NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Galloway, 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 Galloway, Ohio since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Opal in 1995. Since 1950, 88 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 4 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 3
- Tornadoes
- 88
- EF3 or stronger
- 4
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
37 deaths in all
What the records show for Galloway
None of the 3 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Galloway; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1892, a tropical storm with 54 mph winds when its centre passed 40 miles away. The record near Galloway begins with an unnamed storm in 1892; the most recent system was Opal in 1995, a tropical storm 26 miles away. Of the 605 Ohio cities on this site, 82% have more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than Galloway. The strongest of the 88 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F5 on April 3, 1974; its path came within 23 miles, and it killed 36 people. Of the 88, 6 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 38 have come since 2000. April has had the most tornadoes, 17. The most recent tornado was on March 30, 2025. Galloway has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 69% of the 605 Ohio cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 123 times since 1956, with stones up to 3 inches (tea cup size). Galloway has more hail reports within 10 miles than 79% of the 605 Ohio cities.
Compare Galloway's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Galloway
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | OpalOct 5 | 26 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormAug 21 | 69 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1892 | Unnamed 1892 stormSep 13 | 40 mi | Tropical storm (54 mph) | Tropical storm |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Galloway: 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 Galloway
By decade
- 2020s15
- 2010s15
- 2000s8
- 1990s5
- 1980s12
- 1970s18(4 EF3+)
- 1960s11
- 1950s4
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 3, 1974 | F5 | 23 mi | 31.3 mi | 36 / 1150 |
| May 10, 1973 | F3 | 10 mi | 89.6 mi | 0 / 8 |
| Feb 22, 1971 | F3 | 13 mi | 6.8 mi | 0 / 7 |
| Sep 3, 1970 | F3 | 23 mi | 2.3 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Mar 10, 1986 | F2 | 13 mi | 28 mi | 1 / 10 |
| Mar 14, 2024 | EF2 | 24 mi | 19.48 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 28, 2024 | EF2 | 19 mi | 14.04 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 28, 2024 | EF2 | 12 mi | 21.11 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Oct 11, 2006 | F2 | 23 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 11, 2006 | F2 | 10 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 20, 2000 | F2 | 22 mi | 21 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Apr 3, 1974 | F2 | 19 mi | 5.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 88, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Galloway
The Storm Prediction Center has 123 hail reports within 10 miles of Galloway since 1956, made on 78 separate days. Of these, 61 were 1 inch across or larger, and 3 reached 2 inches. The largest, 3 inches (tea cup size), fell on August 10, 1984. The most recent report is from May 2, 2025. June has the most reports, 34.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Galloway
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Columbus Wcmh, OH, 10 miles northeast of Galloway at 740 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 85°F and low of 65°F; January is the coolest, at 37°F and 21°F. May is the wettest at 4.8 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.6 inches; the year adds up to 44.6 inches over 95 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 23 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 113 nights a year. That 44.6 inches is more than at 105 of the 129 Ohio stations used on this site (81%). Hilliard, 6 miles north, has its own station (Columbus Ohio State Univ Airport, OH): 35.8 inches a year, 8.8 less than here, and a July average high of 84°F against 85°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 37 | 21 | 3.1 | 7 |
| Feb | 40 | 23 | 2.6 | 9 |
| Mar | 51 | 31 | 3.9 | 8 |
| Apr | 64 | 41 | 4.0 | 9 |
| May | 74 | 51 | 4.8 | 10 |
| Jun | 82 | 61 | 4.7 | 9 |
| Jul | 85 | 65 | 4.3 | 8 |
| Aug | 84 | 63 | 3.8 | 7 |
| Sep | 78 | 55 | 3.8 | 7 |
| Oct | 66 | 43 | 3.2 | 8 |
| Nov | 52 | 33 | 3.0 | 7 |
| Dec | 41 | 27 | 3.4 | 8 |
| Year | 63 | 43 | 44.6 | 95 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Columbus Wcmh, OH (740 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 Galloway
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 205 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Galloway: 151 thunderstorm wind reports, 36 floods, 16 flash floods, 1 heavy rain event and 1 lightning strike. They killed 0 people and injured 11, and the NWS estimated $2.1 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 96 mph, on July 10, 2013. July has had the most flash floods, 6 of 16. Of the 597 Ohio cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 353 have had fewer than Galloway.
July 10, 2013: thunderstorm wind 4 miles from the centre of Galloway — 6 injured, $1.0 million damage.
August 9, 2000: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Galloway — 5 injured, $50,000 damage.
June 23, 2016: thunderstorm wind 5 miles from the centre of Galloway — $110,000 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 Galloway's ZIP code 43119 have filed 30 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $182,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 30% 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, 146 have fewer than Galloway.
Franklin County, which includes Galloway, has been named in 21 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1974, 15 of them major disasters (by incident: 11 severe storms, 3 snowstorms, 2 biological emergencies, 2 floods). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, Flooding, and Landslides, on October 2, 2026. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Franklin County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for tornadoes, hail, inland flooding, strong wind, lightning and heat waves; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $331.4 million a year, the highest of 88 Ohio counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $209.6 million (63%), 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.