Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit North East, MD

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Newark Ag Farm, DE, 12 miles northeast of North East at 106 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 89°F and low of 66°F; January is the coolest, at 43°F and 25°F. September is the wettest at 4.9 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.9 inches; the year adds up to 47.0 inches over 77 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 53% of the year's precipitation (25.1 of 47.0 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 35 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (13); a normal September there has highs of 79°F and 4.9 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 33 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 97 nights a year. That 47.0 inches is more than at 24 of the 41 Maryland stations used on this site (59%). Perryville, 5 miles west, has its own station (Conowingo Dam, MD): 48.2 inches a year, 1.2 more than here, and a July average high of 88°F against 89°F.

Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Chesapeake City, MD, 9 miles southeast, averaged 84°F in July and 38°F in January over 2021–2025. It averaged 80°F or warmer from July to August. Sea level at the Chesapeake City tide gauge, 9 miles from North East, has risen 1.76 ± 0.12 inches per decade from 1972 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 17.6 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 111 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 340 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of North East: 265 thunderstorm wind reports, 35 flash floods, 27 floods, 9 lightning strikes and 4 heavy rain events. They killed 2 people and injured 6, and the NWS estimated $7.1 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 75 mph, on June 2, 2004. July has had the most flash floods, 14 of 35. Of the 239 Maryland cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 116 have had fewer than North East.

Flood insurance policyholders in North East's ZIP code 21901 have filed 138 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $2.4 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Hurricane Isabel in 2003: 43 claims (31% of all) and $1.3 million, then Hurricane Floyd in 1999 with 15 and Hurricane Irene in 2011 with 15. 65% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 150 Maryland cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 124 have fewer than North East.