Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Chester, NY

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Montgomery Orange Airport, NY, 11 miles north of Chester at 365 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 84°F and low of 61°F; January is the coolest, at 35°F and 17°F. August is the wettest at 4.4 inches of precipitation on average and January and February the driest at 2.4 inches; the year adds up to 41.0 inches over 76 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 55% of the year's precipitation (22.6 of 41.0 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 33 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (14); a normal September there has highs of 74°F and 3.9 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 15 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 138 nights a year. That 41.0 inches is more than at 51 of the 137 New York stations used on this site (37%). Monroe, 4 miles southeast, has its own station (West Point, NY): 51.5 inches a year, 10.5 more than here, and a July average high of 85°F against 84°F.

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 186 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Chester: 130 thunderstorm wind reports, 30 flash floods, 15 floods and 11 lightning strikes. They killed 2 people and injured 9, and the NWS estimated $467,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 81 mph, on May 11, 1996. July has had the most flash floods, 14 of 30. Of the 798 New York cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 453 have had fewer than Chester.

Flood insurance policyholders in Chester's ZIP code 10918 have filed 96 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $1.0 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Hurricane Irene in 2011: 16 claims (17% of all) and $422,000, then Not a named storm in 1979 with 10. The year with the most claims was 1979, with 21. 56% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 549 New York cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 374 have fewer than Chester.