NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Hillsboro, 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
35 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Hillsboro, New Hampshire since 1851, 4 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Irene in 2011. Since 1950, 27 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 1 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 4
- Tropical storms
- 31
- Tornadoes
- 27
- EF3 or stronger
- 1
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
no recorded deaths
What the records show for Hillsboro
The strongest storm to pass near Hillsboro was Carol in 1954, a Category 1 hurricane with 93 mph winds when its centre passed 26 miles away. The closest pass by a hurricane was Gloria in 1985, whose centre came within 3 miles. The record near Hillsboro begins with an unnamed storm in 1858; the most recent system was Irene in 2011, a tropical storm 38 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1890s, with 6 systems. Of the 35 systems, 2 have come since 2000. Of the 142 New Hampshire cities on this site, 61% have more hurricanes within 75 miles than Hillsboro. The strongest of the 27 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F3 on May 20, 1963; its path came within 3 miles. Of the 27, one had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 4 have come since 2000. July has had the most tornadoes, 10. The most recent tornado was on June 23, 2024. Hillsboro has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 51% of the 142 New Hampshire cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 30 times since 1968, with stones up to 2 inches (hen egg size). Of the 142 New Hampshire cities, 73% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Hillsboro.
Compare Hillsboro's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Hillsboro
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | IreneAug 28 | 38 mi | Tropical storm (55 mph) | Category 3 |
| 2007 | BarryJun 5 | 72 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1999 | FloydSep 17 | 41 mi | Tropical storm (54 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1996 | BerthaJul 14 | 52 mi | Tropical storm (68 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1985 | GloriaSep 27 | 3 mi | Category 1 (77 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1979 | DavidSep 6 | 58 mi | Tropical storm (48 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1976 | BelleAug 10 | 43 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1971 | DoriaAug 28 | 17 mi | Tropical storm (53 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1968 | Unnamed 1968 stormSep 11 | 31 mi | Tropical storm (55 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1961 | Unnamed 1961 stormSep 15 | 38 mi | Tropical storm (67 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1960 | DonnaSep 13 | 42 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1960 | BrendaJul 30 | 22 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1954 | CarolAug 31 | 26 mi | Category 1 (93 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1949 | Unnamed 1949 stormAug 29 | 54 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1938 | Unnamed 1938 stormSep 21 | 58 mi | Category 1 (76 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1934 | Unnamed 1934 stormSep 9 | 14 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1924 | Unnamed 1924 stormOct 1 | 69 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1923 | Unnamed 1923 stormOct 19 | 33 mi | Tropical storm (47 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1916 | Unnamed 1916 stormJul 21 | 75 mi | Tropical storm (54 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1916 | Unnamed 1916 stormMay 17 | 45 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1908 | Unnamed 1908 stormMay 31 | 51 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormJun 17 | 68 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1899 | Unnamed 1899 stormNov 1 | 25 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1897 | Unnamed 1897 stormSep 24 | 51 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1896 | Unnamed 1896 stormSep 10 | 72 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1894 | Unnamed 1894 stormOct 10 | 32 mi | Tropical storm (60 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormAug 29 | 12 mi | Tropical storm (60 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormAug 24 | 42 mi | Tropical storm (68 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1878 | Unnamed 1878 stormOct 24 | 18 mi | Tropical storm (60 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1874 | Unnamed 1874 stormSep 30 | 30 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1869 | Unnamed 1869 stormSep 9 | 46 mi | Category 1 (91 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1866 | Unnamed 1866 stormOct 30 | 74 mi | Tropical storm (51 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1861 | Unnamed 1861 stormNov 3 | 56 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1861 | Unnamed 1861 stormSep 28 | 39 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1858 | Unnamed 1858 stormSep 16 | 36 mi | Tropical storm (71 mph) | Category 2 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Hillsboro: 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 Hillsboro
By decade
- 2020s2
- 2010s2
- 1990s3
- 1980s3
- 1970s3
- 1960s11(1 EF3+)
- 1950s3
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 20, 1963 | F3 | 3 mi | 14 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 31, 1998 | F2 | 6 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 3, 1997 | F2 | 12 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 6, 1969 | F2 | 21 mi | 1.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 17, 1968 | F2 | 21 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 13, 1963 | F2 | 24 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 9, 1963 | F2 | 23 mi | 10 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 2, 1961 | F2 | 11 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 23, 2024 | EF1 | 16 mi | 3.36 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 27, 2023 | EF1 | 16 mi | 12.65 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 4, 2018 | EF1 | 9 mi | 37.55 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 3, 1997 | F1 | 25 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 1 |
The strongest 12 of 27, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Hillsboro
The Storm Prediction Center has 30 hail reports within 10 miles of Hillsboro since 1968, made on 20 separate days. Of these, 23 were 1 inch across or larger, and 2 reached 2 inches. The largest size, 2 inches (hen egg size), was reported on 2 days, most recently June 9, 2011. The most recent report is from June 6, 2025. June has the most reports, 15.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Hillsboro
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Mt Sunapee, NH, 17 miles northwest of Hillsboro at 1,275 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 79°F and low of 59°F; January is the coolest, at 29°F and 13°F. October is the wettest at 5.5 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 3.1 inches; the year adds up to 48.4 inches over 88 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 54% of the year's precipitation (25.9 of 48.4 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 35 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (14); a normal September there has highs of 70°F and 4.2 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 2 days a year. Lows fall below freezing on about 152 nights a year. Snowfall averages 85.4 inches a year, most of it in February. That 48.4 inches is more than at 30 of the 39 New Hampshire stations used on this site (77%). Antrim, 4 miles south, has its own station (Jaffrey Municipal Airport, NH): 46.4 inches a year, 2.0 less than here, and a July average high of 81°F against 79°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 29 | 13 | 3.3 | 7 | 18.4 |
| Feb | 32 | 15 | 3.1 | 6 | 24.6 |
| Mar | 40 | 22 | 3.7 | 6 | 12.3 |
| Apr | 53 | 33 | 4.2 | 7 | 4.7 |
| May | 66 | 44 | 3.9 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 75 | 54 | 4.4 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 79 | 59 | 4.4 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 77 | 57 | 3.7 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 70 | 50 | 4.2 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 57 | 39 | 5.5 | 8 | 1.2 |
| Nov | 45 | 29 | 3.7 | 7 | 3.6 |
| Dec | 34 | 20 | 4.3 | 8 | 20.6 |
| Year | 55 | 36 | 48.4 | 88 | 85.4 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Mt Sunapee, NH (1,275 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 Hillsboro
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 87 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Hillsboro: 63 thunderstorm wind reports, 15 flash floods, 8 floods and 1 lightning strike. They killed 0 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $777,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 69 mph, on July 6, 1999. July has had the most flash floods, 10 of 15. Of the 141 New Hampshire cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 104 have had fewer than Hillsboro.
June 6, 2025: lightning strike 7 miles from the centre of Hillsboro — 1 injured.
July 2, 2013: flash flood 10 miles from the centre of Hillsboro — $500,000 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 Hillsboro's ZIP code 03244 have filed 34 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $348,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 2007, with 13. 18% 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, 32 have fewer than Hillsboro.
Hillsborough County, which includes Hillsboro, has been named in 31 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1973, 19 of them major disasters (by incident: 13 severe storms, 6 snowstorms, 5 floods, 4 hurricanes). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on April 3, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Hillsborough County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for strong wind and lightning; Relatively Moderate for hurricanes, tornadoes and inland flooding; Relatively Low for hail and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $120.3 million a year, the highest of 10 New Hampshire counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $76.4 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.