Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit North Kingstown, RI

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Kingston 1 NW, RI, 8 miles southwest of North Kingstown at 115 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 80°F and low of 62°F; January is the coolest, at 38°F and 20°F. March is the wettest at 5.7 inches of precipitation on average and July the driest at 3.1 inches; the year adds up to 51.3 inches over 83 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 48% of the year's precipitation (24.4 of 51.3 inches); the other six months are wetter. September has brought the most of the 55 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (21); a normal September there has highs of 72°F and 4.3 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 3 days a year, almost all from July. Lows fall below freezing on about 130 nights a year. That 51.3 inches is more than at 5 of the 10 Rhode Island stations used on this site (50%). East Greenwich, 4 miles north, has its own station (Providence T F Green Airport, RI): 47.7 inches a year, 3.6 less than here, and a July average high of 84°F against 80°F.

Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Newport, RI, 9 miles southeast, 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, 9 miles from North Kingstown, 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 109 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of North Kingstown: 55 thunderstorm wind reports, 32 floods, 17 flash floods, 4 lightning strikes and 1 heavy rain event. They killed 0 people and injured 9, and the NWS estimated $30.8 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 75 mph, on June 22, 1997. July has had the most flash floods, 6 of 17. Of the 49 Rhode Island cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 22 have had fewer than North Kingstown.

Flood insurance policyholders in North Kingstown's ZIP code 02852 have filed 275 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $1.9 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from March 2010 Nor'easter in 2010: 79 claims (29% of all) and $605,000, then Hurricane Bob in 1991 with 34 and Hurricane Sandy in 2012 with 33. 57% 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, 29 have fewer than North Kingstown.