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NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Ledyard, CT

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

56 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Ledyard, Connecticut since 1851, 13 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Ida in 2021. Since 1950, 12 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
13

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
43

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
12

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
0

no recorded deaths

What the records show for Ledyard

The strongest storm to pass near Ledyard was an unnamed storm in 1869, a Category 3 hurricane with 115 mph winds when its centre passed 15 miles away. The closest pass by a hurricane was an unnamed storm in 1858, whose centre crossed the city. The record near Ledyard begins with an unnamed storm in 1851; the most recent system was Ida in 2021, a tropical storm 42 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1960s, with 6 systems, 2 of them at hurricane strength. Of the 56 systems, 7 have come since 2000. Ledyard has more hurricanes within 75 miles than 95% of the 186 Connecticut cities on this site. The highest rating among the 12 tornadoes within 25 miles is F1 or EF1, reached 7 times; the most recent, on August 18, 2023, came within 18 miles. Of the 12, none had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 6 have come since 2000. June and October have had the most tornadoes, 3 each. Of the 186 Connecticut cities, 96% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Ledyard. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 34 times since 1974, with stones up to 1.75 inches (golf ball size). Ledyard has more hail reports within 10 miles than 48% of the 186 Connecticut cities.

Compare Ledyard's storm record with another city →

Tropical storms and hurricanes near Ledyard

Tropical systems that passed within 75 miles of Ledyard, Connecticut, newest first
YearStormClosestStrength when closestPeak
2021IdaSep 242 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 4
2021HenriAug 221 miTropical storm (49 mph)Category 1
2021ElsaJul 913 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 1
2013AndreaJun 814 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
2008HannaSep 713 miTropical storm (52 mph)Category 1
2007BarryJun 420 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
2004HermineAug 3154 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1999FloydSep 1731 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 4
1996JosephineOct 960 miTropical storm (52 mph)Tropical storm
1996BerthaJul 1329 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 3
1991BobAug 1926 miCategory 2 (102 mph)Category 3
1985GloriaSep 2749 miCategory 1 (86 mph)Category 4
1985HenriSep 2452 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1976BelleAug 1048 miTropical storm (56 mph)Category 3
1971DoriaAug 2870 miTropical storm (56 mph)Tropical storm
1968Unnamed 1968 stormSep 1152 miTropical storm (63 mph)Tropical storm
1966AlmaJun 1453 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 3
1961EstherSep 2174 miCategory 1 (86 mph)Category 5
1961Unnamed 1961 stormSep 1525 miTropical storm (64 mph)Tropical storm
1960DonnaSep 1213 miCategory 1 (89 mph)Category 4
1960BrendaJul 3040 miTropical storm (52 mph)Tropical storm
1959CindyJul 1145 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 1
1955DianeAug 1942 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 2
1954EdnaSep 1170 miCategory 2 (109 mph)Category 3
1954CarolAug 312 miCategory 3 (113 mph)Category 3
1952AbleSep 270 miTropical storm (51 mph)Category 2
1944Unnamed 1944 stormSep 1517 miCategory 2 (99 mph)Category 5
1938Unnamed 1938 stormSep 2148 miCategory 3 (113 mph)Category 5
1934Unnamed 1934 stormSep 932 miTropical storm (53 mph)Category 2
1934Unnamed 1934 stormJun 2025 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 2
1923Unnamed 1923 stormOct 1967 miTropical storm (55 mph)Tropical storm
1916Unnamed 1916 stormJul 2138 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 2
1916Unnamed 1916 stormMay 178 miTropical storm (58 mph)Tropical storm
1915Unnamed 1915 stormAug 532 miTropical storm (44 mph)Category 1
1913Unnamed 1913 stormOct 260 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 1
1908Unnamed 1908 stormMay 303 miTropical storm (40 mph)Category 1
1907Unnamed 1907 stormJun 3039 miTropical storm (43 mph)Tropical storm
1904Unnamed 1904 stormSep 1526 miCategory 1 (83 mph)Category 1
1902Unnamed 1902 stormJun 16overheadTropical storm (41 mph)Tropical storm
1897Unnamed 1897 stormSep 244 miTropical storm (51 mph)Tropical storm
1896Unnamed 1896 stormSep 1070 miCategory 1 (74 mph)Category 3
1894Unnamed 1894 stormOct 1015 miTropical storm (71 mph)Category 3
1889Unnamed 1889 stormSep 2560 miTropical storm (40 mph)Category 2
1888Unnamed 1888 stormOct 1258 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 2
1888Unnamed 1888 stormSep 124 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1888Unnamed 1888 stormAug 2226 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 3
1882Unnamed 1882 stormSep 2441 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
1879Unnamed 1879 stormAug 1945 miCategory 1 (83 mph)Category 3
1877Unnamed 1877 stormOct 529 miTropical storm (67 mph)Category 3
1874Unnamed 1874 stormSep 3040 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 1
1872Unnamed 1872 stormOct 275 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 1
1869Unnamed 1869 stormSep 815 miCategory 3 (115 mph)Category 3
1861Unnamed 1861 stormNov 37 miTropical storm (66 mph)Category 1
1861Unnamed 1861 stormSep 2847 miTropical storm (59 mph)Category 1
1858Unnamed 1858 stormSep 16overheadCategory 1 (81 mph)Category 2
1851Unnamed 1851 stormOct 1917 miTropical storm (53 mph)Tropical storm

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

By decade

  • 2020s3
  • 2010s3
  • 1990s3
  • 1980s1
  • 1970s1
  • 1960s1
Strongest tornadoes near Ledyard, Connecticut
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
Aug 18, 2023EF118 mi2.7 mi0 / 0
Nov 13, 2021EF19 mi1.36 mi0 / 0
Oct 29, 2018EF112 mi1.96 mi0 / 0
Jun 30, 1998F120 mi0.1 mi0 / 0
Jul 14, 1992F119 mi0.2 mi0 / 0
Jun 27, 1974F124 mi0.5 mi0 / 0
Jul 19, 1963F118 mi12.3 mi0 / 0
Nov 13, 2021EF019 mi6.13 mi0 / 0
Oct 29, 2018EF07 mi2.33 mi0 / 0
Oct 2, 2018EF024 mi0.4 mi0 / 0
Jun 30, 1998F024 mi0.1 mi0 / 0
Aug 1, 1983F024 mi0.2 mi0 / 0

The strongest 12 of 12, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

Hail in Ledyard

The Storm Prediction Center has 34 hail reports within 10 miles of Ledyard since 1974, made on 19 separate days. Of these, 22 were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest size, 1.75 inches (golf ball size), was reported on 4 days, most recently May 25, 2014. The most recent report is from August 15, 2024. May and July have the most reports, 9 each.

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

Weather by month in Ledyard

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Norwich Public Utility Plt, CT, 7 miles northwest of Ledyard at 20 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 84°F and low of 65°F; January is the coolest, at 38°F and 21°F. March is the wettest at 5.1 inches of precipitation on average and May and July the driest at 3.6 inches; the year adds up to 52.3 inches over 78 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 50% of the year's precipitation (26.2 of 52.3 inches). September has brought the most of the 56 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (24); a normal September there has highs of 76°F and 4.8 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 15 days a year, almost all from May to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 124 nights a year. Snowfall averages 27.8 inches a year, most of it in January. That 52.3 inches is more than at 20 of the 27 Connecticut stations used on this site (74%). Gales Ferry, 5 miles west, has its own station (Groton, CT): 48.9 inches a year, 3.4 less than here, and a July average high of 81°F against 84°F.

Water temperature at the NOAA tide station New London, CT, 8 miles southwest, averaged 71°F in August and 39°F in February over 2021–2025. No month averaged 80°F. Sea level at the New London tide gauge, 8 miles from Ledyard, has risen 1.16 ± 0.04 inches per decade from 1938 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 11.6 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 66 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.

Monthly climate normals 1991–2020 at Norwich Public Utility Plt, CT
MonthHigh °FLow °FPrecip. inDays ≥ 0.1"Snow inWater °F
Jan38213.979.041
Feb41233.867.139
Mar48295.175.043
Apr59394.770.849
May70493.670.056
Jun78594.360.064
Jul84653.660.071
Aug83634.460.071
Sep76554.860.070
Oct64444.960.063
Nov53344.260.355
Dec43275.075.646
Year614252.37827.856

Averages for 1991–2020 at Norwich Public Utility Plt, CT (20 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals; water temperature: average of hourly readings 2021–2025 at the NOAA tide station New London, CT, 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.

Connecticut weather by month, station by station →

Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Ledyard

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 123 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Ledyard: 49 flash floods, 46 thunderstorm wind reports, 19 floods, 8 lightning strikes and 1 heavy rain event. They killed 2 people and injured 16, and the NWS estimated $6.6 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 85 mph, on July 2, 2008. July has had the most flash floods, 23 of 49. Of the 186 Connecticut cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 142 have had fewer than Ledyard.

  • September 6, 2017: thunderstorm wind 10 miles from the centre of Ledyard — 1 killed, 2 injured, $15,000 damage.

  • August 4, 2015: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Ledyard — 1 killed, $10,000 damage.

  • June 25, 2012: lightning strike 2 miles from the centre of Ledyard — 11 injured.

    NWS: “Ten people were taken to the hospital after lightning struck the restroom they were in, between holes 4 and 13, at Lake of Isles Golf Course in North Stonington.”

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 Ledyard's ZIP code 06339 have filed 13 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1982, and were paid $137,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 54% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 128 Connecticut cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 10 have fewer than Ledyard.

New London County, which includes Ledyard, has been named in 30 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1978, 16 of them major disasters (by incident: 11 hurricanes, 9 severe storms, 7 snowstorms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Remnants of Hurricane Ida, on October 30, 2021.

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).

What counts as a pass, the distances and the sources: how this storm history is built.

Cities near Ledyard