NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Montgomery, AL
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
28 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Montgomery, Alabama since 1851, 2 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Fred in 2021. Since 1950, 144 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 9 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 2
- Tropical storms
- 26
- Tornadoes
- 144
- EF3 or stronger
- 9
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
28 deaths in all
What the records show for Montgomery
The strongest storm to pass near Montgomery was Eloise in 1975, a Category 1 hurricane with 85 mph winds when its centre passed 23 miles away. The record near Montgomery begins with an unnamed storm in 1852; the most recent system was Fred in 2021, a tropical storm 67 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1880s, with 5 systems, one of them at hurricane strength. Of the 28 systems, 4 have come since 2000. Montgomery has more hurricanes within 75 miles than 71% of the 323 Alabama cities on this site. The highest rating among the 144 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4 or EF4, reached 2 times; the most recent, on April 27, 2011, came within 18 miles. The deadliest, an EF3 on January 12, 2023, killed 7 people. Of the 144, 14 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 99 have come since 2000. April has had the most tornadoes, 27. The most recent tornado was on May 21, 2025. Montgomery has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 60% of the 323 Alabama cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 88 times since 1958, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Montgomery has more hail reports within 10 miles than 74% of the 323 Alabama cities.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Montgomery
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | FredAug 17 | 67 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2020 | ZetaOct 29 | 69 mi | Tropical storm (67 mph) | Category 3 |
| 2020 | SallySep 17 | 59 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 2004 | IvanSep 16 | 63 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1995 | OpalOct 5 | 11 mi | Tropical storm (70 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1985 | JuanNov 1 | 38 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1975 | EloiseSep 23 | 23 mi | Category 1 (85 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1932 | Unnamed 1932 stormOct 16 | 60 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1928 | Unnamed 1928 stormAug 15 | 40 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1916 | Unnamed 1916 stormOct 18 | 63 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1916 | Unnamed 1916 stormJul 8 | 62 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormSep 4 | 60 mi | Tropical storm (53 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1912 | Unnamed 1912 stormJun 14 | 36 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1907 | Unnamed 1907 stormSep 22 | 32 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1906 | Unnamed 1906 stormJun 13 | 32 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1903 | Unnamed 1903 stormSep 14 | 19 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormOct 11 | 13 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1899 | Unnamed 1899 stormAug 2 | 61 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1898 | Unnamed 1898 stormSep 1 | 63 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormOct 3 | 5 mi | Tropical storm (61 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1889 | Unnamed 1889 stormSep 23 | 59 mi | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1887 | Unnamed 1887 stormOct 20 | 58 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1887 | Unnamed 1887 stormJul 28 | 45 mi | Tropical storm (51 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1882 | Unnamed 1882 stormSep 10 | 69 mi | Category 1 (77 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1881 | Unnamed 1881 stormAug 28 | 8 mi | Tropical storm (47 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1860 | Unnamed 1860 stormAug 12 | 69 mi | Tropical storm (51 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1859 | Unnamed 1859 stormSep 16 | 3 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1852 | Unnamed 1852 stormAug 27 | 3 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Montgomery: 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 Montgomery
By decade
- 2020s29(1 EF3+)
- 2010s30(2 EF3+)
- 2000s40(1 EF3+)
- 1990s17(1 EF3+)
- 1980s10(1 EF3+)
- 1970s9(2 EF3+)
- 1960s3(1 EF3+)
- 1950s6
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 27, 2011 | EF4 | 18 mi | 44.18 mi | 7 / 30 |
| Apr 18, 1969 | F4 | 19 mi | 52.4 mi | 2 / 14 |
| Jan 12, 2023 | EF3 | 22 mi | 82.31 mi | 7 / 16 |
| May 3, 1984 | F3 | 9 mi | 7 mi | 5 / 37 |
| Apr 15, 2011 | EF3 | 21 mi | 9.29 mi | 3 / 4 |
| Feb 17, 2008 | EF3 | 13 mi | 14.65 mi | 0 / 50 |
| Mar 18, 1996 | F3 | 24 mi | 24 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 25, 1979 | F3 | 2 mi | 10.2 mi | 0 / 20 |
| Mar 12, 1976 | F3 | 21 mi | 4.9 mi | 0 / 15 |
| Nov 30, 2022 | EF2 | 7 mi | 9.85 mi | 2 / 2 |
| Mar 6, 1996 | F2 | 7 mi | 4 mi | 2 / 17 |
| Mar 27, 2023 | EF2 | 14 mi | 15.41 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 144, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Montgomery
The Storm Prediction Center has 88 hail reports within 10 miles of Montgomery since 1958, made on 71 separate days. Of these, 46 were 1 inch across or larger, and 4 reached 2 inches. The largest size, 2.75 inches (baseball size), was reported on 2 days, most recently April 25, 2003. The most recent report is from May 30, 2025. April has the most reports, 24.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Montgomery
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Montgomery 6SW, AL, 7 miles south of Montgomery at 225 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 94°F and low of 75°F; January is the coolest, at 60°F and 40°F. January is the wettest at 5.2 inches of precipitation on average and October the driest at 3.1 inches; the year adds up to 51.9 inches over 73 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 46% of the year's precipitation (23.8 of 51.9 inches); the other six months are wetter. September has brought the most of the 28 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (10); a normal September there has highs of 89°F and 3.6 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 92 days a year, almost all from May to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 40 nights a year. That 51.9 inches is more than at 4 of the 107 Alabama stations used on this site (4%). Millbrook, 12 miles northwest, has its own station (Montgomery Airport, AL): 51.3 inches a year, 0.6 less than here, and the same July average high, 94°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 60 | 40 | 5.2 | 7 |
| Feb | 65 | 43 | 5.1 | 7 |
| Mar | 72 | 50 | 4.9 | 6 |
| Apr | 79 | 56 | 4.2 | 6 |
| May | 86 | 64 | 3.9 | 5 |
| Jun | 92 | 71 | 4.3 | 8 |
| Jul | 94 | 75 | 4.6 | 8 |
| Aug | 94 | 74 | 3.9 | 7 |
| Sep | 89 | 69 | 3.6 | 5 |
| Oct | 80 | 57 | 3.1 | 4 |
| Nov | 70 | 46 | 4.3 | 5 |
| Dec | 62 | 41 | 4.8 | 7 |
| Year | 79 | 57 | 51.9 | 73 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Montgomery 6SW, AL (225 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals. 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 Montgomery
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 157 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Montgomery: 133 thunderstorm wind reports, 20 flash floods, 3 floods and 1 lightning strike. They killed 2 people and injured 23, and the NWS estimated $5.9 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 100 mph, on May 8, 2008. August has had the most flash floods, 5 of 20. Of the 321 Alabama cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 212 have had fewer than Montgomery.
May 7, 2009: flash flood 5 miles from the centre of Montgomery — 1 killed, $1.8 million damage.
NWS: “The city of Montgomery experienced extensive flash flooding due to a period of very heavy rainfall. An estimated 10+ inches of rain fell in portions of Montgomery County in about a six hour time frame.”
March 3, 1999: thunderstorm wind 10 miles from the centre of Montgomery — 1 killed, $135,000 damage.
February 19, 1996: thunderstorm wind 4 miles from the centre of Montgomery — 15 injured, $500,000 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 Montgomery's 10 ZIP codes have filed 407 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $6.6 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1990: 38 claims (9% of all) and $632,000, then Hurricane Opal in 1995 with 24 and Hurricane Frederic in 1979 with 16. The year with the most claims was 2009, with 87. 30% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 118 Alabama cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 104 have fewer than Montgomery.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1990 | 38 | $632,000 |
| Hurricane Opal1995 | 24 | $304,000 |
| Hurricane Frederic1979 | 16 | $256,000 |
| Early winter storms2015 | 15 | $154,000 |
Montgomery County, which includes Montgomery, has been named in 24 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1975, 11 of them major disasters (by incident: 10 hurricanes, 6 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 2 floods). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 29, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Montgomery County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for lightning; Relatively High for tornadoes, inland flooding, strong wind and heat waves; Relatively Moderate for hurricanes and hail. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $87.3 million a year, the 6th highest of 67 Alabama counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $51.0 million (58%), 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 Montgomery
- Pike Road, AL9 mi
- Millbrook, AL12 mi
- Hope Hull, AL13 mi
- Elmore, AL14 mi
- Wetumpka, AL14 mi
- Prattville, AL16 mi
- Deatsville, AL20 mi
- Ramer, AL20 mi
- Titus, AL23 mi
- Tallassee, AL24 mi
- Autaugaville, AL27 mi
- Eclectic, AL27 mi
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