NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Columbia, NJ
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
28 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Columbia, New Jersey since 1851, 2 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Ida in 2021. Since 1950, 40 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 3 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 2
- Tropical storms
- 26
- Tornadoes
- 40
- EF3 or stronger
- 3
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
no recorded deaths
What the records show for Columbia
The strongest storm to pass near Columbia was an unnamed storm in 1893, a Category 1 hurricane with 86 mph winds when its centre passed 63 miles away. The closest pass by a hurricane was an unnamed storm in 1878, whose centre came within 34 miles. The record near Columbia begins with an unnamed storm in 1861; the most recent system was Ida in 2021, a tropical storm 63 miles away. Of the 28 systems, 5 have come since 2000. Of the 455 New Jersey cities on this site, 93% have more hurricanes within 75 miles than Columbia. The highest rating among the 40 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3, reached 3 times; the most recent, on May 31, 1998, came within 23 miles. Of the 40, one had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 8 have come since 2000. July has had the most tornadoes, 8. The most recent tornado was on May 6, 2025. Of the 455 New Jersey cities, 77% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Columbia. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 23 times since 1966, with stones up to 3 inches (tea cup size). Of the 455 New Jersey cities, 94% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Columbia.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Columbia
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | IdaSep 2 | 63 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Category 4 |
| 2020 | IsaiasAug 4 | overhead | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2020 | FayJul 11 | 64 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2011 | IreneAug 28 | 60 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 3 |
| 2008 | HannaSep 7 | 67 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1996 | BerthaJul 13 | 57 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1979 | DavidSep 6 | 73 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1972 | AgnesJun 22 | 68 mi | Tropical storm (55 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1971 | DoriaAug 28 | 57 mi | Tropical storm (60 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1960 | BrendaJul 30 | 72 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1955 | DianeAug 19 | 37 mi | Tropical storm (45 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1952 | AbleSep 1 | 9 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1949 | Unnamed 1949 stormAug 29 | 49 mi | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1934 | Unnamed 1934 stormJun 19 | 61 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1929 | Unnamed 1929 stormOct 3 | 35 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1924 | Unnamed 1924 stormSep 30 | 57 mi | Tropical storm (68 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormAug 4 | 25 mi | Tropical storm (55 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1903 | Unnamed 1903 stormSep 16 | 16 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1899 | Unnamed 1899 stormNov 1 | overhead | Tropical storm (55 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormAug 29 | overhead | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormAug 24 | 63 mi | Category 1 (86 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormAug 22 | 4 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1878 | Unnamed 1878 stormOct 23 | 34 mi | Category 1 (82 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1874 | Unnamed 1874 stormSep 29 | 63 mi | Tropical storm (66 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1872 | Unnamed 1872 stormOct 26 | 65 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1866 | Unnamed 1866 stormOct 30 | 52 mi | Tropical storm (60 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1863 | Unnamed 1863 stormSep 19 | 44 mi | Tropical storm (51 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1861 | Unnamed 1861 stormSep 28 | 69 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 1 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Columbia: 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 Columbia
By decade
- 2020s3
- 2010s3
- 2000s2
- 1990s9(1 EF3+)
- 1980s7
- 1970s12(2 EF3+)
- 1960s1
- 1950s3
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 31, 1998 | F3 | 23 mi | 20 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Mar 21, 1976 | F3 | 7 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 28, 1973 | F3 | 19 mi | 0.4 mi | 0 / 12 |
| Jul 29, 2009 | EF2 | 7 mi | 4.58 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Oct 26, 1981 | F2 | 10 mi | 0.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 20, 1981 | F2 | 16 mi | 3.6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 20, 1981 | F2 | 3 mi | 4.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 5, 1979 | F2 | 14 mi | 0.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 14, 1974 | F2 | 14 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 2, 1973 | F2 | 25 mi | 0.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 13, 1972 | F2 | 23 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 6, 2025 | EF1 | 9 mi | 1.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 40, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Columbia
The Storm Prediction Center has 23 hail reports within 10 miles of Columbia since 1966, made on 17 separate days. Of these, 13 were 1 inch across or larger, and one reached 2 inches. The largest, 3 inches (tea cup size), fell on June 22, 1996. The most recent report is from September 7, 2023. May has the most reports, 8.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Columbia
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Belvidere Brg, NJ, 7 miles south of Columbia at 263 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 84°F and low of 61°F; January is the coolest, at 37°F and 18°F. July and October are the wettest at 4.8 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.7 inches; the year adds up to 48.3 inches over 82 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 55% of the year's precipitation (26.6 of 48.3 inches); the other six months are drier. Highs reach 90°F on about 14 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 135 nights a year. Snowfall averages 23.3 inches a year, most of it in January. That 48.3 inches is more than at 25 of the 51 New Jersey stations used on this site (49%). East Stroudsburg, PA, 9 miles northwest, has its own station (E Stroudsburg, PA): 53.4 inches a year, 5.1 more than here, and the same July average high, 84°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 37 | 18 | 3.2 | 6 | 9.9 |
| Feb | 40 | 19 | 2.7 | 6 | 5.2 |
| Mar | 48 | 26 | 3.6 | 7 | 3.5 |
| Apr | 61 | 36 | 4.0 | 7 | 0.3 |
| May | 71 | 46 | 4.1 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 79 | 56 | 4.5 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 84 | 61 | 4.8 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 83 | 59 | 4.6 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 76 | 52 | 4.6 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 64 | 40 | 4.8 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 52 | 30 | 3.3 | 5 | 0.4 |
| Dec | 41 | 24 | 4.1 | 7 | 4.0 |
| Year | 61 | 39 | 48.3 | 82 | 23.3 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Belvidere Brg, NJ (263 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals. 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 Columbia
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 289 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Columbia: 240 thunderstorm wind reports, 28 flash floods, 8 lightning strikes, 7 heavy rain events and 6 floods. They killed 0 people and injured 6, and the NWS estimated $2.3 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 85 mph, on May 13, 2000. July has had the most flash floods, 8 of 28. Of the 455 New Jersey cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 105 have had fewer than Columbia.
May 24, 2009: lightning strike 4 miles from the centre of Columbia — 4 injured.
NWS: “Four hikers were struck and injured by lightning in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreational Area in Worthington State Forest about one mile south of Sunfish Pond in Pahaquarry Township. Lightning struck the ground first and then traveled to the hikers.”
May 13, 2000: thunderstorm wind 6 miles from the centre of Columbia — 1 injured, $500,000 damage.
July 15, 2016: lightning strike 9 miles from the centre of Columbia — 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 Columbia's ZIP code 07832 have filed 146 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $4.9 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1996: 10 claims (7% of all) and $148,000. The year with the most claims was 2005, with 45. 12% 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, 241 have fewer than Columbia.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1996 | 10 | $148,000 |
Warren County, which includes Columbia, has been named in 27 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 16 of them major disasters (by incident: 8 hurricanes, 8 severe storms, 4 snowstorms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storm and Flooding, on August 11, 2023. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Warren County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for strong wind; Relatively Moderate for inland flooding and lightning; Relatively Low for hurricanes, tornadoes and heat waves; Very Low for hail. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $57.3 million a year, the 19th highest of 21 New Jersey counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $37.5 million (65%), 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 Columbia
- Mount Bethel, PA4 mi
- Blairstown, NJ6 mi
- Belvidere, NJ7 mi
- Bangor, PA8 mi
- Great Meadows, NJ9 mi
- Oxford, NJ9 mi
- East Stroudsburg, PA9 mi
- Stroudsburg, PA11 mi
- Pen Argyl, PA11 mi
- Washington, NJ13 mi
- Port Murray, NJ13 mi
- Hackettstown, NJ13 mi
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