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 2
1933Unnamed 1933 stormAug 2468 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 4
1929Unnamed 1929 stormOct 231 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 4
1924Unnamed 1924 stormSep 3058 miTropical storm (71 mph)Category 1
1915Unnamed 1915 stormAug 427 miTropical storm (51 mph)Category 1
1904Unnamed 1904 stormSep 1553 miCategory 1 (75 mph)Category 1
1903Unnamed 1903 stormSep 1656 miCategory 1 (74 mph)Category 2
1899Unnamed 1899 stormNov 116 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 2
1893Unnamed 1893 stormOct 2357 miTropical storm (44 mph)Tropical storm
1893Unnamed 1893 stormAug 2938 miTropical storm (63 mph)Category 3
1888Unnamed 1888 stormSep 1146 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1882Unnamed 1882 stormSep 2365 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
1878Unnamed 1878 stormOct 2346 miCategory 1 (89 mph)Category 2
1877Unnamed 1877 stormOct 449 miTropical storm (68 mph)Category 3
1874Unnamed 1874 stormSep 2940 miTropical storm (59 mph)Category 1
1872Unnamed 1872 stormOct 2638 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 1
1863Unnamed 1863 stormSep 1941 miTropical storm (55 mph)Tropical storm
1861Unnamed 1861 stormSep 2853 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 1

Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Chesapeake City: 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 Chesapeake City

By decade

  • 2020s8
  • 2010s8
  • 2000s8
  • 1990s22(1 EF3+)
  • 1980s9
  • 1970s14
  • 1960s6(1 EF3+)
  • 1950s3
Strongest tornadoes near Chesapeake City, Maryland
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
Jul 27, 1994F315 mi4 mi0 / 11
Apr 28, 1961F318 mi0.3 mi0 / 0
Sep 5, 1979F218 mi4.1 mi1 / 4
Sep 1, 2021EF218 mi5.92 mi0 / 0
Aug 4, 2020EF26 mi35.78 mi0 / 0
Sep 28, 2004F217 mi5 mi0 / 0
May 2, 2002F212 mi4.5 mi0 / 0
Jul 27, 1994F217 mi4 mi0 / 0
Sep 27, 1993F25 mi10 mi0 / 0
Oct 18, 1990F223 mi1 mi0 / 0
Jun 9, 1989F220 mi2 mi0 / 1
Aug 17, 1988F224 mi1.5 mi0 / 0

The strongest 12 of 78, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

Hail in Chesapeake City

The Storm Prediction Center has 24 hail reports within 10 miles of Chesapeake City since 1977, made on 20 separate days. Of these, 10 were 1 inch across or larger, and one reached 2 inches. The largest, 2 inches (hen egg size), fell on June 24, 1985. The most recent report is from April 15, 2024. May has the most reports, 7.

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

Weather by month in Chesapeake City

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Newark Ag Farm, DE, 11 miles northeast of Chesapeake City at 106 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 89°F and low of 66°F; January is the coolest, at 43°F and 25°F. September is the wettest at 4.9 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.9 inches; the year adds up to 47.0 inches over 77 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 53% of the year's precipitation (25.1 of 47.0 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 36 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (15); a normal September there has highs of 79°F and 4.9 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 97 nights a year. That 47.0 inches is more than at 24 of the 41 Maryland stations used on this site (59%). Earleville, 9 miles southwest, has its own station (Aberdeen Phillips Field, MD): 47.2 inches a year, 0.2 more than here, and a July average high of 86°F against 89°F.

Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Chesapeake City, MD, 2 miles east, averaged 84°F in July and 38°F in January over 2021–2025. It averaged 80°F or warmer from July to August. Sea level at the Chesapeake City tide gauge, 2 miles from Chesapeake City, has risen 1.76 ± 0.12 inches per decade from 1972 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 17.6 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 111 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.

Monthly climate normals 1991–2020 at Newark Ag Farm, DE
MonthHigh °FLow °FPrecip. inDays ≥ 0.1"Water °F
Jan43253.4638
Feb46252.9539
Mar54334.3846
Apr67423.7757
May76523.6867
Jun84624.0676
Jul89664.8784
Aug87654.0682
Sep79584.9676
Oct69464.0565
Nov57363.4653
Dec47304.0742
Year664547.07760

Averages for 1991–2020 at Newark Ag Farm, DE (106 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals; water temperature: average of hourly readings 2021–2025 at the NOAA tide station Chesapeake City, MD, 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.

Maryland weather by month, station by station →

Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Chesapeake City

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 309 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Chesapeake City: 209 thunderstorm wind reports, 50 floods, 32 flash floods, 9 heavy rain events and 9 lightning strikes. They killed 2 people and injured 2, and the NWS estimated $5.6 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 87 mph, on July 12, 2022. August has had the most flash floods, 13 of 32. Of the 239 Maryland cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 105 have had fewer than Chesapeake City.

  • September 18, 2004: thunderstorm wind 8 miles from the centre of Chesapeake City — 2 killed.

  • July 23, 2008: lightning strike 8 miles from the centre of Chesapeake City — 1 injured, $500,000 damage.

  • December 9, 2009: flood 10 miles from the centre of Chesapeake City — 1 injured.

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 Chesapeake City's ZIP code 21915 have filed 27 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $206,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Hurricane Isabel in 2003: 11 claims (41% of all) and $106,000. 44% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 150 Maryland cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 48 have fewer than Chesapeake City.

Flood insurance claims in Chesapeake City by named event
EventClaimsPaid
Hurricane Isabel200311$106,000

Cecil County, which includes Chesapeake City, has been named in 21 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1972, 14 of them major disasters (by incident: 7 hurricanes, 6 snowstorms, 4 floods, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 26, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Cecil County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for strong wind; Relatively Moderate for lightning; Relatively Low for hurricanes, tornadoes, inland flooding, coastal flooding and heat waves; Very Low for hail. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $23.2 million a year, the 13th highest of 24 Maryland counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $10.6 million (46%), 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 Chesapeake City