NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Clinton, 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
37 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Clinton, Maryland since 1851, 3 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Elsa in 2021. Since 1950, 108 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 4 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 3
- Tropical storms
- 34
- Tornadoes
- 108
- EF3 or stronger
- 4
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
6 deaths in all
What the records show for Clinton
The strongest storm to pass near Clinton was an unnamed storm in 1878, a Category 1 hurricane with 93 mph winds when its centre passed 15 miles away. The record near Clinton begins with an unnamed storm in 1863; the most recent system was Elsa in 2021, a tropical storm 72 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1870s, with 5 systems, one of them at hurricane strength. Of the 37 systems, 5 have come since 2000. Clinton has more hurricanes within 75 miles than 14% of the 239 Maryland cities on this site. The strongest of the 108 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F4 on April 28, 2002; its path came within 16 miles, and it killed 3 people. Of the 108, 10 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 55 have come since 2000. July has had the most tornadoes, 20. The most recent tornado was on June 18, 2025. Clinton has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 74% of the 239 Maryland cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 85 times since 1956, with stones up to 3 inches (tea cup size). Clinton has more hail reports within 10 miles than 71% of the 239 Maryland cities.
Compare Clinton's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Clinton
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | ElsaJul 9 | 72 mi | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2020 | ZetaOct 29 | 40 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 3 |
| 2020 | IsaiasAug 4 | 33 mi | Tropical storm (68 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2008 | HannaSep 6 | 49 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2006 | ErnestoSep 2 | 11 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1996 | BerthaJul 13 | 53 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1992 | DanielleSep 26 | 63 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1963 | Unnamed 1963 stormJun 3 | 28 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1955 | DianeAug 18 | 44 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1955 | ConnieAug 13 | 21 mi | Tropical storm (60 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1954 | HazelOct 15 | 36 mi | Category 1 (84 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1952 | AbleSep 1 | 41 mi | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1949 | Unnamed 1949 stormAug 29 | 56 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1945 | Unnamed 1945 stormSep 18 | 15 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1944 | Unnamed 1944 stormAug 2 | 37 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1943 | Unnamed 1943 stormOct 1 | 13 mi | Tropical storm (48 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1934 | Unnamed 1934 stormJun 19 | 35 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1933 | Unnamed 1933 stormAug 24 | 16 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1929 | Unnamed 1929 stormOct 2 | 5 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1928 | Unnamed 1928 stormSep 20 | 43 mi | Tropical storm (53 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1928 | Unnamed 1928 stormAug 12 | 63 mi | Tropical storm (51 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormAug 4 | 27 mi | Tropical storm (47 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1904 | Unnamed 1904 stormSep 15 | 66 mi | Tropical storm (70 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormOct 12 | 60 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormJun 16 | 75 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1899 | Unnamed 1899 stormNov 1 | 11 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormOct 23 | 20 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormOct 14 | 64 mi | Category 1 (75 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormAug 29 | 34 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormSep 11 | 52 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1885 | Unnamed 1885 stormOct 13 | 61 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1878 | Unnamed 1878 stormOct 23 | 15 mi | Category 1 (93 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1877 | Unnamed 1877 stormOct 4 | 60 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1876 | Unnamed 1876 stormSep 18 | 30 mi | Tropical storm (67 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1874 | Unnamed 1874 stormSep 29 | 61 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1872 | Unnamed 1872 stormOct 26 | 58 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1863 | Unnamed 1863 stormSep 18 | 72 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Tropical storm |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Clinton: 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 Clinton
By decade
- 2020s11
- 2010s20
- 2000s24(2 EF3+)
- 1990s33
- 1980s3
- 1970s13(2 EF3+)
- 1960s2
- 1950s2
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 28, 2002 | F4 | 16 mi | 38 mi | 3 / 122 |
| Sep 24, 2001 | F3 | 13 mi | 17.5 mi | 2 / 55 |
| Sep 5, 1979 | F3 | 10 mi | 17.9 mi | 1 / 6 |
| Apr 1, 1973 | F3 | 17 mi | 9.8 mi | 0 / 37 |
| Sep 1, 2021 | EF2 | 18 mi | 11.43 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 28, 2002 | F2 | 16 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 24, 1996 | F2 | 18 mi | 20 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Oct 5, 1995 | F2 | 5 mi | 2.5 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Jul 27, 1994 | F2 | 16 mi | 0.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 27, 1994 | F2 | 22 mi | 0.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 13, 1983 | F2 | 18 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 27, 1978 | F2 | 13 mi | 6.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 108, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Clinton
The Storm Prediction Center has 85 hail reports within 10 miles of Clinton since 1956, made on 59 separate days. Of these, 53 were 1 inch across or larger, and 3 reached 2 inches. The largest, 3 inches (tea cup size), fell on April 9, 1980. The most recent report is from May 16, 2022. May has the most reports, 32.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Clinton
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Oxon Hill, MD, 6 miles northwest of Clinton at 190 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 88°F and low of 69°F; January is the coolest, at 44°F and 27°F. July is the wettest at 5.0 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.9 inches; the year adds up to 47.1 inches over 81 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 54% of the year's precipitation (25.4 of 47.1 inches); the other six months are drier. Highs reach 90°F on about 38 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 80 nights a year. That 47.1 inches is more than at 25 of the 41 Maryland stations used on this site (61%). Cheltenham, 4 miles east, has its own station (Upper Marlboro 3 NNW, MD): 45.1 inches a year, 2.0 less than here, and the same July average high, 88°F.
Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Washington, DC, 11 miles northwest, averaged 84°F in July and 39°F in January over 2021–2025. It averaged 80°F or warmer from July to August. Sea level at the Washington tide gauge, 11 miles from Clinton, has risen 1.40 ± 0.05 inches per decade from 1924 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 14.0 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 84 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Water °F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 44 | 27 | 3.1 | 6 | 39 |
| Feb | 48 | 28 | 2.9 | 6 | 41 |
| Mar | 56 | 35 | 4.0 | 7 | 50 |
| Apr | 67 | 45 | 3.4 | 7 | 60 |
| May | 76 | 55 | 4.5 | 9 | 69 |
| Jun | 84 | 64 | 4.9 | 8 | 77 |
| Jul | 88 | 69 | 5.0 | 7 | 84 |
| Aug | 87 | 67 | 4.2 | 7 | 82 |
| Sep | 80 | 61 | 4.4 | 6 | 76 |
| Oct | 68 | 48 | 3.8 | 6 | 66 |
| Nov | 57 | 39 | 3.1 | 5 | 54 |
| Dec | 48 | 31 | 3.8 | 7 | 42 |
| Year | 67 | 47 | 47.1 | 81 | 62 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Oxon Hill, MD (190 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals; water temperature: average of hourly readings 2021–2025 at the NOAA tide station Washington, DC, 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 Clinton
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 516 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Clinton: 368 thunderstorm wind reports, 84 floods, 62 flash floods and 2 lightning strikes. They killed 4 people and injured 12, and the NWS estimated $17.8 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 90 mph, on May 13, 2000. July has had the most flash floods, 18 of 62. Of the 239 Maryland cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 155 have had fewer than Clinton.
August 3, 2002: thunderstorm wind 8 miles from the centre of Clinton — 1 killed, 2 injured, $30,000 damage.
May 16, 2025: thunderstorm wind 8 miles from the centre of Clinton — 1 killed, $250,000 damage.
June 11, 2026: thunderstorm wind 6 miles from the centre of Clinton — 1 killed, $1,000 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 Clinton's ZIP code 20735 have filed 55 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1980, and were paid $489,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 15% 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, 85 have fewer than Clinton.
Prince George's County, which includes Clinton, has been named in 19 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1971, 12 of them major disasters (by incident: 5 hurricanes, 5 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 Prince George's County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for lightning; Relatively High for tornadoes, inland flooding, strong wind and heat waves; Relatively Moderate for hurricanes and hail; Relatively Low for coastal flooding. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $121.8 million a year, the 4th highest of 24 Maryland counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $65.1 million (54%), 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 Clinton
- Cheltenham, MD4 mi
- Jb Andrews, MD5 mi
- Fort Washington, MD5 mi
- Temple Hills, MD5 mi
- Suitland, MD6 mi
- Oxon Hill, MD6 mi
- Brandywine, MD7 mi
- District Heights, MD7 mi
- Upper Marlboro, MD8 mi
- Accokeek, MD9 mi
- Waldorf, MD9 mi
- Capitol Heights, MD9 mi
All Maryland cities →All hurricanes since 1851 →Compare Clinton with another place →