Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Hampton, VA

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Langley AFB, VA, 3 miles north of Hampton at 10 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 87°F and low of 71°F; January is the coolest, at 49°F and 32°F. July is the wettest at 5.3 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.9 inches; the year adds up to 47.8 inches over 71 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 55% of the year's precipitation (26.2 of 47.8 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 86 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (34); a normal September there has highs of 79°F and 4.8 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 30 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 52 nights a year. Snowfall averages 2.7 inches a year, most of it in January. That 47.8 inches is more than at 84 of the 109 Virginia stations used on this site (77%). Newport News, 8 miles northwest, has its own station (Newport News International Airport, VA): 45.5 inches a year, 2.3 less than here, and a July average high of 88°F against 87°F.

Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Sewells Point, VA, 7 miles south, averaged 81°F in July and 44°F in January over 2021–2025. It averaged 80°F or warmer from July to August. Sea level at the Sewells Point tide gauge, 7 miles from Hampton, has risen 1.90 ± 0.04 inches per decade from 1927 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 19.0 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 115 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 335 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Hampton: 183 thunderstorm wind reports, 76 heavy rain events, 58 flash floods, 15 floods and 3 lightning strikes. They killed 1 person and injured 0, and the NWS estimated $54.4 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 92 mph, on July 26, 2022. August has had the most flash floods, 21 of 58. Of the 364 Virginia cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 317 have had fewer than Hampton.

Flood insurance policyholders in Hampton's 6 ZIP codes have filed 5,619 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $71.4 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Hurricane Isabel in 2003: 2,297 claims (41% of all) and $32.7 million, then November 2009 Nor'easter in 2009 with 1,146 and Hurricane Irene in 2011 with 380. 85% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 183 Virginia cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 180 have fewer than Hampton.