Skip to content

NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Niantic, 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

57 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Niantic, Connecticut since 1851, 13 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Ida in 2021. Since 1950, 14 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 1 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
13

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
44

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
14

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
1

no recorded deaths

What the records show for Niantic

The strongest storm to pass near Niantic was Carol in 1954, a Category 3 hurricane with 115 mph winds when its centre passed 11 miles away. The closest pass by a hurricane was Donna in 1960, whose centre came within 8 miles. The record near Niantic begins with an unnamed storm in 1851; the most recent system was Ida in 2021, a tropical storm 37 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1960s, with 6 systems, 2 of them at hurricane strength. Of the 57 systems, 8 have come since 2000. Niantic has more hurricanes within 75 miles than 95% of the 186 Connecticut cities on this site. The strongest of the 14 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F3 on August 21, 1951; its path came within 23 miles. Of the 14, none had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 5 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 4. The most recent tornado was on November 13, 2021. Of the 186 Connecticut cities, 95% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Niantic. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 24 times since 1969, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Of the 186 Connecticut cities, 81% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Niantic.

Compare Niantic's storm record with another city →

Tropical storms and hurricanes near Niantic

Tropical systems that passed within 75 miles of Niantic, Connecticut, newest first
YearStormClosestStrength when closestPeak
2021IdaSep 237 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 4
2021HenriAug 2216 miTropical storm (45 mph)Category 1
2021ElsaJul 916 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 1
2013AndreaJun 816 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
2011IreneAug 2871 miTropical storm (60 mph)Category 3
2008HannaSep 712 miTropical storm (52 mph)Category 1
2007BarryJun 426 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
2004HermineAug 3165 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1999FloydSep 1726 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 4
1996JosephineOct 965 miTropical storm (52 mph)Tropical storm
1996BerthaJul 1327 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 3
1991BobAug 1932 miCategory 2 (104 mph)Category 3
1985GloriaSep 2741 miCategory 1 (86 mph)Category 4
1985HenriSep 2439 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1976BelleAug 1040 miTropical storm (60 mph)Category 3
1971DoriaAug 2864 miTropical storm (56 mph)Tropical storm
1968Unnamed 1968 stormSep 1143 miTropical storm (63 mph)Tropical storm
1966AlmaJun 1459 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 3
1961EstherSep 2173 miCategory 1 (86 mph)Category 5
1961Unnamed 1961 stormSep 1520 miTropical storm (63 mph)Tropical storm
1960DonnaSep 128 miCategory 1 (91 mph)Category 4
1960BrendaJul 3036 miTropical storm (53 mph)Tropical storm
1959CindyJul 1150 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 1
1955DianeAug 1935 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 2
1954CarolAug 3111 miCategory 3 (115 mph)Category 3
1952AbleSep 169 miTropical storm (52 mph)Category 2
1944Unnamed 1944 stormSep 1520 miCategory 2 (101 mph)Category 5
1938Unnamed 1938 stormSep 2136 miCategory 3 (115 mph)Category 5
1934Unnamed 1934 stormSep 928 miTropical storm (54 mph)Category 2
1934Unnamed 1934 stormJun 2022 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 2
1924Unnamed 1924 stormSep 3069 miTropical storm (66 mph)Category 1
1916Unnamed 1916 stormJul 2145 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 2
1916Unnamed 1916 stormMay 172 miTropical storm (58 mph)Tropical storm
1915Unnamed 1915 stormAug 535 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 1
1913Unnamed 1913 stormOct 267 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 1
1908Unnamed 1908 stormMay 3011 miTropical storm (40 mph)Category 1
1907Unnamed 1907 stormJun 3043 miTropical storm (43 mph)Tropical storm
1904Unnamed 1904 stormSep 1527 miCategory 1 (83 mph)Category 1
1902Unnamed 1902 stormJun 165 miTropical storm (41 mph)Tropical storm
1897Unnamed 1897 stormSep 241 miTropical storm (52 mph)Tropical storm
1894Unnamed 1894 stormOct 1010 miCategory 1 (74 mph)Category 3
1893Unnamed 1893 stormAug 2472 miCategory 1 (79 mph)Category 3
1889Unnamed 1889 stormSep 2564 miTropical storm (40 mph)Category 2
1888Unnamed 1888 stormOct 1254 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 2
1888Unnamed 1888 stormSep 123 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1888Unnamed 1888 stormAug 2230 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 3
1882Unnamed 1882 stormSep 2427 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
1879Unnamed 1879 stormAug 1947 miCategory 1 (84 mph)Category 3
1877Unnamed 1877 stormOct 527 miTropical storm (67 mph)Category 3
1874Unnamed 1874 stormSep 3037 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 1
1872Unnamed 1872 stormOct 278 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 1
1869Unnamed 1869 stormSep 823 miCategory 3 (115 mph)Category 3
1861Unnamed 1861 stormNov 313 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 1
1861Unnamed 1861 stormSep 2842 miTropical storm (59 mph)Category 1
1858Unnamed 1858 stormSep 169 miCategory 1 (83 mph)Category 2
1856Unnamed 1856 stormAug 2073 miTropical storm (58 mph)Tropical storm
1851Unnamed 1851 stormOct 1928 miTropical storm (55 mph)Tropical storm

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

By decade

  • 2020s1
  • 2010s2
  • 2000s2
  • 1990s3
  • 1980s1
  • 1970s1
  • 1960s1
  • 1950s3(1 EF3+)
Strongest tornadoes near Niantic, Connecticut
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
Aug 21, 1951F323 mi0.1 mi0 / 8
Nov 13, 2021EF120 mi1.36 mi0 / 0
Oct 29, 2018EF112 mi1.96 mi0 / 0
Jul 31, 2009EF119 mi2.94 mi0 / 0
Sep 15, 2000F120 mi0.1 mi0 / 0
Jun 30, 1998F16 mi0.1 mi0 / 0
Jun 30, 1998F119 mi0.1 mi0 / 0
Jun 27, 1974F111 mi0.5 mi0 / 0
Jul 19, 1963F113 mi12.3 mi0 / 0
Oct 29, 2018EF019 mi2.33 mi0 / 0
Jun 30, 1998F014 mi0.1 mi0 / 0
Aug 1, 1983F014 mi0.2 mi0 / 0

The strongest 12 of 14, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

Hail in Niantic

The Storm Prediction Center has 24 hail reports within 10 miles of Niantic since 1969, made on 17 separate days. Of these, 17 were 1 inch across or larger, and 3 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on May 29, 1969. The most recent report is from June 29, 2020. June has the most reports, 11.

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

Weather by month in Niantic

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Groton New London Airport, CT, 8 miles east of Niantic at 10 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 80°F and low of 65°F; January is the coolest, at 38°F and 23°F. March and September are the wettest at 3.8 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.2 inches; the year adds up to 39.2 inches over 65 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 52% of the year's precipitation (20.5 of 39.2 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 57 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (23); a normal September there has highs of 74°F and 3.8 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 2 days a year, almost all from July. Lows fall below freezing on about 107 nights a year. That 39.2 inches is more than at 0 of the 27 Connecticut stations used on this site (0%). Quaker Hill, 8 miles northeast, has its own station (Groton, CT): 48.9 inches a year, 9.7 more than here, and a July average high of 81°F against 80°F.

Water temperature at the NOAA tide station New London, CT, 7 miles northeast, averaged 71°F in August and 39°F in February over 2021–2025. No month averaged 80°F. Sea level at the New London tide gauge, 7 miles from Niantic, has risen 1.16 ± 0.04 inches per decade from 1938 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 Groton New London Airport, CT
MonthHigh °FLow °FPrecip. inDays ≥ 0.1"Water °F
Jan38232.7541
Feb40252.2539
Mar47313.8543
Apr56393.6649
May65493.3756
Jun74583.3664
Jul80653.2571
Aug79643.3571
Sep74573.8570
Oct63463.7563
Nov53373.2555
Dec44293.1646
Year594339.26556

Averages for 1991–2020 at Groton New London Airport, CT (10 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals; water temperature: average of hourly readings 2021–2025 at the NOAA tide station New London, 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 Niantic

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 61 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Niantic: 31 flash floods, 23 thunderstorm wind reports, 5 floods and 2 lightning strikes. They killed 2 people and injured 2, and the NWS estimated $679,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 71 mph, on August 4, 2015. September has had the most flash floods, 14 of 31. Of the 186 Connecticut cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 99 have had fewer than Niantic.

  • September 6, 2017: thunderstorm wind 6 miles from the centre of Niantic — 1 killed, 2 injured, $15,000 damage.

  • March 14, 2010: flood 6 miles from the centre of Niantic — 1 killed.

  • March 30, 2010: flood 8 miles from the centre of Niantic — $315,000 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 Niantic's ZIP code 06357 have filed 169 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $3.7 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Hurricane Sandy in 2012: 65 claims (38% of all) and $3.4 million, then Not a named storm in 1982 with 22 and March 2010 Nor'easter in 2010 with 19. 82% 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, 96 have fewer than Niantic.

Flood insurance claims in Niantic by named event
EventClaimsPaid
Hurricane Sandy201265$3.4 million
Not a named storm198222$18,000
March 2010 Nor'easter201019$170,000
Hurricane Irene201112$46,000

New London County, which includes Niantic, has been named in 30 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1978, 16 of them major disasters (by incident: 11 hurricanes, 9 severe storms, 7 snowstorms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Remnants of Hurricane Ida, on October 30, 2021.

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).

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

Cities near Niantic