NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Indian Head, MD
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 Indian Head, Maryland since 1851, 3 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Elsa in 2021. Since 1950, 103 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 4 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 3
- Tropical storms
- 32
- Tornadoes
- 103
- EF3 or stronger
- 4
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
5 deaths in all
What the records show for Indian Head
The strongest storm to pass near Indian Head was an unnamed storm in 1878, a Category 1 hurricane with 93 mph winds when its centre passed 1 mile away. The record near Indian Head begins with an unnamed storm in 1872; the most recent system was Elsa in 2021, a tropical storm 74 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1870s, with 5 systems, one of them at hurricane strength. Of the 35 systems, 5 have come since 2000. Indian Head has more hurricanes within 75 miles than 14% of the 239 Maryland cities on this site. The strongest of the 103 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F4 on April 28, 2002; its path came within 3 miles, and it killed 3 people. Of the 103, 2 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 62 have come since 2000. July has had the most tornadoes, 20. The most recent tornado was on August 8, 2024. Indian Head has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 66% of the 239 Maryland cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 63 times since 1958, with stones up to 3 inches (tea cup size). Indian Head has more hail reports within 10 miles than 53% of the 239 Maryland cities.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Indian Head
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | ElsaJul 9 | 74 mi | Tropical storm (55 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2020 | ZetaOct 29 | 34 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 3 |
| 2020 | IsaiasAug 4 | 41 mi | Tropical storm (68 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2008 | HannaSep 6 | 53 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2006 | ErnestoSep 2 | 24 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1996 | BerthaJul 13 | 60 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1963 | Unnamed 1963 stormJun 3 | 44 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1955 | DianeAug 18 | 44 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1955 | ConnieAug 13 | 37 mi | Tropical storm (61 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1954 | HazelOct 15 | 25 mi | Category 1 (85 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1952 | AbleSep 1 | 38 mi | Tropical storm (55 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1949 | Unnamed 1949 stormAug 29 | 49 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1945 | Unnamed 1945 stormSep 18 | 19 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1944 | Unnamed 1944 stormAug 2 | 36 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1943 | Unnamed 1943 stormOct 1 | 28 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1934 | Unnamed 1934 stormJun 19 | 40 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1933 | Unnamed 1933 stormAug 23 | overhead | Tropical storm (64 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1929 | Unnamed 1929 stormOct 2 | 14 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1928 | Unnamed 1928 stormSep 20 | 28 mi | Tropical storm (54 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1928 | Unnamed 1928 stormAug 12 | 60 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormAug 4 | 26 mi | Tropical storm (47 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1904 | Unnamed 1904 stormSep 15 | 70 mi | Tropical storm (70 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormOct 12 | 53 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormJun 16 | 75 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1899 | Unnamed 1899 stormNov 1 | 18 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormOct 23 | 38 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormOct 13 | 52 mi | Category 1 (75 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormAug 29 | 32 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormSep 11 | 55 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1885 | Unnamed 1885 stormOct 13 | 50 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1878 | Unnamed 1878 stormOct 23 | 1 mi | Category 1 (93 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1877 | Unnamed 1877 stormOct 4 | 63 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1876 | Unnamed 1876 stormSep 18 | 14 mi | Tropical storm (68 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1874 | Unnamed 1874 stormSep 29 | 68 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1872 | Unnamed 1872 stormOct 26 | 65 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 1 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Indian Head: 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 Indian Head
By decade
- 2020s6
- 2010s23
- 2000s33(1 EF3+)
- 1990s21
- 1980s3
- 1970s12(3 EF3+)
- 1960s3
- 1950s2
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 28, 2002 | F4 | 3 mi | 38 mi | 3 / 122 |
| Sep 5, 1979 | F3 | 14 mi | 17.9 mi | 1 / 6 |
| Jan 26, 1978 | F3 | 10 mi | 0.7 mi | 1 / 10 |
| Apr 1, 1973 | F3 | 17 mi | 9.8 mi | 0 / 37 |
| May 8, 2008 | EF2 | 22 mi | 3.42 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 17, 2004 | F2 | 22 mi | 15 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Sep 17, 2004 | F2 | 15 mi | 4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 28, 2002 | F2 | 10 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 24, 1996 | F2 | 17 mi | 20 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Oct 5, 1995 | F2 | 19 mi | 2.5 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Jul 27, 1994 | F2 | 12 mi | 0.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 27, 1994 | F2 | 22 mi | 0.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 103, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Indian Head
The Storm Prediction Center has 63 hail reports within 10 miles of Indian Head since 1958, made on 45 separate days. Of these, 46 were 1 inch across or larger, and 4 reached 2 inches. The largest size, 3 inches (tea cup size), was reported on 2 days, most recently April 28, 2002. The most recent report is from June 16, 2023. June has the most reports, 19.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Indian Head
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Quantico Mcas, VA, 10 miles southwest of Indian Head at 10 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 88°F and low of 71°F; January is the coolest, at 45°F and 28°F. July is the wettest at 4.6 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.4 inches; the year adds up to 40.9 inches over 70 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 54% of the year's precipitation (22.1 of 40.9 inches); the other six months are drier. October has brought the most of the 35 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (11); a normal October there has highs of 69°F and 3.3 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 29 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 76 nights a year. Snowfall averages 12.4 inches a year, most of it in February. That 40.9 inches is more than at 2 of the 41 Maryland stations used on this site (5%). Bryans Road, 5 miles northeast, has its own station (Oxon Hill, MD): 47.1 inches a year, 6.2 more than here, and the same July average high, 88°F.
Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Dahlgren, VA, 20 miles south, averaged 85°F in July and 40°F in January over 2021–2025. It averaged 80°F or warmer from July to August. Sea level at the Dahlgren tide gauge, 20 miles from Indian Head, has risen 2.24 ± 0.12 inches per decade from 1972 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 22.4 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 127 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in | Water °F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 45 | 28 | 2.7 | 5 | 3.5 | 40 |
| Feb | 48 | 30 | 2.4 | 5 | 5.8 | 42 |
| Mar | 56 | 37 | 3.6 | 6 | 1.4 | 50 |
| Apr | 68 | 47 | 3.2 | 6 | 0.0 | 60 |
| May | 76 | 57 | 3.6 | 7 | 0.0 | 69 |
| Jun | 84 | 66 | 3.5 | 7 | 0.0 | 78 |
| Jul | 88 | 71 | 4.6 | 6 | 0.0 | 85 |
| Aug | 86 | 69 | 4.2 | 5 | 0.0 | 83 |
| Sep | 80 | 62 | 3.4 | 6 | 0.0 | 77 |
| Oct | 69 | 50 | 3.3 | 5 | 0.0 | 67 |
| Nov | 58 | 39 | 3.1 | 5 | 0.0 | 55 |
| Dec | 49 | 32 | 3.3 | 7 | 1.7 | 44 |
| Year | 67 | 49 | 40.9 | 70 | 12.4 | 63 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Quantico Mcas, VA (10 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals; water temperature: average of hourly readings 2021–2025 at the NOAA tide station Dahlgren, VA, 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 Indian Head
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 368 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Indian Head: 293 thunderstorm wind reports, 42 floods, 31 flash floods and 2 lightning strikes. They killed 3 people and injured 8, and the NWS estimated $3.2 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 90 mph, on May 13, 2000. June has had the most flash floods, 12 of 31. Of the 239 Maryland cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 99 have had fewer than Indian Head.
July 29, 2023: thunderstorm wind 10 miles from the centre of Indian Head — 1 killed, $250,000 damage.
May 16, 2025: thunderstorm wind 10 miles from the centre of Indian Head — 1 killed, $25,000 damage.
September 8, 2011: flash flood 8 miles from the centre of Indian Head — 1 killed.
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
Charles County, which includes Indian Head, has been named in 24 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1972, 17 of them major disasters (by incident: 7 hurricanes, 7 snowstorms, 3 floods, 3 severe storms). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 26, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Charles County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for strong wind, lightning and heat waves; Relatively Low for hurricanes, tornadoes, hail, inland flooding and coastal flooding. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $22.5 million a year, the 14th highest of 24 Maryland counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $10.9 million (48%), 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 Indian Head
- Bryans Road, MD5 mi
- Lorton, VA8 mi
- Fort Belvoir, VA8 mi
- Accokeek, MD9 mi
- Port Tobacco, MD9 mi
- Woodbridge, VA9 mi
- Dumfries, VA10 mi
- White Plains, MD10 mi
- La Plata, MD10 mi
- Triangle, VA11 mi
- Quantico, VA12 mi
- Nanjemoy, MD12 mi
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