Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Dover, NH

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Durham 2 N, NH, 2 miles southwest of Dover at 119 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 81°F and low of 59°F; January is the coolest, at 32°F and 15°F. October is the wettest at 4.8 inches of precipitation on average and January and August the driest at 3.4 inches; the year adds up to 48.0 inches over 82 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 50% of the year's precipitation (24.2 of 48.0 inches). September has brought the most of the 37 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (15); a normal September there has highs of 72°F and 3.9 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 6 days a year, almost all from June to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 150 nights a year. That 48.0 inches is more than at 28 of the 39 New Hampshire stations used on this site (72%). Somersworth, 4 miles north, has its own station (Rochester Skyhaven Airport, NH): 41.2 inches a year, 6.8 less than here, and a July average high of 82°F against 81°F.

Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Seavey Island, ME, 11 miles southeast, averaged 64°F in August and 37°F in February over 2021–2025. No month averaged 80°F. Sea level at the Seavey Island tide gauge, 11 miles from Dover, has risen 0.87 ± 0.04 inches per decade from 1926 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 8.7 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 48 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 110 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Dover: 93 thunderstorm wind reports, 9 floods, 4 flash floods, 3 lightning strikes and 1 heavy rain event. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $2.5 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 71 mph, on July 18, 1997.

Flood insurance policyholders in Dover's ZIP code 03820 have filed 38 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $645,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 18% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 60 New Hampshire cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 36 have fewer than Dover.