NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Mount Vernon, OH
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
5 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Mount Vernon, Ohio since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Opal in 1995. Since 1950, 67 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 2 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 5
- Tornadoes
- 67
- EF3 or stronger
- 2
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
9 deaths in all
What the records show for Mount Vernon
None of the 5 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Mount Vernon; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1892, a tropical storm with 55 mph winds when its centre passed 64 miles away. The record near Mount Vernon begins with an unnamed storm in 1892; the most recent system was Opal in 1995, a tropical storm 5 miles away. None of the 5 systems has come since 2000. Mount Vernon has more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than 46% of the 605 Ohio cities on this site. The highest rating among the 67 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3, reached 2 times; the most recent, on May 31, 1985, came within 13 miles. The deadliest, an F3 on June 13, 1981, killed 4 people. Of the 67, 5 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 22 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 22. The most recent tornado was on June 5, 2024. Of the 605 Ohio cities, 62% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Mount Vernon. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 49 times since 1963, with stones up to 1.75 inches (golf ball size). Of the 605 Ohio cities, 75% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Mount Vernon.
Compare Mount Vernon's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Mount Vernon
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | OpalOct 5 | 5 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1989 | HugoSep 22 | 75 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormAug 21 | 67 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormJun 29 | 64 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1892 | Unnamed 1892 stormSep 13 | 64 mi | Tropical storm (55 mph) | Tropical storm |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Mount Vernon: 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 Mount Vernon
By decade
- 2020s12
- 2010s5
- 2000s5
- 1990s13
- 1980s12(2 EF3+)
- 1970s10
- 1960s6
- 1950s4
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 13, 1981 | F3 | 22 mi | 3.8 mi | 4 / 56 |
| May 31, 1985 | F3 | 13 mi | 29 mi | 1 / 20 |
| Apr 11, 1965 | F2 | 19 mi | 22.2 mi | 4 / 62 |
| Feb 28, 2024 | EF2 | 23 mi | 14.04 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 20, 2011 | EF2 | 25 mi | 3.85 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 20, 2000 | F2 | 8 mi | 21 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Aug 25, 1998 | F2 | 11 mi | 10 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 22, 1990 | F2 | 17 mi | 22 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Nov 15, 1989 | F2 | 17 mi | 23 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 28, 1985 | F2 | 20 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 3, 1982 | F2 | 9 mi | 0.8 mi | 0 / 9 |
| Mar 31, 1982 | F2 | 1 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 4 |
The strongest 12 of 67, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Mount Vernon
The Storm Prediction Center has 49 hail reports within 10 miles of Mount Vernon since 1963, made on 37 separate days. Of these, 24 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 August 9, 2012. The most recent report is from May 2, 2025. June has the most reports, 13.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Mount Vernon
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Danville 2 W, OH, 10 miles east of Mount Vernon at 970 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 82°F and low of 59°F; January is the coolest, at 34°F and 17°F. June is the wettest at 4.9 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.5 inches; the year adds up to 42.4 inches over 87 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 8 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 145 nights a year. Snowfall averages 41.6 inches a year, most of it in January. That 42.4 inches is more than at 76 of the 129 Ohio stations used on this site (59%). Utica, 10 miles south, has its own station (Newark Wtr Wks, OH): 43.4 inches a year, 1.0 more than here, and a July average high of 84°F against 82°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 34 | 17 | 3.1 | 7 | 12.9 |
| Feb | 38 | 18 | 2.5 | 6 | 10.6 |
| Mar | 48 | 26 | 3.3 | 8 | 6.5 |
| Apr | 61 | 36 | 4.0 | 9 | 1.2 |
| May | 70 | 46 | 4.7 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 79 | 56 | 4.9 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 82 | 59 | 4.2 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 81 | 57 | 3.4 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 75 | 49 | 3.2 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 63 | 38 | 2.9 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 50 | 29 | 3.0 | 7 | 2.3 |
| Dec | 39 | 23 | 3.2 | 7 | 8.1 |
| Year | 60 | 38 | 42.4 | 87 | 41.6 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Danville 2 W, OH (970 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 Mount Vernon
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 144 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Mount Vernon: 135 thunderstorm wind reports, 5 floods and 4 flash floods. They killed 1 person and injured 5, and the NWS estimated $2.3 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 81 mph, on June 14, 2022.
July 29, 2002: thunderstorm wind 8 miles from the centre of Mount Vernon — 1 killed, 4 injured, $50,000 damage.
July 22, 2017: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Mount Vernon — 1 injured, $75,000 damage.
May 21, 2004: thunderstorm wind 2 miles from the centre of Mount Vernon — $250,000 damage.
NWS: “A line of severe thunderstorms moved across Knox County and caused widespread damage and scattered power outages. The Gambier area was the hardest hit with over 100 trees downed and several homes damaged.”
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 Mount Vernon's ZIP code 43050 have filed 34 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $86,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1998: 15 claims (44% of all) and $52,000. 47% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 318 Ohio cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 163 have fewer than Mount Vernon.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1998 | 15 | $52,000 |
Knox County, which includes Mount Vernon, has been named in 13 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1977, 7 of them major disasters (by incident: 7 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 2 snowstorms, 1 hurricane). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 31, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Knox County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for hail, strong wind and lightning; Relatively Low for tornadoes, inland flooding and heat waves; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $18.8 million a year, the 47th highest of 88 Ohio counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $12.1 million (64%), 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.