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NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Leonia, NJ

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

46 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Leonia, New Jersey since 1851, 7 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Ida in 2021. Since 1950, 54 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
7

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
39

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
54

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
0

2 deaths in all

What the records show for Leonia

The strongest storm to pass near Leonia was an unnamed storm in 1938, a Category 3 hurricane with 120 mph winds when its centre passed 57 miles away. The closest pass by a hurricane was an unnamed storm in 1893, whose centre came within 8 miles. The record near Leonia begins with an unnamed storm in 1861; the most recent system was Ida in 2021, a tropical storm 39 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1890s, with 5 systems, 2 of them at hurricane strength. Of the 46 systems, 7 have come since 2000. Of the 455 New Jersey cities on this site, 46% have more hurricanes within 75 miles than Leonia. The highest rating among the 54 tornadoes within 25 miles is F2 or EF2, reached 6 times; the most recent, on August 8, 2007, came within 16 miles. The deadliest, an EF1 on September 16, 2010, killed 1 person. Of the 54, 2 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 18 have come since 2000. July has had the most tornadoes, 18. The most recent tornado was on November 13, 2021. Of the 455 New Jersey cities, 49% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Leonia. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 102 times since 1962, with stones up to 2 inches (hen egg size). Leonia has more hail reports within 10 miles than 86% of the 455 New Jersey cities.

Compare Leonia's storm record with another city →

Tropical storms and hurricanes near Leonia

Tropical systems that passed within 75 miles of Leonia, New Jersey, newest first
YearStormClosestStrength when closestPeak
2021IdaSep 239 miTropical storm (44 mph)Category 4
2021ElsaJul 960 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 1
2020IsaiasAug 453 miTropical storm (62 mph)Category 1
2020FayJul 1149 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
2013AndreaJun 861 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
2011IreneAug 285 miTropical storm (62 mph)Category 3
2008HannaSep 726 miTropical storm (52 mph)Category 1
1999FloydSep 1731 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 4
1996BerthaJul 1314 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 3
1985GloriaSep 2739 miCategory 1 (86 mph)Category 4
1985HenriSep 2464 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1976BelleAug 1038 miTropical storm (71 mph)Category 3
1972AgnesJun 2216 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 1
1971DoriaAug 284 miTropical storm (59 mph)Tropical storm
1968Unnamed 1968 stormSep 1139 miTropical storm (63 mph)Tropical storm
1961Unnamed 1961 stormSep 1540 miTropical storm (63 mph)Tropical storm
1960DonnaSep 1256 miCategory 2 (98 mph)Category 4
1960BrendaJul 3022 miTropical storm (56 mph)Tropical storm
1955DianeAug 1920 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 2
1952AbleSep 132 miTropical storm (56 mph)Category 2
1944Unnamed 1944 stormSep 1573 miCategory 2 (104 mph)Category 5
1938Unnamed 1938 stormSep 2157 miCategory 3 (120 mph)Category 5
1934Unnamed 1934 stormSep 951 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 2
1934Unnamed 1934 stormJun 1931 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 2
1924Unnamed 1924 stormSep 304 miTropical storm (68 mph)Category 1
1916Unnamed 1916 stormMay 1756 miTropical storm (55 mph)Tropical storm
1915Unnamed 1915 stormAug 412 miTropical storm (56 mph)Category 1
1904Unnamed 1904 stormSep 1561 miCategory 1 (79 mph)Category 1
1903Unnamed 1903 stormSep 1665 miTropical storm (63 mph)Category 2
1902Unnamed 1902 stormJun 1658 miTropical storm (43 mph)Tropical storm
1900Unnamed 1900 stormOct 1433 miTropical storm (39 mph)Tropical storm
1899Unnamed 1899 stormNov 148 miTropical storm (54 mph)Category 2
1897Unnamed 1897 stormSep 2459 miTropical storm (63 mph)Tropical storm
1894Unnamed 1894 stormOct 1054 miCategory 1 (86 mph)Category 3
1893Unnamed 1893 stormAug 2944 miTropical storm (63 mph)Category 3
1893Unnamed 1893 stormAug 248 miCategory 1 (85 mph)Category 3
1888Unnamed 1888 stormSep 1138 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1888Unnamed 1888 stormAug 2228 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 3
1882Unnamed 1882 stormSep 2452 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
1877Unnamed 1877 stormOct 555 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 3
1874Unnamed 1874 stormSep 2915 miTropical storm (68 mph)Category 1
1872Unnamed 1872 stormOct 2620 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 1
1866Unnamed 1866 stormOct 304 miTropical storm (60 mph)Tropical storm
1863Unnamed 1863 stormSep 199 miTropical storm (49 mph)Tropical storm
1861Unnamed 1861 stormNov 373 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 1
1861Unnamed 1861 stormSep 2819 miTropical storm (62 mph)Category 1

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

By decade

  • 2020s2
  • 2010s11
  • 2000s5
  • 1990s12
  • 1980s11
  • 1970s10
  • 1960s1
  • 1950s2
Strongest tornadoes near Leonia, New Jersey
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
Aug 8, 2007EF216 mi3.92 mi0 / 9
Jul 12, 2006F216 mi10.1 mi0 / 6
Sep 7, 1998F222 mi0.2 mi0 / 6
Jul 15, 1970F25 mi2 mi0 / 0
Aug 7, 1962F26 mi2.5 mi0 / 0
Sep 6, 1956F214 mi0.1 mi0 / 0
Sep 16, 2010EF111 mi4 mi1 / 1
Oct 31, 2019EF122 mi4.87 mi0 / 0
Oct 7, 2013EF17 mi1.25 mi0 / 0
Sep 8, 2012EF117 mi4.74 mi0 / 0
Jul 25, 2010EF15 mi0.87 mi0 / 7
Aug 8, 2007EF117 mi1.95 mi0 / 0

The strongest 12 of 54, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

Hail in Leonia

The Storm Prediction Center has 102 hail reports within 10 miles of Leonia since 1962, made on 65 separate days. Of these, 53 were 1 inch across or larger, and 2 reached 2 inches. The largest size, 2 inches (hen egg size), was reported on 2 days, most recently July 8, 2021. The most recent report is from September 8, 2023. July has the most reports, 27.

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

Weather by month in Leonia

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Teterboro Airport, NJ, 4 miles west of Leonia at 9 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 87°F and low of 69°F; January is the coolest, at 40°F and 26°F. July is the wettest at 4.5 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.8 inches; the year adds up to 46.4 inches over 76 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 52% of the year's precipitation (24.2 of 46.4 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 46 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (21); a normal September there has highs of 78°F and 4.1 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 89 nights a year. That 46.4 inches is more than at 15 of the 51 New Jersey stations used on this site (29%). Edgewater, 2 miles south, has its own station (New York Cntrl Pk Twr, NY): 49.6 inches a year, 3.2 more than here, and a July average high of 85°F against 87°F.

Water temperature at the NOAA tide station The Battery, NY, 11 miles south, averaged 74°F in August and 39°F in February over 2021–2025. No month averaged 80°F. Sea level at the The Battery tide gauge, 11 miles from Leonia, has risen 1.16 ± 0.02 inches per decade from 1856 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 Teterboro Airport, NJ
MonthHigh °FLow °FPrecip. inDays ≥ 0.1"Water °F
Jan40263.3641
Feb43272.8639
Mar51344.1742
Apr63444.0649
May73533.9858
Jun82634.3866
Jul87694.5673
Aug85674.3774
Sep78604.1672
Oct67483.7665
Nov56383.3556
Dec45314.1746
Year644746.47657

Averages for 1991–2020 at Teterboro Airport, NJ (9 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals; water temperature: average of hourly readings 2021–2025 at the NOAA tide station The Battery, NY, 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.

New Jersey weather by month, station by station →

Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Leonia

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 864 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Leonia: 366 flash floods, 365 thunderstorm wind reports, 99 floods, 30 lightning strikes and 4 heavy rain events. They killed 16 people and injured 39, and the NWS estimated $307.2 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 110 mph, on October 7, 2013. July has had the most flash floods, 104 of 366. Of the 455 New Jersey cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 419 have had fewer than Leonia.

  • September 1, 2021: flash flood 10 miles from the centre of Leonia — 3 killed.

  • May 14, 2017: thunderstorm wind 8 miles from the centre of Leonia — 1 killed, 6 injured, $2,000 damage.

  • August 16, 1997: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Leonia — 1 killed, 2 injured.

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 Leonia's ZIP code 07605 have filed 22 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $923,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 50% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 395 New Jersey cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 62 have fewer than Leonia.

Bergen County, which includes Leonia, has been named in 32 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 20 of them major disasters (by incident: 10 hurricanes, 6 severe storms, 5 floods, 4 snowstorms). The latest major disaster declaration was Remnants of Hurricane Ida, on September 5, 2021. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Bergen County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for coastal flooding and strong wind; Relatively High for tornadoes, inland flooding, lightning and heat waves; Relatively Moderate for hurricanes; Very Low for hail. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $321.8 million a year, the highest of 21 New Jersey counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $216.8 million (67%), 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 Leonia