NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Dayton, 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
3 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Dayton, Ohio since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Opal in 1995. Since 1950, 146 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 10 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 3
- Tornadoes
- 146
- EF3 or stronger
- 10
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
40 deaths in all
What the records show for Dayton
None of the 3 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Dayton; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1892, a tropical storm with 53 mph winds when its centre passed 6 miles away. The record near Dayton begins with an unnamed storm in 1892; the most recent system was Opal in 1995, a tropical storm 69 miles away. Of the 605 Ohio cities on this site, 82% have more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than Dayton. The strongest of the 146 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F5 on April 3, 1974; its path came within 10 miles, and it killed 36 people. Of the 146, 7 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 83 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 50. The most recent tornado was on July 19, 2025. Dayton has more tornadoes within 25 miles than any other of the 605 Ohio cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 210 times since 1956, with stones up to 3 inches (tea cup size). Dayton has more hail reports within 10 miles than 98% of the 605 Ohio cities.
Compare Dayton's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Dayton
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | OpalOct 5 | 69 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormAug 21 | 47 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1892 | Unnamed 1892 stormSep 13 | 6 mi | Tropical storm (53 mph) | Tropical storm |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Dayton: 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 Dayton
By decade
- 2020s27
- 2010s43(4 EF3+)
- 2000s13(1 EF3+)
- 1990s14
- 1980s12
- 1970s15(2 EF3+)
- 1960s16(3 EF3+)
- 1950s6
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 3, 1974 | F5 | 10 mi | 31.3 mi | 36 / 1150 |
| Apr 3, 1974 | F4 | 22 mi | 19.8 mi | 2 / 39 |
| Sep 20, 2000 | F4 | 12 mi | 9 mi | 1 / 100 |
| May 27, 2019 | EF4 | 2 mi | 18.17 mi | 0 / 166 |
| Apr 25, 1961 | F4 | 23 mi | 63.1 mi | 0 / 7 |
| May 27, 2019 | EF3 | 4 mi | 9.92 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 27, 2019 | EF3 | 17 mi | 10.49 mi | 0 / 1 |
| May 14, 2014 | EF3 | 18 mi | 8.93 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 10, 1969 | F3 | 17 mi | 54.5 mi | 0 / 25 |
| May 8, 1969 | F3 | 5 mi | 1.9 mi | 0 / 25 |
| May 4, 1990 | F2 | 20 mi | 0.2 mi | 1 / 5 |
| Feb 28, 2024 | EF2 | 22 mi | 21.11 mi | 0 / 3 |
The strongest 12 of 146, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Dayton
The Storm Prediction Center has 210 hail reports within 10 miles of Dayton since 1956, made on 116 separate days. Of these, 91 were 1 inch across or larger, and 10 reached 2 inches. The largest size, 3 inches (tea cup size), was reported on 2 days, most recently May 25, 2011. The most recent report is from April 29, 2025. April has the most reports, 57.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Dayton
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Dayton Mcd, OH, 2 miles north of Dayton at 720 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 87°F and low of 66°F; January is the coolest, at 36°F and 20°F. April is the wettest at 4.5 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.4 inches; the year adds up to 41.6 inches over 80 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 39 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 107 nights a year. Snowfall averages 12.3 inches a year, most of it in January. That 41.6 inches is more than at 63 of the 129 Ohio stations used on this site (49%). West Carrollton, 6 miles southwest, has its own station (Dayton Wright Bros Airport, OH): 40.9 inches a year, 0.7 less than here, and a July average high of 86°F against 87°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 36 | 20 | 3.2 | 7 | 6.9 |
| Feb | 40 | 23 | 2.4 | 5 | 1.5 |
| Mar | 51 | 31 | 3.5 | 8 | 1.7 |
| Apr | 64 | 41 | 4.5 | 8 | 0.0 |
| May | 75 | 53 | 4.4 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 84 | 62 | 4.4 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 87 | 66 | 4.0 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 86 | 64 | 3.1 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 79 | 56 | 3.0 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 66 | 44 | 3.0 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 52 | 33 | 3.0 | 6 | 0.1 |
| Dec | 41 | 26 | 3.1 | 6 | 2.1 |
| Year | 63 | 43 | 41.6 | 80 | 12.3 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Dayton Mcd, OH (720 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 Dayton
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 437 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Dayton: 332 thunderstorm wind reports, 57 floods, 44 flash floods, 3 heavy rain events and 1 lightning strike. They killed 1 person and injured 3, and the NWS estimated $2.4 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 75 mph, on June 29, 2012. June has had the most flash floods, 14 of 44. Of the 597 Ohio cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 569 have had fewer than Dayton.
April 29, 1996: thunderstorm wind 1 mile from the centre of Dayton — 1 killed, $300,000 damage.
June 8, 2015: thunderstorm wind 8 miles from the centre of Dayton — 2 injured, $7,500 damage.
April 8, 2015: lightning strike in Dayton — 1 injured.
NWS: “A University of Dayton student, Sean Ferguson, 23 of Pittsburgh, was struck by lightning as he ran across university parking lot C. The student was hospitalized with serious burns and a broken jaw.”
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 Dayton's 15 ZIP codes have filed 171 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $1.1 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1989: 23 claims (13% of all) and $106,000. The year with the most claims was 2005, with 17. 18% 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, 290 have fewer than Dayton.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1989 | 23 | $106,000 |
Montgomery County, which includes Dayton, has been named in 13 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1968, 8 of them major disasters (by incident: 5 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 2 floods, 2 snowstorms). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 31, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Montgomery County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for tornadoes, hail, inland flooding, strong wind and lightning; Relatively Moderate for heat waves; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $119.2 million a year, the 5th highest of 88 Ohio counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $79.6 million (67%), 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.