Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Clifton, NJ

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Teterboro Airport, NJ, 5 miles east of Clifton at 9 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 87°F and low of 69°F; January is the coolest, at 40°F and 26°F. July is the wettest at 4.5 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.8 inches; the year adds up to 46.4 inches over 76 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 52% of the year's precipitation (24.2 of 46.4 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 44 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (20); a normal September there has highs of 78°F and 4.1 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 29 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 89 nights a year. That 46.4 inches is more than at 15 of the 51 New Jersey stations used on this site (29%). Paterson, 3 miles north, has its own station (Caldwell Essex Co Airport, NJ): 44.9 inches a year, 1.5 less than here, and a July average high of 85°F against 87°F.

Water temperature at the NOAA tide station The Battery, NY, 14 miles southeast, averaged 74°F in August and 39°F in February over 2021–2025. No month averaged 80°F. Sea level at the The Battery tide gauge, 14 miles from Clifton, has risen 1.16 ± 0.02 inches per decade from 1856 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 11.6 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 66 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 928 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Clifton: 394 thunderstorm wind reports, 379 flash floods, 118 floods, 34 lightning strikes and 3 heavy rain events. They killed 12 people and injured 34, and the NWS estimated $40.0 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 110 mph, on October 7, 2013. July has had the most flash floods, 126 of 379. Of the 455 New Jersey cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 426 have had fewer than Clifton.

Flood insurance policyholders in Clifton's 4 ZIP codes have filed 181 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $7.9 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Hurricane Ida in 2021: 40 claims (22% of all) and $4.3 million, then Hurricane Irene in 2011 with 26 and Hurricane Floyd in 1999 with 19. 60% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 395 New Jersey cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 255 have fewer than Clifton.