Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Essex, CT

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Groton New London Airport, CT, 18 miles east of Essex at 10 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 80°F and low of 65°F; January is the coolest, at 38°F and 23°F. March and September are the wettest at 3.8 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.2 inches; the year adds up to 39.2 inches over 65 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 52% of the year's precipitation (20.5 of 39.2 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 56 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (23); a normal September there has highs of 74°F and 3.8 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 2 days a year, almost all from July. Lows fall below freezing on about 107 nights a year. That 39.2 inches is more than at 0 of the 27 Connecticut stations used on this site (0%). Chester, 6 miles northwest, has its own station (Meriden Markham Municipal Airport, CT): 45.0 inches a year, 5.8 more than here, and a July average high of 84°F against 80°F.

Water temperature at the NOAA tide station New London, CT, 16 miles east, averaged 71°F in August and 39°F in February over 2021–2025. No month averaged 80°F. Sea level at the New London tide gauge, 16 miles from Essex, has risen 1.16 ± 0.04 inches per decade from 1938 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 50 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Essex: 38 thunderstorm wind reports, 5 flash floods, 4 lightning strikes and 3 floods. They killed 1 person and injured 0, and the NWS estimated $482,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 81 mph, on June 2, 2000. September has had the most flash floods, 2 of 5. Of the 186 Connecticut cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 9 have had fewer than Essex.

Flood insurance policyholders in Essex's ZIP code 06426 have filed 52 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $995,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Not a named storm in 1982: 15 claims (29% of all) and $478,000. 73% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 128 Connecticut cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 59 have fewer than Essex.