NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Fairfax Station, VA
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
31 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Fairfax Station, Virginia since 1851, 3 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Zeta in 2020. Since 1950, 100 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 5 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 3
- Tropical storms
- 28
- Tornadoes
- 100
- EF3 or stronger
- 5
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
7 deaths in all
What the records show for Fairfax Station
The strongest storm to pass near Fairfax Station was an unnamed storm in 1878, a Category 1 hurricane with 93 mph winds when its centre passed 7 miles away. The record near Fairfax Station begins with an unnamed storm in 1876; the most recent system was Zeta in 2020, a tropical storm 48 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1890s, with 5 systems, one of them at hurricane strength. Of the 31 systems, 4 have come since 2000. Fairfax Station has more hurricanes within 75 miles than 33% of the 364 Virginia cities on this site. The strongest of the 100 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F4 on April 28, 2002; its path came within 16 miles, and it killed 3 people. Of the 100, 2 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 60 have come since 2000. April has had the most tornadoes, 18. The most recent tornado was on August 8, 2024. Fairfax Station has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 93% of the 364 Virginia cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 148 times since 1967, with stones up to 3 inches (tea cup size). Fairfax Station has more hail reports within 10 miles than 93% of the 364 Virginia cities.
Compare Fairfax Station's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Fairfax Station
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | ZetaOct 29 | 48 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 3 |
| 2020 | IsaiasAug 4 | 54 mi | Tropical storm (68 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2008 | HannaSep 6 | 67 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2006 | ErnestoSep 2 | 33 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1996 | BerthaJul 13 | 73 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1979 | DavidSep 6 | 69 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1963 | Unnamed 1963 stormJun 3 | 72 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1955 | DianeAug 18 | 29 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1955 | ConnieAug 13 | 43 mi | Tropical storm (59 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1954 | HazelOct 15 | 14 mi | Category 1 (84 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1952 | AbleSep 1 | 24 mi | Tropical storm (55 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1949 | Unnamed 1949 stormAug 29 | 36 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1945 | Unnamed 1945 stormSep 18 | 33 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1944 | Unnamed 1944 stormAug 2 | 50 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1943 | Unnamed 1943 stormOct 1 | 35 mi | Tropical storm (48 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1934 | Unnamed 1934 stormJun 19 | 25 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1933 | Unnamed 1933 stormAug 24 | 7 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1929 | Unnamed 1929 stormOct 2 | 26 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1928 | Unnamed 1928 stormSep 20 | 21 mi | Tropical storm (53 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1928 | Unnamed 1928 stormAug 12 | 74 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormAug 4 | 11 mi | Tropical storm (47 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormOct 12 | 66 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1899 | Unnamed 1899 stormNov 1 | 31 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1896 | Unnamed 1896 stormSep 30 | 70 mi | Tropical storm (71 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormOct 23 | 36 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormOct 14 | 42 mi | Category 1 (75 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormAug 29 | 17 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormSep 11 | 69 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1885 | Unnamed 1885 stormOct 13 | 39 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1878 | Unnamed 1878 stormOct 23 | 7 mi | Category 1 (93 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1876 | Unnamed 1876 stormSep 18 | 8 mi | Tropical storm (67 mph) | Category 3 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Fairfax Station: 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 Fairfax Station
By decade
- 2020s5
- 2010s30
- 2000s25(2 EF3+)
- 1990s19
- 1980s7
- 1970s9(3 EF3+)
- 1960s1
- 1950s4
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 28, 2002 | F4 | 16 mi | 38 mi | 3 / 122 |
| Sep 24, 2001 | F3 | 22 mi | 17.5 mi | 2 / 55 |
| Sep 5, 1979 | F3 | 11 mi | 17.9 mi | 1 / 6 |
| Jan 26, 1978 | F3 | 18 mi | 0.7 mi | 1 / 10 |
| Apr 1, 1973 | F3 | 3 mi | 9.8 mi | 0 / 37 |
| Sep 17, 2004 | F2 | 7 mi | 15 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Sep 17, 2004 | F2 | 11 mi | 4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 17, 2004 | F2 | 23 mi | 13 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 28, 2002 | F2 | 24 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 24, 1996 | F2 | 5 mi | 20 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Oct 5, 1995 | F2 | 20 mi | 2.5 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Sep 27, 1993 | F2 | 19 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 2 |
The strongest 12 of 100, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Fairfax Station
The Storm Prediction Center has 148 hail reports within 10 miles of Fairfax Station since 1967, made on 76 separate days. Of these, 103 were 1 inch across or larger, and 9 reached 2 inches. The largest, 3 inches (tea cup size), fell on August 11, 2004. The most recent report is from April 15, 2024. May has the most reports, 42.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Fairfax Station
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Vienna, VA, 9 miles north of Fairfax Station at 418 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 84°F and low of 67°F; January is the coolest, at 42°F and 23°F. May and July are the wettest at 4.3 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.6 inches; the year adds up to 43.5 inches over 77 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 52% of the year's precipitation (22.7 of 43.5 inches); the other six months are drier. Highs reach 90°F on about 13 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 99 nights a year. Snowfall averages 18.5 inches a year, most of it in February. That 43.5 inches is more than at 25 of the 109 Virginia stations used on this site (23%). Manassas Park, 7 miles west, has its own station (Washington Dc Dulles Airport, VA): 43.2 inches a year, 0.3 less than here, and a July average high of 88°F against 84°F.
Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Washington, DC, 18 miles northeast, 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, 18 miles from Fairfax Station, 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" | Snow in | Water °F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 42 | 23 | 3.3 | 7 | 6.5 | 39 |
| Feb | 45 | 24 | 2.6 | 6 | 7.5 | 41 |
| Mar | 53 | 32 | 3.8 | 7 | 2.0 | 50 |
| Apr | 65 | 41 | 3.4 | 7 | 0.0 | 60 |
| May | 72 | 52 | 4.3 | 8 | 0.0 | 69 |
| Jun | 80 | 61 | 4.1 | 8 | 0.0 | 77 |
| Jul | 84 | 67 | 4.3 | 6 | 0.0 | 84 |
| Aug | 82 | 65 | 3.5 | 6 | 0.0 | 82 |
| Sep | 76 | 57 | 4.2 | 6 | 0.0 | 76 |
| Oct | 65 | 45 | 3.5 | 5 | 0.0 | 66 |
| Nov | 56 | 35 | 3.1 | 5 | 0.1 | 54 |
| Dec | 46 | 28 | 3.4 | 7 | 2.4 | 42 |
| Year | 64 | 44 | 43.5 | 77 | 18.5 | 62 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Vienna, VA (418 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 Fairfax Station
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 798 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Fairfax Station: 489 thunderstorm wind reports, 201 floods, 104 flash floods, 2 heavy rain events and 2 lightning strikes. They killed 4 people and injured 9, and the NWS estimated $16.1 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, 37 of 104. Of the 364 Virginia cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 335 have had fewer than Fairfax Station.
June 4, 2008: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Fairfax Station — 1 killed, $10,000 damage.
September 8, 2011: flash flood 10 miles from the centre of Fairfax Station — 1 killed.
June 29, 2012: thunderstorm wind 3 miles from the centre of Fairfax Station — 1 killed.
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 Fairfax Station's ZIP code 22039 have filed 14 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $19,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. Of the 183 Virginia cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 24 have fewer than Fairfax Station.
Fairfax County, which includes Fairfax Station, has been named in 19 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1972, 13 of them major disasters (by incident: 5 hurricanes, 5 snowstorms, 4 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on April 2, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Fairfax County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for lightning; Relatively High for hail, inland flooding, strong wind and heat waves; Relatively Moderate for hurricanes; Relatively Low for tornadoes and coastal flooding. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $219.1 million a year, the highest of 133 Virginia counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $154.7 million (71%), 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.