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NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Hyannis, MA

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

64 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Hyannis, Massachusetts since 1851, 15 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Wanda in 2021. Since 1950, 10 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
15

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
49

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
10

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
0

no recorded deaths

What the records show for Hyannis

The strongest storm to pass near Hyannis was Gerda in 1969, a Category 3 hurricane with 116 mph winds when its centre passed 63 miles away. The closest pass by a hurricane was Edna in 1954, whose centre came within 2 miles. The record near Hyannis begins with an unnamed storm in 1851; the most recent system was Wanda in 2021, a tropical storm 49 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1880s, with 11 systems, 3 of them at hurricane strength. Of the 64 systems, 9 have come since 2000. Hyannis has more hurricanes within 75 miles than 90% of the 346 Massachusetts cities on this site. The strongest of the 10 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F2 on December 18, 1951; its path came within 23 miles. Of the 10, 4 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 7 have come since 2000. July has had the most tornadoes, 4. The most recent tornado was on August 8, 2023. Of the 346 Massachusetts cities, 95% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Hyannis. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 18 times since 1998, with stones up to 1.5 inches (ping pong ball size). Of the 346 Massachusetts cities, 90% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Hyannis.

Compare Hyannis's storm record with another city →

Tropical storms and hurricanes near Hyannis

Tropical systems that passed within 75 miles of Hyannis, Massachusetts, newest first
YearStormClosestStrength when closestPeak
2021WandaOct 2749 miTropical storm (69 mph)Tropical storm
2021IdaSep 227 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 4
2021HenriAug 2275 miTropical storm (63 mph)Category 1
2021ElsaJul 943 miTropical storm (52 mph)Category 1
2013AndreaJun 840 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
2008HannaSep 755 miTropical storm (52 mph)Category 1
2007BarryJun 448 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
2006BerylJul 2125 miTropical storm (52 mph)Tropical storm
2004HermineAug 3129 miTropical storm (39 mph)Tropical storm
1997DannyJul 2569 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 1
1996JosephineOct 917 miTropical storm (52 mph)Tropical storm
1991BobAug 1941 miCategory 1 (91 mph)Category 3
1988AlbertoAug 757 miTropical storm (39 mph)Tropical storm
1973AlfaAug 150 miTropical storm (39 mph)Tropical storm
1972CarrieSep 346 miTropical storm (63 mph)Tropical storm
1969GerdaSep 963 miCategory 3 (116 mph)Category 3
1967Unnamed 1967 stormJun 2166 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
1966AlmaJun 1420 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 3
1962AlmaAug 2964 miCategory 1 (81 mph)Category 1
1961EstherSep 264 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 5
1959CindyJul 1118 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 1
1955DianeAug 1947 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 2
1954EdnaSep 112 miCategory 2 (109 mph)Category 3
1952Unnamed 1952 stormFeb 435 miTropical storm (63 mph)Tropical storm
1944Unnamed 1944 stormOct 2136 miTropical storm (52 mph)Category 4
1944Unnamed 1944 stormSep 1543 miCategory 1 (75 mph)Category 5
1936Unnamed 1936 stormSep 1961 miCategory 1 (86 mph)Category 3
1934Unnamed 1934 stormJun 202 miTropical storm (47 mph)Category 2
1932Unnamed 1932 stormSep 1749 miCategory 1 (75 mph)Category 1
1924Unnamed 1924 stormAug 2634 miCategory 1 (91 mph)Category 3
1923Unnamed 1923 stormOct 1921 miTropical storm (56 mph)Tropical storm
1917Unnamed 1917 stormAug 1048 miTropical storm (66 mph)Tropical storm
1916Unnamed 1916 stormJul 2138 miTropical storm (64 mph)Category 2
1913Unnamed 1913 stormOct 258 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 1
1908Unnamed 1908 stormMay 3169 miTropical storm (40 mph)Category 1
1907Unnamed 1907 stormJun 3023 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1904Unnamed 1904 stormSep 1519 miCategory 1 (86 mph)Category 1
1902Unnamed 1902 stormJun 1759 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1897Unnamed 1897 stormSep 2472 miTropical storm (47 mph)Tropical storm
1896Unnamed 1896 stormSep 1019 miTropical storm (71 mph)Category 3
1894Unnamed 1894 stormOct 168 miTropical storm (40 mph)Category 3
1891Unnamed 1891 stormOct 1460 miTropical storm (62 mph)Tropical storm
1889Unnamed 1889 stormSep 25overheadTropical storm (40 mph)Category 2
1888Unnamed 1888 stormNov 2759 miCategory 1 (92 mph)Category 2
1888Unnamed 1888 stormOct 1241 miTropical storm (44 mph)Category 2
1888Unnamed 1888 stormSep 2619 miCategory 1 (81 mph)Category 1
1888Unnamed 1888 stormSep 1254 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1888Unnamed 1888 stormAug 2249 miTropical storm (49 mph)Category 3
1887Unnamed 1887 stormOct 2134 miTropical storm (52 mph)Category 1
1885Unnamed 1885 stormSep 2348 miCategory 1 (92 mph)Category 1
1882Unnamed 1882 stormSep 1260 miTropical storm (63 mph)Category 3
1881Unnamed 1881 stormSep 1152 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 2
1880Unnamed 1880 stormOct 2322 miTropical storm (69 mph)Tropical storm
1879Unnamed 1879 stormAug 195 miCategory 1 (78 mph)Category 3
1878Unnamed 1878 stormOct 2473 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 2
1877Unnamed 1877 stormOct 51 miTropical storm (61 mph)Category 3
1875Unnamed 1875 stormOct 1551 miTropical storm (62 mph)Category 1
1872Unnamed 1872 stormOct 2728 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 1
1871Unnamed 1871 stormAug 3067 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 3
1869Unnamed 1869 stormOct 46 miCategory 2 (104 mph)Category 2
1869Unnamed 1869 stormSep 864 miCategory 2 (106 mph)Category 3
1861Unnamed 1861 stormNov 366 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 1
1856Unnamed 1856 stormAug 2168 miTropical storm (58 mph)Tropical storm
1851Unnamed 1851 stormOct 1969 miTropical storm (49 mph)Tropical storm

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

By decade

  • 2020s2
  • 2010s5
  • 1970s1
  • 1960s1
  • 1950s1
Strongest tornadoes near Hyannis, Massachusetts
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
Dec 18, 1951F223 mi0.1 mi0 / 0
Jul 23, 2019EF111 mi2.77 mi0 / 0
Jul 23, 2019EF12 mi0.25 mi0 / 0
Jul 23, 2019EF11 mi5.52 mi0 / 0
Aug 22, 1977F11 mi0.1 mi0 / 2
Aug 9, 1968F17 mi0.1 mi0 / 0
Aug 8, 2023EF05 mi1.2 mi0 / 0
Sep 1, 2021EF07 mi0.1 mi0 / 0
Oct 29, 2018EF021 mi0.1 mi0 / 0
Jul 24, 2012EF024 mi0.03 mi0 / 0

The strongest 10 of 10, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

Hail in Hyannis

The Storm Prediction Center has 18 hail reports within 10 miles of Hyannis since 1998, made on 11 separate days. Of these, 3 were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest, 1.5 inches (ping pong ball size), fell on July 2, 2009. The most recent report is from June 22, 2019. June has the most reports, 6.

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

Weather by month in Hyannis

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Hyannis, MA, 1 mile northwest of Hyannis at 60 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 78°F and low of 64°F; January is the coolest, at 39°F and 22°F. March is the wettest at 4.8 inches of precipitation on average and July the driest at 2.8 inches; the year adds up to 45.7 inches over 79 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 47% of the year's precipitation (21.5 of 45.7 inches); the other six months are wetter. September has brought the most of the 64 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (19); a normal September there has highs of 71°F and 3.8 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 2 days a year, almost all from July. Lows fall below freezing on about 101 nights a year. Snowfall averages 21.5 inches a year, most of it in January. That 45.7 inches is more than at 15 of the 65 Massachusetts stations used on this site (23%). West Yarmouth, 3 miles east, has its own station (Hyannis Barnstable Municipal Airport, MA): 44.8 inches a year, 0.9 less than here, and a July average high of 81°F against 78°F.

Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Chatham, MA, 18 miles east, averaged 69°F in August and 39°F in February over 2021–2025. No month averaged 80°F. Sea level at the Woods Hole tide gauge, 22 miles from Hyannis, has risen 1.24 ± 0.03 inches per decade from 1932 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 Hyannis, MA
MonthHigh °FLow °FPrecip. inDays ≥ 0.1"Snow inWater °F
Jan39223.779.540
Feb40243.676.339
Mar44304.873.642
Apr54384.070.049
May63483.470.056
Jun72573.360.063
Jul78642.840.069
Aug77633.260.069
Sep71573.850.067
Oct61464.370.060
Nov52374.170.050
Dec44294.792.144
Year584345.77921.554

Averages for 1991–2020 at Hyannis, MA (60 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals; water temperature: average of hourly readings 2021–2025 at the NOAA tide station Chatham, MA, 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.

Massachusetts weather by month, station by station →

Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Hyannis

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 57 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Hyannis: 31 thunderstorm wind reports, 15 floods, 6 flash floods, 4 lightning strikes and 1 heavy rain event. They killed 0 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $2.9 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 90 mph, on July 23, 2019. July has had the most flash floods, 4 of 6. Of the 339 Massachusetts cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 52 have had fewer than Hyannis.

  • July 2, 2009: lightning strike 8 miles from the centre of Hyannis — 1 injured.

  • July 23, 2019: thunderstorm wind 5 miles from the centre of Hyannis — $2.6 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 Hyannis's ZIP code 02601 have filed 82 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $765,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Hurricane Bob in 1991: 22 claims (27% of all) and $267,000. 41% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 229 Massachusetts cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 156 have fewer than Hyannis.

Flood insurance claims in Hyannis by named event
EventClaimsPaid
Hurricane Bob199122$267,000

Barnstable County, which includes Hyannis, has been named in 24 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1972, 14 of them major disasters (by incident: 9 hurricanes, 5 snowstorms, 4 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 27, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Barnstable County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for coastal flooding; Relatively High for hurricanes and lightning; Relatively Moderate for inland flooding and strong wind; Relatively Low for tornadoes, hail and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $82.3 million a year, the 9th highest of 14 Massachusetts counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $44.2 million (54%), 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 Hyannis