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NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Milford, 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

53 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Milford, Connecticut since 1851, 12 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Ida in 2021. Since 1950, 34 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 3 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
12

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
41

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
34

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
3

1 deaths in all

What the records show for Milford

The strongest storm to pass near Milford was an unnamed storm in 1938, a Category 3 hurricane with 116 mph winds when its centre passed 8 miles away. The closest pass by a hurricane was Gloria in 1985, whose centre crossed the city. The record near Milford begins with an unnamed storm in 1851; the most recent system was Ida in 2021, a tropical storm 45 miles away. Of the 53 systems, 7 have come since 2000. Milford has more hurricanes within 75 miles than 77% of the 186 Connecticut cities on this site. The strongest of the 34 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F4 on July 10, 1989; its path came within 10 miles. The deadliest, an F3 on May 24, 1962, killed 1 person. Of the 34, one had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 15 have come since 2000. July has had the most tornadoes, 12. The most recent tornado was on August 12, 2023. Of the 186 Connecticut cities, 69% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Milford. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 24 times since 1973, with stones up to 1.75 inches (golf ball size). Of the 186 Connecticut cities, 81% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Milford.

Compare Milford's storm record with another city →

Tropical storms and hurricanes near Milford

Tropical systems that passed within 75 miles of Milford, Connecticut, newest first
YearStormClosestStrength when closestPeak
2021IdaSep 245 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 4
2021HenriAug 2258 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 1
2021ElsaJul 944 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 1
2013AndreaJun 843 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
2011IreneAug 2831 miTropical storm (61 mph)Category 3
2008HannaSep 713 miTropical storm (52 mph)Category 1
2007BarryJun 461 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1999FloydSep 176 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 4
1996BerthaJul 131 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 3
1991BobAug 1970 miCategory 2 (105 mph)Category 3
1985GloriaSep 27overheadCategory 1 (86 mph)Category 4
1985HenriSep 2441 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1976BelleAug 101 miTropical storm (64 mph)Category 3
1972AgnesJun 2237 miTropical storm (56 mph)Category 1
1971DoriaAug 2828 miTropical storm (58 mph)Tropical storm
1968Unnamed 1968 stormSep 112 miTropical storm (63 mph)Tropical storm
1961Unnamed 1961 stormSep 1513 miTropical storm (63 mph)Tropical storm
1960DonnaSep 1226 miCategory 1 (94 mph)Category 4
1960BrendaJul 303 miTropical storm (54 mph)Tropical storm
1955DianeAug 1936 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 2
1954CarolAug 3150 miCategory 3 (115 mph)Category 3
1952AbleSep 145 miTropical storm (54 mph)Category 2
1944Unnamed 1944 stormSep 1549 miCategory 2 (104 mph)Category 5
1938Unnamed 1938 stormSep 218 miCategory 3 (116 mph)Category 5
1934Unnamed 1934 stormSep 94 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 2
1934Unnamed 1934 stormJun 1934 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 2
1924Unnamed 1924 stormSep 3031 miTropical storm (66 mph)Category 1
1916Unnamed 1916 stormMay 1733 miTropical storm (58 mph)Tropical storm
1915Unnamed 1915 stormAug 422 miTropical storm (53 mph)Category 1
1908Unnamed 1908 stormMay 3049 miTropical storm (41 mph)Category 1
1907Unnamed 1907 stormJun 3074 miTropical storm (44 mph)Tropical storm
1904Unnamed 1904 stormSep 1550 miCategory 1 (81 mph)Category 1
1902Unnamed 1902 stormJun 1636 miTropical storm (43 mph)Tropical storm
1900Unnamed 1900 stormOct 1472 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1899Unnamed 1899 stormNov 174 miTropical storm (53 mph)Category 2
1897Unnamed 1897 stormSep 2433 miTropical storm (55 mph)Tropical storm
1894Unnamed 1894 stormOct 1025 miCategory 1 (81 mph)Category 3
1893Unnamed 1893 stormAug 2961 miTropical storm (63 mph)Category 3
1893Unnamed 1893 stormAug 2432 miCategory 1 (82 mph)Category 3
1888Unnamed 1888 stormSep 1223 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1888Unnamed 1888 stormAug 2221 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 3
1882Unnamed 1882 stormSep 2433 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
1879Unnamed 1879 stormAug 1973 miCategory 1 (86 mph)Category 3
1877Unnamed 1877 stormOct 544 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 3
1874Unnamed 1874 stormSep 307 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 1
1872Unnamed 1872 stormOct 2611 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 1
1869Unnamed 1869 stormSep 862 miCategory 3 (115 mph)Category 3
1866Unnamed 1866 stormOct 3049 miTropical storm (58 mph)Tropical storm
1863Unnamed 1863 stormSep 1943 miTropical storm (47 mph)Tropical storm
1861Unnamed 1861 stormNov 342 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 1
1861Unnamed 1861 stormSep 288 miTropical storm (60 mph)Category 1
1858Unnamed 1858 stormSep 1649 miCategory 1 (90 mph)Category 2
1851Unnamed 1851 stormOct 1971 miTropical storm (58 mph)Tropical storm

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

By decade

  • 2020s5
  • 2010s6
  • 2000s4
  • 1990s8
  • 1980s3(1 EF3+)
  • 1970s3(1 EF3+)
  • 1960s1(1 EF3+)
  • 1950s4
Strongest tornadoes near Milford, Connecticut
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
Jul 10, 1989F410 mi3 mi0 / 40
May 24, 1962F323 mi11.6 mi1 / 50
Jul 29, 1971F323 mi0.1 mi0 / 2
Jul 10, 1989F223 mi5 mi0 / 70
Jul 19, 1971F221 mi1.5 mi0 / 0
Oct 24, 1955F219 mi0.5 mi0 / 0
Jul 14, 1950F223 mi5 mi0 / 3
Aug 27, 2020EF114 mi11.1 mi0 / 0
Oct 2, 2018EF121 mi3.76 mi0 / 0
May 15, 2018EF115 mi7.36 mi0 / 0
May 15, 2018EF114 mi3.67 mi0 / 0
Jun 9, 2011EF123 mi0.04 mi0 / 0

The strongest 12 of 34, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

Hail in Milford

The Storm Prediction Center has 24 hail reports within 10 miles of Milford since 1973, made on 19 separate days. Of these, 15 were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest size, 1.75 inches (golf ball size), was reported on 2 days, most recently October 4, 2010. The most recent report is from August 3, 2024. August has the most reports, 10.

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

Weather by month in Milford

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Bridgeport Sikorsky Mem Airport, CT, 6 miles southwest of Milford at 5 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 83°F and low of 68°F; January is the coolest, at 38°F and 24°F. April is the wettest at 4.2 inches of precipitation on average and February and November the driest at 3.1 inches; the year adds up to 44.2 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 (22.0 of 44.2 inches). September has brought the most of the 53 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (22); a normal September there has highs of 75°F and 4.0 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 9 days a year, almost all from June to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 92 nights a year. Snowfall averages 33.6 inches a year, most of it in February. That 44.2 inches is more than at 5 of the 27 Connecticut stations used on this site (19%). Orange, 4 miles northeast, has its own station (New Haven Tweed Airport, CT): 41.8 inches a year, 2.4 less than here, and a July average high of 82°F against 83°F.

Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Bridgeport, CT, 7 miles southwest, averaged 76°F in August and 39°F in February over 2021–2025. No month averaged 80°F. Sea level at the Bridgeport tide gauge, 7 miles from Milford, has risen 1.35 ± 0.08 inches per decade from 1964 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 13.5 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 81 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.

Monthly climate normals 1991–2020 at Bridgeport Sikorsky Mem Airport, CT
MonthHigh °FLow °FPrecip. inDays ≥ 0.1"Snow inWater °F
Jan38243.278.542
Feb41263.1610.739
Mar47324.187.042
Apr58424.270.948
May68523.670.056
Jun78623.870.065
Jul83683.360.073
Aug82674.060.076
Sep75604.060.074
Oct64483.860.166
Nov54383.160.956
Dec44304.085.546
Year614644.27833.657

Averages for 1991–2020 at Bridgeport Sikorsky Mem Airport, CT (5 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals; water temperature: average of hourly readings 2021–2025 at the NOAA tide station Bridgeport, 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 Milford

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 209 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Milford: 114 thunderstorm wind reports, 76 flash floods, 9 lightning strikes, 8 floods and 2 heavy rain events. They killed 3 people and injured 33, and the NWS estimated $4.1 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 100 mph, on June 24, 2010. September has had the most flash floods, 22 of 76. Of the 186 Connecticut cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 182 have had fewer than Milford.

  • May 8, 2010: lightning strike 9 miles from the centre of Milford — 1 killed, 2 injured.

  • July 17, 2019: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Milford — 1 killed, $7,000 damage.

  • June 2, 2000: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Milford — 1 killed.

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 Milford's 2 ZIP codes have filed 3,190 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $73.2 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Hurricane Sandy in 2012: 959 claims (30% of all) and $38.1 million, then Hurricane Irene in 2011 with 697 and December Storm - Nor'easter in 1992 with 536. 86% 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, 127 have fewer than Milford.

Flood insurance claims in Milford by named event
EventClaimsPaid
Hurricane Sandy2012959$38.1 million
Hurricane Irene2011697$20.8 million
December Storm - Nor'easter1992536$9.5 million
Flooding1980191$913,000
Hurricane Gloria1985130$585,000
Not a named storm1982126$653,000

New Haven County, which includes Milford, has been named in 36 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1978, 20 of them major disasters (by incident: 11 hurricanes, 9 severe storms, 8 snowstorms, 3 floods). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storm, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides, on September 20, 2024.

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).

Milford in the notable storm records: Hurricane Irene (2011)

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

Cities near Milford