NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Cleveland, OH
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
5 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Cleveland, Ohio since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Isabel in 2003. Since 1950, 62 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 7 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 5
- Tornadoes
- 62
- EF3 or stronger
- 7
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
40 deaths in all
What the records show for Cleveland
None of the 5 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Cleveland; the strongest was Opal in 1995, a tropical storm with 46 mph winds when its centre passed 21 miles away. The record near Cleveland begins with an unnamed storm in 1902; the most recent system was Isabel in 2003, a tropical storm 64 miles away. Of the 5 systems, one has come since 2000. Cleveland has more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than 46% of the 605 Ohio cities on this site. The highest rating among the 62 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 2 times; the most recent, on April 11, 1965, came within 13 miles. Of the 62, 3 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 27 have come since 2000. July and August have had the most tornadoes, 14 each. The most recent tornado was on August 6, 2024. Of the 605 Ohio cities, 70% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Cleveland. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 169 times since 1959, with stones up to 2.5 inches (tennis ball size). Cleveland has more hail reports within 10 miles than 93% of the 605 Ohio cities.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Cleveland
Of the 5 tracks on the map, 2 were moving north as they passed Cleveland, 2 northeast and 1 east. Opal (1995), the strongest pass, was heading northeast; its centre passed 21 miles southeast of Cleveland. None made landfall within 75 miles of Cleveland; all 5 were hurricanes at their peak, none at their closest to the city. In the last 30 seasons (1996–2025), 1 came near Cleveland: 0.3 a decade, against 0.3 a decade from 1851 to 1995.
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | IsabelSep 19 | 64 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1995 | OpalOct 6 | 21 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1989 | HugoSep 22 | 57 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormAug 22 | 54 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormJun 29 | 4 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Cleveland: a hurricane's worst winds sit within a few dozen miles of its centre, and inland cities are usually past that.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Cleveland
By decade
- 2020s15
- 2010s8
- 2000s4
- 1990s10(2 EF3+)
- 1980s3(1 EF3+)
- 1970s10(1 EF3+)
- 1960s8(2 EF3+)
- 1950s4(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 11, 1965 | F4 | 13 mi | 22 mi | 18 / 200 |
| Jun 8, 1953 | F4 | 3 mi | 118 mi | 17 / 379 |
| May 2, 1983 | F3 | 10 mi | 12 mi | 1 / 25 |
| Jul 12, 1992 | F3 | 25 mi | 8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 12, 1992 | F3 | 21 mi | 7 mi | 0 / 4 |
| Jun 3, 1973 | F3 | 23 mi | 12.9 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Sep 29, 1966 | F3 | 6 mi | 4.5 mi | 0 / 20 |
| Aug 20, 1962 | F2 | 9 mi | 0.5 mi | 4 / 20 |
| Aug 24, 2023 | EF2 | 8 mi | 1.52 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 10, 2002 | F2 | 14 mi | 10.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 13, 1975 | F2 | 24 mi | 4.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 15, 1970 | F2 | 11 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 1 |
The strongest 12 of 62, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Cleveland
The Storm Prediction Center has 169 hail reports within 10 miles of Cleveland since 1959, made on 99 separate days. Of these, 84 were 1 inch across or larger, and 4 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.5 inches (tennis ball size), fell on May 7, 2010. The most recent report is from May 5, 2025. May has the most reports, 55.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Cleveland
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Cleveland Burke Airport, OH, 3 miles north of Cleveland at 584 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 81°F and low of 68°F; January is the coolest, at 35°F and 24°F. July is the wettest at 3.7 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 1.5 inches; the year adds up to 33.3 inches over 74 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 9 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 91 nights a year. That 33.3 inches is more than at 2 of the 129 Ohio stations used on this site (2%). Parma, 6 miles southwest, has its own station (Cleveland, OH): 41.2 inches a year, 7.9 more than here, and a July average high of 84°F against 81°F.
Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Cleveland, OH, 5 miles north, averaged 75°F in August and 40°F in January and February over 2021–2025. No month averaged 80°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Water °F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 35 | 24 | 1.8 | 4 | 40 |
| Feb | 37 | 25 | 1.5 | 4 | 40 |
| Mar | 45 | 31 | 2.4 | 6 | 42 |
| Apr | 57 | 41 | 3.1 | 7 | 49 |
| May | 68 | 53 | 3.5 | 8 | 57 |
| Jun | 77 | 63 | 2.8 | 7 | 66 |
| Jul | 81 | 68 | 3.7 | 6 | 74 |
| Aug | 80 | 67 | 3.5 | 6 | 75 |
| Sep | 74 | 60 | 2.9 | 6 | 72 |
| Oct | 63 | 49 | 3.2 | 8 | 64 |
| Nov | 51 | 38 | 2.9 | 6 | 54 |
| Dec | 40 | 30 | 2.0 | 6 | 42 |
| Year | 59 | 46 | 33.3 | 74 | 56 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Cleveland Burke Airport, OH (584 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals; water temperature: average of hourly readings 2021–2025 at the NOAA tide station Cleveland, OH, 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.
Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Cleveland
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 291 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Cleveland: 247 thunderstorm wind reports, 34 flash floods and 10 floods. They killed 4 people and injured 4, and the NWS estimated $41.0 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 86 mph, on August 6, 2024. July has had the most flash floods, 10 of 34. Of the 597 Ohio cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 537 have had fewer than Cleveland.
August 16, 1997: thunderstorm wind 5 miles from the centre of Cleveland — 2 killed, $75,000 damage.
April 12, 1996: thunderstorm wind 1 mile from the centre of Cleveland — 1 killed, 1 injured, $1.0 million damage.
May 31, 1998: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Cleveland — 1 killed, $10,000 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 Cleveland's 17 ZIP codes have filed 154 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $2.5 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 1980, with 33. 8% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 318 Ohio cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 285 have fewer than Cleveland.
Cuyahoga County, which includes Cleveland, has been named in 19 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 14 of them major disasters (by incident: 6 severe storms, 4 floods, 3 tornadoes, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 31, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Cuyahoga County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for tornadoes; Relatively High for inland flooding, strong wind, lightning and heat waves; Relatively Low for hurricanes and hail; Very Low for coastal flooding. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $282.4 million a year, the 2nd highest of 88 Ohio counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $177.8 million (63%), 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 Cleveland
- Brooklyn, OH5 mi
- Garfield Heights, OH5 mi
- Cleveland Heights, OH6 mi
- Independence, OH6 mi
- Parma, OH6 mi
- Maple Heights, OH7 mi
- Lakewood, OH7 mi
- Beachwood, OH7 mi
- South Euclid, OH7 mi
- Middleburg Heights, OH9 mi
- Bedford, OH9 mi
- Rocky River, OH9 mi
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