NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Kensington, 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
31 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Kensington, Maryland since 1851, 3 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Zeta in 2020. Since 1950, 119 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 3 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 3
- Tropical storms
- 28
- Tornadoes
- 119
- EF3 or stronger
- 3
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
3 deaths in all
What the records show for Kensington
The strongest storm to pass near Kensington was an unnamed storm in 1878, a Category 1 hurricane with 92 mph winds when its centre passed 5 miles away. The record near Kensington begins with an unnamed storm in 1872; the most recent system was Zeta in 2020, a tropical storm 61 miles away. Of the 31 systems, 5 have come since 2000. Kensington has more hurricanes within 75 miles than 14% of the 239 Maryland cities on this site. The highest rating among the 119 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3, reached 3 times; the most recent, on September 24, 2001, came within 7 miles. Of the 119, 6 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 66 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 24. The most recent tornado was on June 18, 2025. Kensington has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 92% of the 239 Maryland cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 170 times since 1965, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Kensington has more hail reports within 10 miles than 98% of the 239 Maryland cities.
Compare Kensington's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Kensington
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | ZetaOct 29 | 61 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 3 |
| 2020 | IsaiasAug 4 | 49 mi | Tropical storm (67 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2012 | SandyOct 30 | 67 mi | Tropical storm (61 mph) | Category 3 |
| 2008 | HannaSep 6 | 68 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2006 | ErnestoSep 2 | 20 mi | Tropical storm (45 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1996 | BerthaJul 13 | 71 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1992 | DanielleSep 26 | 69 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1979 | DavidSep 6 | 68 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1963 | Unnamed 1963 stormJun 3 | 74 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1955 | DianeAug 18 | 24 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1955 | ConnieAug 13 | 25 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1954 | HazelOct 15 | 23 mi | Category 1 (84 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1952 | AbleSep 1 | 22 mi | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1949 | Unnamed 1949 stormAug 29 | 38 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1945 | Unnamed 1945 stormSep 18 | 34 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1944 | Unnamed 1944 stormAug 2 | 57 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1943 | Unnamed 1943 stormOct 1 | 20 mi | Tropical storm (45 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1934 | Unnamed 1934 stormJun 19 | 14 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1933 | Unnamed 1933 stormAug 24 | 5 mi | Tropical storm (61 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1929 | Unnamed 1929 stormOct 2 | 20 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1928 | Unnamed 1928 stormSep 20 | 38 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormAug 4 | 7 mi | Tropical storm (47 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1899 | Unnamed 1899 stormNov 1 | 28 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormOct 23 | 13 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormOct 14 | 52 mi | Category 1 (74 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormAug 29 | 14 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormSep 11 | 72 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1885 | Unnamed 1885 stormOct 13 | 47 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1878 | Unnamed 1878 stormOct 23 | 5 mi | Category 1 (92 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1876 | Unnamed 1876 stormSep 18 | 25 mi | Tropical storm (66 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1872 | Unnamed 1872 stormOct 26 | 74 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 Kensington: 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 Kensington
By decade
- 2020s16
- 2010s34
- 2000s16(1 EF3+)
- 1990s29
- 1980s4
- 1970s11(2 EF3+)
- 1960s5
- 1950s4
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 24, 2001 | F3 | 7 mi | 17.5 mi | 2 / 55 |
| Sep 5, 1979 | F3 | 10 mi | 17.9 mi | 1 / 6 |
| Apr 1, 1973 | F3 | 12 mi | 9.8 mi | 0 / 37 |
| Nov 2, 2018 | EF2 | 23 mi | 5.45 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 17, 2004 | F2 | 18 mi | 15 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jun 24, 1996 | F2 | 16 mi | 20 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Oct 5, 1995 | F2 | 16 mi | 2.5 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Oct 13, 1983 | F2 | 12 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 28, 1981 | F2 | 21 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 5, 1979 | F2 | 24 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 5, 1979 | F2 | 25 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Jul 31, 1978 | F2 | 19 mi | 0.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 119, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Kensington
The Storm Prediction Center has 170 hail reports within 10 miles of Kensington since 1965, made on 78 separate days. Of these, 112 were 1 inch across or larger, and 5 reached 2 inches. The largest size, 2.75 inches (baseball size), was reported on 2 days, most recently May 2, 2016. The most recent report is from September 7, 2023. June has the most reports, 41.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Kensington
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Rockville 1 NE, MD, 6 miles northwest of Kensington at 440 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 87°F and low of 69°F; January is the coolest, at 42°F and 27°F. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 53% of the year's precipitation (21.9 of 41.5 inches); the other six months are drier. October has brought the most of the 31 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (10); a normal October there has highs of 66°F and 3.5 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 23 days a year, almost all from May to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 86 nights a year. That 41.5 inches is more than at 5 of the 41 Maryland stations used on this site (12%). Silver Spring, 3 miles northeast, has its own station (Beltsville, MD): 44.0 inches a year, 2.5 more than here, and the same July average high, 87°F.
Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Washington, DC, 11 miles south, averaged 84°F in July and 39°F in January over 2021–2025. It averaged 80°F or warmer from July to August. Sea level at the Washington tide gauge, 11 miles from Kensington, has risen 1.40 ± 0.05 inches per decade from 1924 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 14.0 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 84 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Water °F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 42 | 27 | 3.1 | 6 | 39 |
| Feb | 45 | 28 | 2.6 | 5 | 41 |
| Mar | 54 | 36 | 3.7 | 7 | 50 |
| Apr | 66 | 46 | 3.2 | 6 | 60 |
| May | 74 | 55 | 3.6 | 7 | 69 |
| Jun | 82 | 64 | 4.0 | 6 | 77 |
| Jul | 87 | 69 | 4.0 | 6 | 84 |
| Aug | 85 | 67 | 3.1 | 5 | 82 |
| Sep | 78 | 60 | 4.0 | 6 | 76 |
| Oct | 66 | 48 | 3.5 | 5 | 66 |
| Nov | 56 | 38 | 3.3 | 5 | 54 |
| Dec | 46 | 31 | 3.4 | 6 | 42 |
| Year | 65 | 47 | 41.5 | 72 | 62 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Rockville 1 NE, MD (440 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals; water temperature: average of hourly readings 2021–2025 at the NOAA tide station Washington, DC, 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 Kensington
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 1,388 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Kensington: 926 thunderstorm wind reports, 264 flash floods, 185 floods and 13 lightning strikes. They killed 13 people and injured 49, and the NWS estimated $72.0 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 92 mph, on July 12, 2022. July has had the most flash floods, 104 of 264. Of the 239 Maryland cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 232 have had fewer than Kensington.
August 4, 2022: lightning strike 9 miles from the centre of Kensington — 3 killed.
June 26, 2009: thunderstorm wind 3 miles from the centre of Kensington — 2 killed, 6 injured.
June 27, 2015: flash flood 2 miles from the centre of Kensington — 2 killed, $10,000 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 Kensington's ZIP code 20895 have filed 30 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 2003, and were paid $447,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 17% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 150 Maryland cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 54 have fewer than Kensington.
Montgomery County, which includes Kensington, has been named in 21 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1971, 14 of them major disasters (by incident: 5 hurricanes, 5 severe storms, 5 snowstorms, 3 floods). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 26, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Montgomery County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for hail, inland flooding, strong wind, lightning and heat waves; Relatively Moderate for hurricanes and tornadoes; Very Low for coastal flooding. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $126.4 million a year, the 3rd highest of 24 Maryland counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $71.0 million (56%), 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.