NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Farmington, ME
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
30 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Farmington, Maine since 1851, 3 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Irene in 2011. Since 1950, 17 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 3
- Tropical storms
- 27
- Tornadoes
- 17
- EF3 or stronger
- 0
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
no recorded deaths
What the records show for Farmington
The strongest storm to pass near Farmington was an unnamed storm in 1869, a Category 1 hurricane with 87 mph winds when its centre passed 24 miles away. The closest pass by a hurricane was an unnamed storm in 1869, whose centre came within 2 miles. The record near Farmington begins with an unnamed storm in 1858; the most recent system was Irene in 2011, a tropical storm 55 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1890s, with 5 systems. Of the 30 systems, one has come since 2000. Of the 160 Maine cities on this site, 38% have more hurricanes within 75 miles than Farmington. The highest rating among the 17 tornadoes within 25 miles is F2, reached 6 times; the most recent, on August 9, 2000, came within 25 miles. Of the 17, none had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 3 have come since 2000. June and July have had the most tornadoes, 6 each. The most recent tornado was on June 1, 2011. Farmington has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 58% of the 160 Maine cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 25 times since 1965, with stones up to 2 inches (hen egg size). Of the 160 Maine cities, 57% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Farmington.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Farmington
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | IreneAug 29 | 55 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1999 | FloydSep 17 | 62 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1996 | BerthaJul 14 | 67 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1991 | BobAug 20 | 62 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1985 | GloriaSep 27 | 23 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1979 | DavidSep 6 | 16 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1971 | HeidiSep 14 | 74 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1971 | DoriaAug 28 | 38 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1961 | EstherSep 26 | 22 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1961 | Unnamed 1961 stormSep 15 | 39 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1960 | DonnaSep 13 | 6 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1960 | BrendaJul 31 | 7 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1954 | CarolAug 31 | 50 mi | Category 1 (74 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1949 | Unnamed 1949 stormAug 29 | 39 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1934 | Unnamed 1934 stormSep 9 | 15 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1916 | Unnamed 1916 stormJul 21 | 63 mi | Tropical storm (48 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1916 | Unnamed 1916 stormMay 17 | 22 mi | Tropical storm (47 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1908 | Unnamed 1908 stormMay 31 | 21 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormJun 17 | 61 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1899 | Unnamed 1899 stormNov 1 | 1 mi | Tropical storm (48 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1896 | Unnamed 1896 stormSep 11 | 21 mi | Tropical storm (47 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1894 | Unnamed 1894 stormOct 10 | 7 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormAug 30 | 4 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormAug 24 | 63 mi | Tropical storm (64 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1874 | Unnamed 1874 stormSep 30 | 21 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1869 | Unnamed 1869 stormOct 5 | 24 mi | Category 1 (87 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1869 | Unnamed 1869 stormSep 9 | 2 mi | Category 1 (77 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1861 | Unnamed 1861 stormNov 3 | 47 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1861 | Unnamed 1861 stormSep 28 | 64 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1858 | Unnamed 1858 stormSep 16 | 13 mi | Tropical storm (62 mph) | Category 2 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Farmington: 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 Farmington
By decade
- 2010s1
- 2000s2
- 1990s1
- 1980s1
- 1970s7
- 1960s4
- 1950s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 9, 2000 | F2 | 25 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 7, 1971 | F2 | 18 mi | 4.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 31, 1971 | F2 | 20 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 31, 1971 | F2 | 21 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 31, 1971 | F2 | 13 mi | 1.9 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Sep 4, 1961 | F2 | 23 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 1, 2011 | EF1 | 17 mi | 8.38 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 21, 2009 | EF1 | 23 mi | 16.42 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 21, 1997 | F1 | 15 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 18, 1989 | F1 | 6 mi | 1.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 23, 1978 | F1 | 21 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 12, 1973 | F1 | 5 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 17, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Farmington
The Storm Prediction Center has 25 hail reports within 10 miles of Farmington since 1965, made on 19 separate days. Of these, 15 were 1 inch across or larger, and one reached 2 inches. The largest, 2 inches (hen egg size), fell on July 7, 1985. The most recent report is from May 23, 2024. July has the most reports, 10.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Farmington
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Farmington, ME, 2 miles northwest of Farmington at 405 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 79°F and low of 56°F; January is the coolest, at 27°F and 6°F. October is the wettest at 5.2 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 3.2 inches; the year adds up to 49.5 inches over 86 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 53% of the year's precipitation (26.3 of 49.5 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 30 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (13); a normal September there has highs of 70°F and 3.5 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 3 days a year, almost all from July. Lows fall below freezing on about 183 nights a year. Snowfall averages 93.9 inches a year, most of it in February. That 49.5 inches is more than at 34 of the 47 Maine stations used on this site (72%). Jay, 11 miles southwest, has its own station (Livermore Falls 1 E, ME): 47.3 inches a year, 2.2 less than here, and a July average high of 80°F against 79°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 27 | 6 | 3.5 | 6 | 20.7 |
| Feb | 30 | 7 | 3.2 | 6 | 22.9 |
| Mar | 39 | 18 | 4.0 | 7 | 18.8 |
| Apr | 52 | 30 | 4.3 | 7 | 5.3 |
| May | 65 | 41 | 3.9 | 8 | 0.2 |
| Jun | 74 | 50 | 5.1 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 79 | 56 | 4.0 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 77 | 54 | 4.1 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 70 | 45 | 3.5 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 57 | 35 | 5.2 | 7 | 0.3 |
| Nov | 44 | 26 | 4.4 | 7 | 4.9 |
| Dec | 33 | 15 | 4.3 | 8 | 20.8 |
| Year | 54 | 32 | 49.5 | 86 | 93.9 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Farmington, ME (405 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 Farmington
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 83 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Farmington: 44 thunderstorm wind reports, 24 floods, 14 flash floods and 1 lightning strike. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $9.5 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 69 mph, on July 5, 1999. Of the 154 Maine cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 138 have had fewer than Farmington.
June 29, 2023: flash flood 5 miles from the centre of Farmington — $6.5 million damage.
December 18, 2023: flood 4 miles from the centre of Farmington — $1.7 million damage.
NWS: “Near record flooding occurred on the Sandy River following a heavy rain and snowmelt event on the 18th. The rainfall across the headwaters of the Sandy was estimated between 5 and 6 inches, but it was the combination of this and an additional 3 inches of snowmelt runoff that caused the catastrophic flooding.”
December 18, 2023: flood 4 miles from the centre of Farmington — $500,000 damage.
NWS: “The Sandy River reached major flood level on the afternoon of December 18th. 35 feet which was the 3rd highest crest ever recorded.”
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 Farmington's ZIP code 04938 have filed 16 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $318,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 44% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 61 Maine cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 17 have fewer than Farmington.
Franklin County, which includes Farmington, has been named in 33 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1970, 24 of them major disasters (by incident: 12 severe storms, 8 floods, 6 snowstorms, 4 hurricanes). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storm and Flooding, on January 30, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Franklin County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for lightning; Relatively Low for hurricanes, inland flooding and strong wind; Very Low for tornadoes, hail and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $13.5 million a year, the 11th highest of 16 Maine counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $7.0 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 Farmington
- Wilton, ME7 mi
- Jay, ME11 mi
- Livermore Falls, ME14 mi
- Norridgewock, ME15 mi
- Dixfield, ME16 mi
- Madison, ME18 mi
- Belgrade, ME19 mi
- Oakland, ME19 mi
- North Anson, ME20 mi
- Mexico, ME22 mi
- Readfield, ME22 mi
- Skowhegan, ME23 mi
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