Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Jamestown, RI

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Newport Rose, RI, 2 miles southeast of Jamestown at 15 feet. August is the warmest, with an average high of 78°F and low of 64°F; January is the coolest, at 39°F and 24°F. April and October are the wettest at 4.7 inches of precipitation on average and June and July the driest at 3.2 inches; the year adds up to 47.4 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 (22.1 of 47.4 inches); the other six months are wetter. September has brought the most of the 57 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (20); a normal September there has highs of 73°F and 3.8 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 1 days a year. Lows fall below freezing on about 89 nights a year. Snowfall averages 26.0 inches a year, most of it in February. That 47.4 inches is more than at 2 of the 10 Rhode Island stations used on this site (20%). Saunderstown, 4 miles west, has its own station (Kingston 1 NW, RI): 51.3 inches a year, 3.9 more than here, and an August average high of 79°F against 78°F.

Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Newport, RI, 3 miles southeast, averaged 72°F in August and 39°F in February over 2021–2025. No month averaged 80°F. Sea level at the Newport tide gauge, 3 miles from Jamestown, has risen 1.17 ± 0.03 inches per decade from 1930 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 11.7 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 68 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 57 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Jamestown: 26 thunderstorm wind reports, 19 floods, 8 flash floods and 4 lightning strikes. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $3.9 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 75 mph, on August 25, 2020. July has had the most flash floods, 3 of 8. Of the 49 Rhode Island cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 10 have had fewer than Jamestown.

Flood insurance policyholders in Jamestown's ZIP code 02835 have filed 58 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $290,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from March 2010 Nor'easter in 2010: 16 claims (28% of all) and $123,000, then Hurricane Sandy in 2012 with 11. 67% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 38 Rhode Island cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 17 have fewer than Jamestown.