Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Falmouth, MA

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Vineyard Haven Airport, MA, 12 miles south of Falmouth at 68 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 79°F and low of 61°F; January is the coolest, at 39°F and 23°F. October is the wettest at 4.4 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.6 inches; the year adds up to 42.3 inches over 73 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 51% of the year's precipitation (21.6 of 42.3 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 67 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (21); a normal September there has highs of 73°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 115 nights a year. That 42.3 inches is more than at 3 of the 65 Massachusetts stations used on this site (5%). North Falmouth, 6 miles north, has its own station (E Wareham, MA): 51.3 inches a year, 9.0 more than here, and a July average high of 81°F against 79°F.

Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Woods Hole, MA, 4 miles southwest, averaged 74°F in August and 36°F in February over 2021–2025. No month averaged 80°F. Sea level at the Woods Hole tide gauge, 4 miles from Falmouth, has risen 1.24 ± 0.03 inches per decade from 1932 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 12.4 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 73 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 54 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Falmouth: 36 thunderstorm wind reports, 10 floods, 4 lightning strikes, 3 flash floods and 1 heavy rain event. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $348,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 70 mph, on November 13, 2021.

Flood insurance policyholders in Falmouth's ZIP code 02540 have filed 207 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $3.3 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Hurricane Bob in 1991: 141 claims (68% of all) and $2.6 million, then December Storm - Nor'easter in 1992 with 10. 83% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 229 Massachusetts cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 192 have fewer than Falmouth.