Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Newport, RI

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Newport Rose, RI, 2 miles northwest of Newport at 15 feet. August is the warmest, with an average high of 78°F and low of 64°F; January is the coolest, at 39°F and 24°F. April and October are the wettest at 4.7 inches of precipitation on average and June and July the driest at 3.2 inches; the year adds up to 47.4 inches over 79 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 47% of the year's precipitation (22.1 of 47.4 inches); the other six months are wetter. September has brought the most of the 57 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (20); a normal September there has highs of 73°F and 3.8 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 1 days a year. Lows fall below freezing on about 89 nights a year. Snowfall averages 26.0 inches a year, most of it in February. That 47.4 inches is more than at 2 of the 10 Rhode Island stations used on this site (20%). Middletown, 2 miles northeast, has its own station (Newport State Airport, RI): 42.1 inches a year, 5.3 less than here, and an August average high of 79°F against 78°F.

Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Newport, RI, 1 mile northwest, averaged 72°F in August and 39°F in February over 2021–2025. No month averaged 80°F. Sea level at the Newport tide gauge, 1 mile from Newport, has risen 1.17 ± 0.03 inches per decade from 1930 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 11.7 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 68 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 51 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Newport: 24 thunderstorm wind reports, 18 floods, 7 flash floods and 2 lightning strikes. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $3.9 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 75 mph, on August 25, 2020. July has had the most flash floods, 3 of 7. Of the 49 Rhode Island cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 7 have had fewer than Newport.

Flood insurance policyholders in Newport's ZIP code 02840 have filed 348 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $9.4 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Hurricane Sandy in 2012: 87 claims (25% of all) and $3.9 million, then Hurricane Bob in 1991 with 71 and Hurricane Ida in 2021 with 15. 60% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 38 Rhode Island cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 30 have fewer than Newport.