NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Fairfield, 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 Fairfield, Ohio since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was an unnamed storm in 1915. Since 1950, 92 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 8 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 3
- Tornadoes
- 92
- EF3 or stronger
- 8
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
15 deaths in all
What the records show for Fairfield
None of the 3 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Fairfield; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1892, a tropical storm with 52 mph winds when its centre passed 16 miles away. The record near Fairfield begins with an unnamed storm in 1888; the most recent system was an unnamed storm in 1915, a tropical storm 57 miles away. Of the 605 Ohio cities on this site, 82% have more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than Fairfield. The strongest of the 92 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F5 on April 3, 1974; its path came within 9 miles, and it killed 3 people. The deadliest, an F4 on April 9, 1999, killed 4 people. Of the 92, 5 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 38 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 19. The most recent tornado was on April 2, 2025. Fairfield has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 74% of the 605 Ohio cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 122 times since 1963, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Fairfield has more hail reports within 10 miles than 79% of the 605 Ohio cities.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Fairfield
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormAug 21 | 57 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1892 | Unnamed 1892 stormSep 13 | 16 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormAug 21 | 74 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 3 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Fairfield: 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 Fairfield
By decade
- 2020s23
- 2010s8
- 2000s7
- 1990s14(2 EF3+)
- 1980s5
- 1970s18(3 EF3+)
- 1960s10(3 EF3+)
- 1950s7
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 3, 1974 | F5 | 9 mi | 20.8 mi | 3 / 210 |
| Apr 9, 1999 | F4 | 12 mi | 10 mi | 4 / 65 |
| Apr 3, 1974 | F4 | 9 mi | 19.8 mi | 2 / 39 |
| Apr 23, 1968 | F4 | 22 mi | 24.1 mi | 1 / 33 |
| Jun 2, 1990 | F4 | 2 mi | 33 mi | 0 / 37 |
| Aug 9, 1969 | F3 | 8 mi | 22.2 mi | 4 / 247 |
| Oct 1, 1977 | F3 | 8 mi | 0.7 mi | 0 / 17 |
| May 10, 1969 | F3 | 4 mi | 54.5 mi | 0 / 25 |
| May 4, 1990 | F2 | 15 mi | 0.2 mi | 1 / 5 |
| Jul 6, 2022 | EF2 | 21 mi | 4.81 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Apr 9, 1999 | F2 | 16 mi | 1.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 2, 1990 | F2 | 24 mi | 23 mi | 0 / 3 |
The strongest 12 of 92, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Fairfield
The Storm Prediction Center has 122 hail reports within 10 miles of Fairfield since 1963, made on 68 separate days. Of these, 72 were 1 inch across or larger, and 5 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on April 3, 1974. The most recent report is from May 16, 2025. April has the most reports, 29.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Fairfield
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Fairfield, OH, 2 miles northwest of Fairfield at 575 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 87°F and low of 65°F; January is the coolest, at 38°F and 21°F. April and May are the wettest at 4.9 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 3.0 inches; the year adds up to 45.2 inches over 80 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 36 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 114 nights a year. That 45.2 inches is more than at 110 of the 129 Ohio stations used on this site (85%). Hamilton, 5 miles north, has its own station (Hamilton Butler Co Regional Airport, OH): 41.5 inches a year, 3.7 less than here, and the same July average high, 87°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 38 | 21 | 3.4 | 6 |
| Feb | 42 | 23 | 3.0 | 6 |
| Mar | 53 | 31 | 3.9 | 7 |
| Apr | 66 | 41 | 4.9 | 9 |
| May | 75 | 52 | 4.9 | 9 |
| Jun | 84 | 61 | 4.4 | 8 |
| Jul | 87 | 65 | 3.9 | 7 |
| Aug | 87 | 63 | 3.5 | 5 |
| Sep | 80 | 55 | 3.3 | 5 |
| Oct | 67 | 43 | 3.3 | 5 |
| Nov | 54 | 33 | 3.2 | 6 |
| Dec | 43 | 26 | 3.5 | 7 |
| Year | 65 | 43 | 45.2 | 80 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Fairfield, OH (575 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 Fairfield
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 258 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Fairfield: 171 thunderstorm wind reports, 53 flash floods, 26 floods, 6 heavy rain events and 2 lightning strikes. They killed 1 person and injured 4, and the NWS estimated $4.1 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 98 mph, on January 5, 1997. May has had the most flash floods, 15 of 53. Of the 597 Ohio cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 582 have had fewer than Fairfield.
September 4, 2011: lightning strike 7 miles from the centre of Fairfield — 1 killed, 1 injured.
July 24, 1996: thunderstorm wind 5 miles from the centre of Fairfield — 2 injured, $4,000 damage.
March 28, 1997: thunderstorm wind 6 miles from the centre of Fairfield — 1 injured, $10,000 damage.
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 Fairfield's ZIP code 45014 have filed 235 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $1.3 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 1979, with 76. 2% 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, 301 have fewer than Fairfield.
Butler County, which includes Fairfield, has been named in 14 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1968, 9 of them major disasters (by incident: 5 severe storms, 3 floods, 2 biological emergencies, 2 snowstorms). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 31, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Butler County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for tornadoes, strong wind and lightning; Relatively Moderate for hail, inland flooding and heat waves; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $119.7 million a year, the 4th highest of 88 Ohio counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $62.3 million (52%), 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 Fairfield
- Hamilton, OH5 mi
- West Chester, OH8 mi
- Cincinnati, OH11 mi
- Trenton, OH12 mi
- Okeana, OH13 mi
- Monroe, OH13 mi
- Harrison, OH13 mi
- Mason, OH13 mi
- Cleves, OH14 mi
- Oxford, OH15 mi
- Dayton, KY16 mi
- Loveland, OH16 mi
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