Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit La Plata, MD

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Mechanicsville 5 NE, MD, 14 miles east of La Plata at 100 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 85°F and low of 66°F; January is the coolest, at 44°F and 25°F. September is the wettest at 4.9 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 3.0 inches; the year adds up to 48.1 inches over 77 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 54% of the year's precipitation (26.0 of 48.1 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 41 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (13); a normal September there has highs of 77°F and 4.9 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 16 days a year, almost all from June to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 98 nights a year. Snowfall averages 15.1 inches a year, most of it in February. That 48.1 inches is more than at 35 of the 41 Maryland stations used on this site (85%). Port Tobacco, 3 miles southwest, has its own station (Quantico Mcas, VA): 40.9 inches a year, 7.2 less than here, and a July average high of 88°F against 85°F.

Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Dahlgren, VA, 15 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, 15 miles from La Plata, 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.

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 332 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of La Plata: 275 thunderstorm wind reports, 28 floods, 27 flash floods and 2 lightning strikes. They killed 1 person and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $7.8 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 81 mph, on April 28, 2002. September has had the most flash floods, 8 of 27. Of the 239 Maryland cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 90 have had fewer than La Plata.

Flood insurance policyholders in La Plata's ZIP code 20646 have filed 36 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $369,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 19% 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, 69 have fewer than La Plata.