NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Gorham, NH
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
26 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Gorham, New Hampshire since 1851, 3 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Irene in 2011. Since 1950, 6 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 3
- Tropical storms
- 23
- Tornadoes
- 6
- 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 Gorham
The strongest storm to pass near Gorham was an unnamed storm in 1869, a Category 1 hurricane with 92 mph winds when its centre passed 63 miles away. The closest pass by a hurricane was Carol in 1954, whose centre came within 2 miles. The record near Gorham begins with an unnamed storm in 1858; the most recent system was Irene in 2011, a tropical storm 28 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1890s, with 6 systems. Of the 26 systems, one has come since 2000. Of the 142 New Hampshire cities on this site, 76% have more hurricanes within 75 miles than Gorham. The highest rating among the 6 tornadoes within 25 miles is F1 or EF1, reached 4 times; the most recent, on June 1, 2011, came within 24 miles. Of the 6, one had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 4 have come since 2000. Of the 142 New Hampshire cities, 96% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Gorham. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 11 times since 1979, with stones up to 1.75 inches (golf ball size). Of the 142 New Hampshire cities, 99% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Gorham.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Gorham
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | IreneAug 29 | 28 mi | Tropical storm (51 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1985 | GloriaSep 27 | 13 mi | Tropical storm (67 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1979 | DavidSep 6 | 5 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1971 | DoriaAug 28 | 5 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1968 | Unnamed 1968 stormSep 11 | 48 mi | Tropical storm (51 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1961 | EstherSep 26 | 70 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1961 | Unnamed 1961 stormSep 15 | 55 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1960 | DonnaSep 13 | 45 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1960 | BrendaJul 31 | 30 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1954 | CarolAug 31 | 2 mi | Category 1 (78 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1949 | Unnamed 1949 stormAug 29 | 17 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1934 | Unnamed 1934 stormSep 9 | 37 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1923 | Unnamed 1923 stormOct 19 | 28 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1916 | Unnamed 1916 stormMay 17 | 25 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1908 | Unnamed 1908 stormMay 31 | 57 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1899 | Unnamed 1899 stormNov 1 | 17 mi | Tropical storm (51 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1897 | Unnamed 1897 stormSep 24 | 74 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1896 | Unnamed 1896 stormSep 11 | 61 mi | Tropical storm (51 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1894 | Unnamed 1894 stormOct 10 | 32 mi | Tropical storm (54 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormAug 29 | 21 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormAug 24 | 29 mi | Tropical storm (66 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1874 | Unnamed 1874 stormSep 30 | 50 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1869 | Unnamed 1869 stormOct 5 | 63 mi | Category 1 (92 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1869 | Unnamed 1869 stormSep 9 | 40 mi | Category 1 (81 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1861 | Unnamed 1861 stormNov 3 | 63 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1858 | Unnamed 1858 stormSep 16 | 29 mi | Tropical storm (64 mph) | Category 2 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Gorham: 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 Gorham
By decade
- 2010s2
- 2000s2
- 1990s1
- 1960s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 1, 2011 | EF1 | 24 mi | 0.26 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 17, 2001 | F1 | 20 mi | 0.4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 13, 1999 | F1 | 25 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 13, 1961 | F1 | 17 mi | 5.4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 5, 2010 | EF0 | 3 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 18, 2009 | EF0 | 22 mi | 1.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 6 of 6, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Gorham
The Storm Prediction Center has 11 hail reports within 10 miles of Gorham since 1979, made on 9 separate days. Of these, 8 were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest, 1.75 inches (golf ball size), fell on June 5, 1979. The most recent report is from May 21, 2022. June has the most reports, 5.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Gorham
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Berlin, NH, 5 miles north of Gorham at 920 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 78°F and low of 55°F; January is the coolest, at 27°F and 5°F. October is the wettest at 4.9 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.4 inches; the year adds up to 42.6 inches over 91 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 56% of the year's precipitation (23.8 of 42.6 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 26 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (12); a normal September there has highs of 70°F and 3.4 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 2 days a year. Lows fall below freezing on about 174 nights a year. Snowfall averages 82.0 inches a year, most of it in February. That 42.6 inches is more than at 13 of the 39 New Hampshire stations used on this site (33%). Bethel, ME, 17 miles east, has its own station (Rumford 1 SSE, ME): 49.0 inches a year, 6.4 more than here, and a July average high of 79°F against 78°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 27 | 5 | 2.7 | 6 | 18.2 |
| Feb | 30 | 6 | 2.4 | 6 | 21.0 |
| Mar | 38 | 16 | 3.0 | 7 | 16.1 |
| Apr | 52 | 29 | 3.4 | 8 | 4.2 |
| May | 66 | 41 | 3.6 | 9 | 0.2 |
| Jun | 74 | 50 | 4.2 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 78 | 55 | 4.1 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 77 | 53 | 3.8 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 70 | 45 | 3.4 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 57 | 35 | 4.9 | 8 | 0.5 |
| Nov | 44 | 26 | 3.4 | 7 | 4.6 |
| Dec | 32 | 14 | 3.7 | 8 | 17.2 |
| Year | 54 | 31 | 42.6 | 91 | 82.0 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Berlin, NH (920 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 Gorham
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 46 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Gorham: 16 flash floods, 16 floods and 14 thunderstorm wind reports. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $10.2 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 75 mph, on July 5, 1999. July has had the most flash floods, 6 of 16. Of the 141 New Hampshire cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 113 have had fewer than Gorham.
August 28, 2011: flash flood 2 miles from the centre of Gorham — $6.5 million damage.
NWS: “5 million dollars.”
May 1, 2023: flood 9 miles from the centre of Gorham — $1.2 million damage.
April 16, 2007: flood 6 miles from the centre of Gorham — $700,000 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 Gorham's ZIP code 03581 have filed 29 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1982, and were paid $205,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 31% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 60 New Hampshire cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 28 have fewer than Gorham.
Coos County, which includes Gorham, has been named in 28 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1973, 17 of them major disasters (by incident: 10 severe storms, 6 floods, 5 hurricanes, 4 snowstorms). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storm and Flooding, on August 20, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Coos County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for inland flooding; Relatively Low for hurricanes, strong wind and lightning; Very Low for tornadoes, hail and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $27.0 million a year, the 8th highest of 10 New Hampshire counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $15.1 million (56%), 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 Gorham
- Berlin, NH5 mi
- Bethel, ME17 mi
- Lancaster, NH20 mi
- Groveton, NH22 mi
- Whitefield, NH23 mi
- North Conway, NH24 mi
- Center Conway, NH24 mi
- Fryeburg, ME25 mi
- Bethlehem, NH27 mi
- Conway, NH29 mi
- Norway, ME31 mi
- Rumford, ME31 mi
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