NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Hawthorne, 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
44 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Hawthorne, New Jersey since 1851, 7 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Ida in 2021. Since 1950, 54 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 1 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 7
- Tropical storms
- 37
- Tornadoes
- 54
- EF3 or stronger
- 1
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
2 deaths in all
What the records show for Hawthorne
The strongest storm to pass near Hawthorne was an unnamed storm in 1938, a Category 3 hurricane with 119 mph winds when its centre passed 66 miles away. The closest pass by a hurricane was an unnamed storm in 1893, whose centre came within 18 miles. The record near Hawthorne begins with an unnamed storm in 1861; the most recent system was Ida in 2021, a tropical storm 48 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1890s, with 5 systems, 2 of them at hurricane strength. Of the 44 systems, 7 have come since 2000. Of the 455 New Jersey cities on this site, 46% have more hurricanes within 75 miles than Hawthorne. The strongest of the 54 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F3 on May 28, 1973; its path came within 21 miles. The deadliest, an EF1 on September 16, 2010, killed 1 person. Of the 54, 3 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 16 have come since 2000. July has had the most tornadoes, 17. The most recent tornado was on August 19, 2021. Of the 455 New Jersey cities, 49% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Hawthorne. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 97 times since 1974, with stones up to 2.5 inches (tennis ball size). Hawthorne has more hail reports within 10 miles than 80% of the 455 New Jersey cities.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Hawthorne
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | IdaSep 2 | 48 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Category 4 |
| 2021 | ElsaJul 9 | 71 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2020 | IsaiasAug 4 | 43 mi | Tropical storm (62 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2020 | FayJul 11 | 53 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2013 | AndreaJun 8 | 72 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2011 | IreneAug 28 | 16 mi | Tropical storm (62 mph) | Category 3 |
| 2008 | HannaSep 7 | 37 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1999 | FloydSep 17 | 42 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1996 | BerthaJul 13 | 25 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1985 | GloriaSep 27 | 50 mi | Category 1 (86 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1976 | BelleAug 10 | 48 mi | Tropical storm (71 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1972 | AgnesJun 22 | 23 mi | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1971 | DoriaAug 28 | 15 mi | Tropical storm (59 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1968 | Unnamed 1968 stormSep 11 | 49 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1961 | Unnamed 1961 stormSep 15 | 51 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1960 | DonnaSep 12 | 67 mi | Category 2 (98 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1960 | BrendaJul 30 | 33 mi | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1955 | DianeAug 19 | 28 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1952 | AbleSep 1 | 21 mi | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1938 | Unnamed 1938 stormSep 21 | 66 mi | Category 3 (119 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1934 | Unnamed 1934 stormSep 9 | 60 mi | Tropical storm (66 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1934 | Unnamed 1934 stormJun 19 | 41 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1924 | Unnamed 1924 stormSep 30 | 14 mi | Tropical storm (68 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1916 | Unnamed 1916 stormMay 17 | 67 mi | Tropical storm (55 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormAug 4 | 1 mi | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1904 | Unnamed 1904 stormSep 15 | 71 mi | Category 1 (79 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1903 | Unnamed 1903 stormSep 16 | 59 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormJun 16 | 69 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1900 | Unnamed 1900 stormOct 14 | 44 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1899 | Unnamed 1899 stormNov 1 | 37 mi | Tropical storm (54 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1897 | Unnamed 1897 stormSep 24 | 70 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1894 | Unnamed 1894 stormOct 10 | 65 mi | Category 1 (86 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormAug 29 | 33 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormAug 24 | 18 mi | Category 1 (85 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormSep 11 | 49 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormAug 22 | 19 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1882 | Unnamed 1882 stormSep 24 | 63 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1878 | Unnamed 1878 stormOct 23 | 71 mi | Category 1 (78 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1877 | Unnamed 1877 stormOct 5 | 65 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1874 | Unnamed 1874 stormSep 29 | 26 mi | Tropical storm (68 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1872 | Unnamed 1872 stormOct 26 | 31 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1866 | Unnamed 1866 stormOct 30 | 6 mi | Tropical storm (59 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1863 | Unnamed 1863 stormSep 19 | 2 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1861 | Unnamed 1861 stormSep 28 | 30 mi | Tropical storm (62 mph) | Category 1 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Hawthorne: 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 Hawthorne
By decade
- 2020s2
- 2010s10
- 2000s4
- 1990s12
- 1980s11
- 1970s11(1 EF3+)
- 1960s1
- 1950s3
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 28, 1973 | F3 | 21 mi | 0.4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 8, 2007 | EF2 | 24 mi | 3.92 mi | 0 / 9 |
| Jul 12, 2006 | F2 | 17 mi | 10.1 mi | 0 / 6 |
| Jul 15, 1970 | F2 | 13 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 7, 1962 | F2 | 5 mi | 2.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 6, 1956 | F2 | 7 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 16, 2010 | EF1 | 22 mi | 4 mi | 1 / 1 |
| Oct 31, 2019 | EF1 | 18 mi | 4.87 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 2, 2018 | EF1 | 25 mi | 4.28 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 2, 2018 | EF1 | 20 mi | 2.12 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 7, 2013 | EF1 | 4 mi | 1.25 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 25, 2010 | EF1 | 13 mi | 0.87 mi | 0 / 7 |
The strongest 12 of 54, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Hawthorne
The Storm Prediction Center has 97 hail reports within 10 miles of Hawthorne since 1974, made on 50 separate days. Of these, 50 were 1 inch across or larger, and 3 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.5 inches (tennis ball size), fell on July 8, 2021. The most recent report is from September 8, 2023. July has the most reports, 38.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Hawthorne
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Caldwell Essex Co Airport, NJ, 9 miles southwest of Hawthorne at 173 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 85°F and low of 66°F; January is the coolest, at 38°F and 23°F. August is the wettest at 4.5 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.6 inches; the year adds up to 44.9 inches over 77 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 54% of the year's precipitation (24.1 of 44.9 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 44 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (19); a normal September there has highs of 76°F and 3.7 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 21 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 108 nights a year. That 44.9 inches is more than at 8 of the 51 New Jersey stations used on this site (16%). Glen Rock, 2 miles east, has its own station (Teterboro Airport, NJ): 46.4 inches a year, 1.5 more than here, and a July average high of 87°F against 85°F.
Water temperature at the NOAA tide station The Battery, NY, 19 miles southeast, averaged 74°F in August and 39°F in February over 2021–2025. No month averaged 80°F. Sea level at the The Battery tide gauge, 19 miles from Hawthorne, has risen 1.16 ± 0.02 inches per decade from 1856 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 11.6 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 66 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Water °F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 38 | 23 | 3.0 | 6 | 41 |
| Feb | 41 | 24 | 2.6 | 5 | 39 |
| Mar | 49 | 31 | 4.1 | 6 | 42 |
| Apr | 62 | 41 | 3.7 | 7 | 49 |
| May | 72 | 51 | 3.4 | 7 | 58 |
| Jun | 81 | 60 | 4.3 | 8 | 66 |
| Jul | 85 | 66 | 4.3 | 6 | 73 |
| Aug | 84 | 64 | 4.5 | 7 | 74 |
| Sep | 76 | 57 | 3.7 | 6 | 72 |
| Oct | 65 | 45 | 4.0 | 6 | 65 |
| Nov | 53 | 35 | 3.3 | 6 | 56 |
| Dec | 43 | 28 | 4.0 | 7 | 46 |
| Year | 62 | 44 | 44.9 | 77 | 57 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Caldwell Essex Co Airport, NJ (173 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals; water temperature: average of hourly readings 2021–2025 at the NOAA tide station The Battery, NY, 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.
Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Hawthorne
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 876 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Hawthorne: 384 thunderstorm wind reports, 314 flash floods, 128 floods, 47 lightning strikes and 3 heavy rain events. They killed 10 people and injured 30, and the NWS estimated $88.9 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 110 mph, on October 7, 2013. July has had the most flash floods, 107 of 314. Of the 455 New Jersey cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 381 have had fewer than Hawthorne.
May 14, 2017: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Hawthorne — 1 killed, 6 injured, $2,000 damage.
June 10, 2008: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Hawthorne — 1 killed, 1 injured, $500 damage.
April 15, 2007: flood 8 miles from the centre of Hawthorne — 1 killed, $4.0 million 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 Hawthorne's ZIP code 07506 have filed 269 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $4.6 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1984: 32 claims (12% of all) and $322,000, then Hurricane Floyd in 1999 with 20 and Hurricane Irene in 2011 with 16. 42% 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, 286 have fewer than Hawthorne.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1984 | 32 | $322,000 |
| Hurricane Floyd1999 | 20 | $725,000 |
| Hurricane Irene2011 | 16 | $558,000 |
| Not a named storm1979 | 11 | $64,000 |
| April 2007 Nor'easter2007 | 10 | $178,000 |
| Hurricane Ida2021 | 10 | $750,000 |
Passaic County, which includes Hawthorne, has been named in 30 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 18 of them major disasters (by incident: 9 hurricanes, 6 severe storms, 4 floods, 4 snowstorms). The latest major disaster declaration was Remnants of Hurricane Ida, on September 5, 2021. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Passaic County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for strong wind and lightning; Relatively High for inland flooding; Relatively Moderate for hurricanes, tornadoes and heat waves; Very Low for hail and coastal flooding. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $148.8 million a year, the 12th highest of 21 New Jersey counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $111.0 million (75%), 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 Hawthorne
- Glen Rock, NJ2 mi
- North Haledon, NJ2 mi
- Midland Park, NJ3 mi
- Fair Lawn, NJ3 mi
- Ridgewood, NJ3 mi
- Wyckoff, NJ3 mi
- Paterson, NJ3 mi
- Elmwood Park, NJ4 mi
- Ho Ho Kus, NJ4 mi
- Waldwick, NJ4 mi
- Paramus, NJ5 mi
- Franklin Lakes, NJ5 mi
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