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NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Hopewell, 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

42 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Hopewell, New Jersey since 1851, 7 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Ida in 2021. Since 1950, 77 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 4 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
7

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
35

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
77

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
4

1 deaths in all

What the records show for Hopewell

The strongest storm to pass near Hopewell was Gloria in 1985, a Category 1 hurricane with 90 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 46 miles. The record near Hopewell begins with an unnamed storm in 1861; the most recent system was Ida in 2021, a tropical storm 23 miles away. Of the 42 systems, 8 have come since 2000. Of the 455 New Jersey cities on this site, 46% have more hurricanes within 75 miles than Hopewell. The highest rating among the 77 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3 or EF3, reached 4 times; the most recent, on July 29, 2021, came within 20 miles. The deadliest, an EF2 on September 1, 2021, killed 1 person. Of the 77, one had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 33 have come since 2000. September has had the most tornadoes, 14. The most recent tornado was on June 14, 2024. Hopewell has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 90% of the 455 New Jersey cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 56 times since 1962, with stones up to 1.75 inches (golf ball size). Of the 455 New Jersey cities, 56% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Hopewell.

Compare Hopewell's storm record with another city →

Tropical storms and hurricanes near Hopewell

Tropical systems that passed within 75 miles of Hopewell, New Jersey, newest first
YearStormClosestStrength when closestPeak
2021IdaSep 223 miTropical storm (43 mph)Category 4
2021ElsaJul 968 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 1
2020IsaiasAug 429 miTropical storm (64 mph)Category 1
2020FayJul 1126 miTropical storm (39 mph)Tropical storm
2013AndreaJun 870 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
2012SandyOct 3054 miCategory 1 (75 mph)Category 3
2011IreneAug 2836 miTropical storm (63 mph)Category 3
2008HannaSep 730 miTropical storm (52 mph)Category 1
1999FloydSep 1653 miTropical storm (60 mph)Category 4
1996BerthaJul 1320 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 3
1985GloriaSep 2766 miCategory 1 (90 mph)Category 4
1976BelleAug 1073 miCategory 1 (78 mph)Category 3
1972AgnesJun 2266 miTropical storm (60 mph)Category 1
1971DoriaAug 2828 miTropical storm (62 mph)Tropical storm
1968Unnamed 1968 stormSep 1174 miTropical storm (60 mph)Tropical storm
1961Unnamed 1961 stormSep 1557 miTropical storm (61 mph)Tropical storm
1960BrendaJul 3039 miTropical storm (58 mph)Tropical storm
1955DianeAug 193 miTropical storm (45 mph)Category 2
1952AbleSep 129 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 2
1934Unnamed 1934 stormJun 1921 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 2
1929Unnamed 1929 stormOct 363 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 4
1924Unnamed 1924 stormSep 3029 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 1
1916Unnamed 1916 stormMay 1770 miTropical storm (54 mph)Tropical storm
1915Unnamed 1915 stormAug 415 miTropical storm (55 mph)Category 1
1904Unnamed 1904 stormSep 1562 miCategory 1 (77 mph)Category 1
1903Unnamed 1903 stormSep 1613 miTropical storm (63 mph)Category 2
1902Unnamed 1902 stormJun 1671 miTropical storm (44 mph)Tropical storm
1900Unnamed 1900 stormOct 1456 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1899Unnamed 1899 stormNov 133 miTropical storm (56 mph)Category 2
1894Unnamed 1894 stormOct 1071 miCategory 1 (86 mph)Category 3
1893Unnamed 1893 stormAug 2937 miTropical storm (63 mph)Category 3
1893Unnamed 1893 stormAug 2446 miCategory 1 (87 mph)Category 3
1888Unnamed 1888 stormSep 1146 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1888Unnamed 1888 stormAug 2245 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 3
1882Unnamed 1882 stormSep 2459 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
1878Unnamed 1878 stormOct 2366 miCategory 1 (84 mph)Category 2
1877Unnamed 1877 stormOct 555 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 3
1874Unnamed 1874 stormSep 2930 miTropical storm (64 mph)Category 1
1872Unnamed 1872 stormOct 2630 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 1
1866Unnamed 1866 stormOct 3034 miTropical storm (61 mph)Tropical storm
1863Unnamed 1863 stormSep 1915 miTropical storm (52 mph)Tropical storm
1861Unnamed 1861 stormSep 2837 miTropical storm (64 mph)Category 1

Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Hopewell: 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 Hopewell

By decade

  • 2020s21(1 EF3+)
  • 2010s6
  • 2000s6
  • 1990s18(1 EF3+)
  • 1980s12
  • 1970s6(1 EF3+)
  • 1960s6(1 EF3+)
  • 1950s2
Strongest tornadoes near Hopewell, New Jersey
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
Jul 29, 2021EF320 mi3.4 mi0 / 0
Oct 18, 1990F37 mi0.5 mi0 / 8
Sep 26, 1977F314 mi5.9 mi0 / 0
Jun 24, 1960F38 mi12.9 mi0 / 0
Sep 1, 2021EF223 mi8.28 mi1 / 2
Feb 21, 2023EF29 mi5.8 mi0 / 0
Jul 29, 2021EF27 mi6.31 mi0 / 0
Aug 4, 2020EF219 mi20.77 mi0 / 18
May 27, 2001F224 mi1.5 mi0 / 0
May 31, 1998F223 mi5.6 mi0 / 0
Aug 17, 1988F27 mi4.5 mi0 / 0
Jun 29, 1973F214 mi1.9 mi0 / 0

The strongest 12 of 77, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

Hail in Hopewell

The Storm Prediction Center has 56 hail reports within 10 miles of Hopewell since 1962, made on 36 separate days. Of these, 33 were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest size, 1.75 inches (golf ball size), was reported on 6 days, most recently July 23, 2008. The most recent report is from September 6, 2025. July has the most reports, 22.

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.

Weather by month in Hopewell

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Wertsville 4 NE, NJ, 5 miles north of Hopewell at 283 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 85°F and low of 64°F; January is the coolest, at 38°F and 22°F. July is the wettest at 5.5 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 3.0 inches; the year adds up to 51.1 inches over 87 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 53% of the year's precipitation (26.9 of 51.1 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 42 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (15); a normal September there has highs of 77°F and 4.5 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 17 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 118 nights a year. Snowfall averages 23.9 inches a year, most of it in February. That 51.1 inches is more than at 45 of the 51 New Jersey stations used on this site (88%). Pennington, 4 miles south, has its own station (Trenton State College, NJ): 47.3 inches a year, 3.8 less than here, and a July average high of 87°F against 85°F.

Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Newbold, PA, 17 miles south, averaged 80°F in July and 37°F in January over 2021–2025. It averaged 80°F or warmer from July. Sea level at the Philadelphia tide gauge, 37 miles from Hopewell, has risen 1.24 ± 0.04 inches per decade from 1900 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 12.4 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 73 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.

Monthly climate normals 1991–2020 at Wertsville 4 NE, NJ
MonthHigh °FLow °FPrecip. inDays ≥ 0.1"Snow inWater °F
Jan38223.885.937
Feb41233.078.338
Mar50304.373.945
Apr62404.170.954
May71504.490.064
Jun80594.780.073
Jul85645.590.080
Aug83624.370.078
Sep77554.560.072
Oct65444.470.061
Nov54353.560.349
Dec43284.684.639
Year624351.18723.958

Averages for 1991–2020 at Wertsville 4 NE, NJ (283 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals; water temperature: average of hourly readings 2021–2025 at the NOAA tide station Newbold, PA, 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.

New Jersey weather by month, station by station →

Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Hopewell

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 445 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Hopewell: 293 thunderstorm wind reports, 64 floods, 52 flash floods, 19 heavy rain events and 17 lightning strikes. They killed 11 people and injured 13, and the NWS estimated $138.7 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 79 mph, on October 4, 2000. August has had the most flash floods, 19 of 52. Of the 455 New Jersey cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 187 have had fewer than Hopewell.

  • July 15, 2023: flash flood 9 miles from the centre of Hopewell — 7 killed.

  • August 28, 2011: flood 3 miles from the centre of Hopewell — 2 killed, $75.0 million damage.

  • September 1, 2021: flash flood 8 miles from the centre of Hopewell — 2 killed, $51.0 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 Hopewell's ZIP code 08525 have filed 14 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 2009, and were paid $431,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 2021, with 11. 86% 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, 24 have fewer than Hopewell.

Mercer County, which includes Hopewell, has been named in 28 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 17 of them major disasters (by incident: 9 hurricanes, 7 severe storms, 4 snowstorms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Remnants of Hurricane Ida, on September 5, 2021. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Mercer County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for strong wind; Relatively High for hurricanes, inland flooding and lightning; Relatively Moderate for tornadoes and heat waves; Relatively Low for coastal flooding; Very Low for hail. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $176.2 million a year, the 8th highest of 21 New Jersey counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $113.6 million (64%), 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 Hopewell