NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Fort Fairfield, 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
23 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Fort Fairfield, Maine since 1851, 1 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Irene in 2011. Since 1950, 18 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 1
- Tropical storms
- 22
- Tornadoes
- 18
- EF3 or stronger
- 0
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
1 deaths in all
What the records show for Fort Fairfield
The strongest storm to pass near Fort Fairfield was an unnamed storm in 1900, a Category 1 hurricane with 75 mph winds when its centre passed 10 miles away. The record near Fort Fairfield begins with an unnamed storm in 1858; the most recent system was Irene in 2011, a tropical storm 52 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1890s, with 4 systems. Of the 23 systems, one has come since 2000. Of the 160 Maine cities on this site, 93% have more hurricanes within 75 miles than Fort Fairfield. The highest rating among the 18 tornadoes within 25 miles is F2, reached 2 times; the most recent, on August 15, 1958, came within 24 miles. The deadliest, an F2 on August 11, 1954, killed 1 person. Of the 18, 2 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 7 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 6. The most recent tornado was on July 18, 2016. Fort Fairfield has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 60% of the 160 Maine cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 19 times since 1970, with stones up to 1.75 inches (golf ball size). Of the 160 Maine cities, 69% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Fort Fairfield.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Fort Fairfield
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | IreneAug 29 | 52 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1991 | BobAug 20 | 66 mi | Tropical storm (55 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1985 | GloriaSep 28 | 44 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1979 | DavidSep 7 | 59 mi | Tropical storm (55 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1971 | DoriaAug 29 | 43 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1969 | GerdaSep 10 | 58 mi | Tropical storm (72 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1960 | DonnaSep 13 | 32 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1960 | BrendaJul 31 | 62 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1952 | Unnamed 1952 stormFeb 5 | 29 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1949 | Unnamed 1949 stormAug 30 | 14 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1932 | Unnamed 1932 stormSep 17 | 67 mi | Tropical storm (55 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1929 | Unnamed 1929 stormOct 4 | 55 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1908 | Unnamed 1908 stormMay 31 | 34 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1900 | Unnamed 1900 stormSep 12 | 10 mi | Category 1 (75 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1899 | Unnamed 1899 stormNov 2 | 66 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1894 | Unnamed 1894 stormOct 11 | 65 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormAug 30 | 13 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormAug 25 | 51 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1880 | Unnamed 1880 stormOct 23 | 7 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1874 | Unnamed 1874 stormSep 30 | 29 mi | Tropical storm (67 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1869 | Unnamed 1869 stormOct 5 | 3 mi | Tropical storm (67 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1869 | Unnamed 1869 stormSep 9 | 57 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1858 | Unnamed 1858 stormSep 17 | 56 mi | Tropical storm (53 mph) | Category 2 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Fort 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 Fort Fairfield
By decade
- 2010s4
- 2000s3
- 1990s2
- 1970s2
- 1960s4
- 1950s3
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 11, 1954 | F2 | 19 mi | 1 mi | 1 / 1 |
| Aug 15, 1958 | F2 | 24 mi | 17 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 31, 2009 | EF1 | 8 mi | 7.04 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 31, 2009 | EF1 | 15 mi | 2.81 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 18, 1994 | F1 | 10 mi | 10 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 1, 1971 | F1 | 17 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 21, 1965 | F1 | 10 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 19, 1963 | F1 | 11 mi | 1.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 18, 1961 | F1 | 3 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 29, 1960 | F1 | 9 mi | 9.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 15, 1959 | F1 | 19 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jul 18, 2016 | EF0 | 21 mi | 0.07 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 18, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Fort Fairfield
The Storm Prediction Center has 19 hail reports within 10 miles of Fort Fairfield since 1970, made on 16 separate days. Of these, 16 were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest, 1.75 inches (golf ball size), fell on July 15, 2012. The most recent report is from June 17, 2022. June and July have the most reports, 6 each.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Fort Fairfield
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Caribou Municipal Airport, ME, 10 miles northwest of Fort Fairfield at 624 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 77°F and low of 56°F; January is the coolest, at 21°F and 3°F. July is the wettest at 4.2 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.4 inches; the year adds up to 40.8 inches over 89 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 55% of the year's precipitation (22.5 of 40.8 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 23 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (9); a normal September there has highs of 67°F and 3.4 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 2 days a year. Lows fall below freezing on about 180 nights a year. Snowfall averages 118.2 inches a year, most of it in February. That 40.8 inches is more than at 3 of the 47 Maine stations used on this site (6%). Presque Isle, 10 miles southwest, has its own station (Presque Isle, ME): 38.2 inches a year, 2.6 less than here, and a July average high of 79°F against 77°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 21 | 3 | 3.0 | 7 | 25.0 |
| Feb | 24 | 4 | 2.4 | 6 | 25.3 |
| Mar | 34 | 16 | 2.8 | 6 | 21.4 |
| Apr | 48 | 29 | 3.0 | 8 | 8.3 |
| May | 63 | 41 | 3.5 | 9 | 0.8 |
| Jun | 72 | 51 | 3.9 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 77 | 56 | 4.2 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 76 | 54 | 3.6 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 67 | 46 | 3.4 | 7 | 0.1 |
| Oct | 53 | 36 | 4.0 | 8 | 1.7 |
| Nov | 40 | 26 | 3.4 | 7 | 10.4 |
| Dec | 28 | 12 | 3.6 | 8 | 25.2 |
| Year | 50 | 31 | 40.8 | 89 | 118.2 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Caribou Municipal Airport, ME (624 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 Fort Fairfield
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 68 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Fort Fairfield: 50 thunderstorm wind reports, 9 flash floods and 9 floods. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 110 mph, on June 21, 2021. July has had the most flash floods, 7 of 9. Of the 154 Maine cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 114 have had fewer than Fort Fairfield.
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 Fort Fairfield's ZIP code 04742 have filed 119 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 1994, with 32. 2% 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, 52 have fewer than Fort Fairfield.
Aroostook County, which includes Fort Fairfield, has been named in 24 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1970, 13 of them major disasters (by incident: 9 snowstorms, 6 floods, 4 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on April 4, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Aroostook County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for hurricanes, inland flooding and strong wind; Relatively Low for lightning; Very Low for tornadoes, hail and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $34.8 million a year, the 5th highest of 16 Maine counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $13.6 million (39%), 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 Fort Fairfield
- Presque Isle, ME10 mi
- Caribou, ME10 mi
- Mapleton, ME15 mi
- Van Buren, ME26 mi
- Houlton, ME45 mi
- Madawaska, ME45 mi
- Fort Kent, ME45 mi
- Millinocket, ME89 mi
- Lincoln, ME102 mi
- Calais, ME115 mi
- Baileyville, ME116 mi
- Milo, ME118 mi
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