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NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Freehold, NJ

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

51 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Freehold, New Jersey since 1851, 11 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Ida in 2021. Since 1950, 57 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 2 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
11

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
40

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
57

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
2

no recorded deaths

What the records show for Freehold

The strongest storm to pass near Freehold was an unnamed storm in 1938, a Category 3 hurricane with 121 mph winds when its centre passed 73 miles away. The closest pass by a hurricane was an unnamed storm in 1893, whose centre came within 20 miles. The record near Freehold begins with an unnamed storm in 1856; the most recent system was Ida in 2021, a tropical storm 4 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1890s, with 5 systems, 2 of them at hurricane strength. Of the 51 systems, 9 have come since 2000. Freehold has more hurricanes within 75 miles than 82% of the 455 New Jersey cities on this site. The highest rating among the 57 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3, reached 2 times; the most recent, on September 26, 1977, came within 16 miles. Of the 57, 3 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 24 have come since 2000. August has had the most tornadoes, 12. The most recent tornado was on June 14, 2024. Freehold has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 56% of the 455 New Jersey cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 38 times since 1990, with stones up to 1.75 inches (golf ball size). Of the 455 New Jersey cities, 74% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Freehold.

Compare Freehold's storm record with another city →

Tropical storms and hurricanes near Freehold

Tropical systems that passed within 75 miles of Freehold, New Jersey, newest first
YearStormClosestStrength when closestPeak
2021IdaSep 24 miTropical storm (43 mph)Category 4
2021ElsaJul 942 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 1
2020IsaiasAug 457 miTropical storm (64 mph)Category 1
2020FayJul 111 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
2013AndreaJun 843 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
2012SandyOct 3052 miCategory 1 (79 mph)Category 3
2011IreneAug 288 miTropical storm (63 mph)Category 3
2008HannaSep 75 miTropical storm (52 mph)Category 1
2004CharleyAug 1565 miTropical storm (39 mph)Category 4
1999FloydSep 1625 miTropical storm (60 mph)Category 4
1996BerthaJul 136 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 3
1985GloriaSep 2738 miCategory 1 (90 mph)Category 4
1985HenriSep 2459 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1976BelleAug 1045 miCategory 1 (78 mph)Category 3
1972AgnesJun 2243 miTropical storm (62 mph)Category 1
1971DoriaAug 28overheadTropical storm (62 mph)Tropical storm
1968Unnamed 1968 stormSep 1146 miTropical storm (60 mph)Tropical storm
1961Unnamed 1961 stormSep 1530 miTropical storm (62 mph)Tropical storm
1960DonnaSep 1251 miCategory 2 (98 mph)Category 4
1960BrendaJul 3012 miTropical storm (58 mph)Tropical storm
1955DianeAug 1920 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 2
1952AbleSep 154 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 2
1944Unnamed 1944 stormSep 1561 miCategory 2 (104 mph)Category 5
1944Unnamed 1944 stormAug 360 miTropical storm (40 mph)Category 1
1938Unnamed 1938 stormSep 2173 miCategory 3 (121 mph)Category 5
1934Unnamed 1934 stormSep 855 miCategory 1 (76 mph)Category 2
1934Unnamed 1934 stormJun 19overheadTropical storm (46 mph)Category 2
1924Unnamed 1924 stormSep 301 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 1
1916Unnamed 1916 stormMay 1743 miTropical storm (54 mph)Tropical storm
1915Unnamed 1915 stormAug 438 miTropical storm (56 mph)Category 1
1904Unnamed 1904 stormSep 1537 miCategory 1 (77 mph)Category 1
1903Unnamed 1903 stormSep 1636 miTropical storm (67 mph)Category 2
1902Unnamed 1902 stormJun 1644 miTropical storm (44 mph)Tropical storm
1900Unnamed 1900 stormOct 1428 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1899Unnamed 1899 stormNov 161 miTropical storm (55 mph)Category 2
1897Unnamed 1897 stormSep 2450 miTropical storm (63 mph)Tropical storm
1894Unnamed 1894 stormOct 1044 miCategory 1 (86 mph)Category 3
1893Unnamed 1893 stormAug 2963 miTropical storm (63 mph)Category 3
1893Unnamed 1893 stormAug 2420 miCategory 1 (87 mph)Category 3
1888Unnamed 1888 stormSep 1120 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1888Unnamed 1888 stormAug 2263 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 3
1882Unnamed 1882 stormSep 2433 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
1879Unnamed 1879 stormAug 1969 miCategory 1 (92 mph)Category 3
1877Unnamed 1877 stormOct 531 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 3
1874Unnamed 1874 stormSep 292 miTropical storm (66 mph)Category 1
1872Unnamed 1872 stormOct 263 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 1
1866Unnamed 1866 stormOct 307 miTropical storm (62 mph)Tropical storm
1863Unnamed 1863 stormSep 1913 miTropical storm (52 mph)Tropical storm
1861Unnamed 1861 stormNov 368 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 1
1861Unnamed 1861 stormSep 289 miTropical storm (64 mph)Category 1
1856Unnamed 1856 stormAug 2066 miTropical storm (58 mph)Tropical storm

Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Freehold: 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 Freehold

By decade

  • 2020s15
  • 2010s6
  • 2000s3
  • 1990s12
  • 1980s9
  • 1970s1(1 EF3+)
  • 1960s6(1 EF3+)
  • 1950s5
Strongest tornadoes near Freehold, New Jersey
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
Sep 26, 1977F316 mi5.9 mi0 / 0
Jun 24, 1960F313 mi12.9 mi0 / 0
Apr 1, 2023EF215 mi0.14 mi0 / 0
Apr 1, 2023EF26 mi1.59 mi0 / 0
Apr 1, 2023EF28 mi2.1 mi0 / 0
Feb 21, 2023EF217 mi5.8 mi0 / 0
May 27, 2001F28 mi1.5 mi0 / 0
Aug 17, 1988F225 mi4.5 mi0 / 0
Jun 29, 1982F225 mi1.5 mi0 / 0
May 24, 1962F218 mi16.6 mi0 / 1
Jun 13, 1958F220 mi0.1 mi0 / 1
Oct 16, 1955F211 mi3.8 mi0 / 0

The strongest 12 of 57, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

Hail in Freehold

The Storm Prediction Center has 38 hail reports within 10 miles of Freehold since 1990, made on 26 separate days. Of these, 14 were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest size, 1.75 inches (golf ball size), was reported on 3 days, most recently July 1, 2001. The most recent report is from May 3, 2025. July has the most reports, 16.

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.

Radar-estimated hail days in Freehold since 2019 →

Weather by month in Freehold

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Freehold-Marlboro, NJ, 5 miles north of Freehold at 194 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 87°F and low of 66°F; January is the coolest, at 42°F and 23°F. July and December are the wettest at 4.7 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 3.1 inches; the year adds up to 48.5 inches over 82 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 52% of the year's precipitation (25.0 of 48.5 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 51 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (21); a normal September there has highs of 78°F and 4.2 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 28 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 106 nights a year. That 48.5 inches is more than at 27 of the 51 New Jersey stations used on this site (53%). Millstone Township, 9 miles west, has its own station (Hightstown 2 W, NJ): 47.6 inches a year, 0.9 less than here, and the same July average high, 87°F.

Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Sandy Hook, NJ, 21 miles northeast, averaged 77°F in July and 38°F in January over 2021–2025. No month averaged 80°F. Sea level at the Sandy Hook tide gauge, 21 miles from Freehold, has risen 1.68 ± 0.04 inches per decade from 1932 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 16.8 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 105 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.

Monthly climate normals 1991–2020 at Freehold-Marlboro, NJ
MonthHigh °FLow °FPrecip. inDays ≥ 0.1"Water °F
Jan42233.9738
Feb44253.1639
Mar51314.2744
Apr63413.8751
May72513.8860
Jun81604.4870
Jul87664.7777
Aug85634.1776
Sep78564.2672
Oct67444.1763
Nov56363.5652
Dec47284.7742
Year644448.58257

Averages for 1991–2020 at Freehold-Marlboro, NJ (194 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals; water temperature: average of hourly readings 2021–2025 at the NOAA tide station Sandy Hook, NJ, 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.

New Jersey weather by month, station by station →

Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Freehold

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 209 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Freehold: 157 thunderstorm wind reports, 15 flash floods, 13 heavy rain events, 12 floods and 12 lightning strikes. They killed 3 people and injured 37, and the NWS estimated $16.2 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 98 mph, on November 1, 2019. Of the 455 New Jersey cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 39 have had fewer than Freehold.

  • September 7, 1998: thunderstorm wind 2 miles from the centre of Freehold — 1 killed, 30 injured.

  • August 16, 1997: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Freehold — 1 killed.

  • August 17, 2007: lightning strike 3 miles from the centre of Freehold — 1 killed.

    NWS: “S. Route 9 North in Howell Township.”

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 Freehold's ZIP code 07728 have filed 54 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $381,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 2011, with 12. 54% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 395 New Jersey cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 155 have fewer than Freehold.

Monmouth County, which includes Freehold, has been named in 28 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 17 of them major disasters (by incident: 10 hurricanes, 4 floods, 4 snowstorms, 3 severe storms). The latest major disaster declaration was Remnants of Hurricane Ida, on September 5, 2021. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Monmouth County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for strong wind and lightning; Relatively High for inland flooding, coastal flooding and heat waves; Relatively Moderate for hurricanes; Relatively Low for tornadoes; Very Low for hail. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $281.6 million a year, the 3rd highest of 21 New Jersey counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $109.6 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 Freehold