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NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Owings, MD

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

44 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Owings, Maryland since 1851, 3 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Elsa in 2021. Since 1950, 93 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 1 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
3

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
41

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
93

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
1

3 deaths in all

What the records show for Owings

The strongest storm to pass near Owings was an unnamed storm in 1878, a Category 1 hurricane with 93 mph winds when its centre passed 30 miles away. The record near Owings begins with an unnamed storm in 1859; the most recent system was Elsa in 2021, a tropical storm 58 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1870s, with 5 systems, one of them at hurricane strength. Of the 44 systems, 6 have come since 2000. Owings has more hurricanes within 75 miles than 14% of the 239 Maryland cities on this site. The strongest of the 93 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F4 on April 28, 2002; its path came within 14 miles, and it killed 3 people. Of the 93, 7 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 46 have come since 2000. July has had the most tornadoes, 25. The most recent tornado was on July 31, 2025. Owings has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 51% of the 239 Maryland cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 34 times since 1993, with stones up to 3 inches (tea cup size). Of the 239 Maryland cities, 74% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Owings.

Compare Owings's storm record with another city →

Tropical storms and hurricanes near Owings

Tropical systems that passed within 75 miles of Owings, Maryland, newest first
YearStormClosestStrength when closestPeak
2021ElsaJul 958 miTropical storm (56 mph)Category 1
2020ZetaOct 2931 miTropical storm (52 mph)Category 3
2020IsaiasAug 417 miTropical storm (68 mph)Category 1
2013AndreaJun 874 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
2008HannaSep 635 miTropical storm (52 mph)Category 1
2006ErnestoSep 24 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 1
1996BerthaJul 1338 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 3
1992DanielleSep 2649 miTropical storm (44 mph)Tropical storm
1971DoriaAug 2870 miTropical storm (69 mph)Tropical storm
1963Unnamed 1963 stormJun 314 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1960BrendaJul 3062 miTropical storm (58 mph)Tropical storm
1955DianeAug 1857 miTropical storm (43 mph)Category 2
1955ConnieAug 137 miTropical storm (61 mph)Category 4
1954HazelOct 1552 miCategory 1 (84 mph)Category 4
1952AbleSep 156 miTropical storm (56 mph)Category 2
1949Unnamed 1949 stormAug 2971 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 4
1945Unnamed 1945 stormSep 18overheadTropical storm (39 mph)Category 4
1944Unnamed 1944 stormAug 224 miTropical storm (40 mph)Category 1
1943Unnamed 1943 stormOct 11 miTropical storm (49 mph)Tropical storm
1934Unnamed 1934 stormJun 1944 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 2
1933Unnamed 1933 stormAug 2330 miTropical storm (64 mph)Category 4
1929Unnamed 1929 stormOct 211 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 4
1928Unnamed 1928 stormSep 2057 miTropical storm (54 mph)Category 5
1928Unnamed 1928 stormAug 1253 miTropical storm (52 mph)Category 2
1924Unnamed 1924 stormSep 3074 miCategory 1 (74 mph)Category 1
1915Unnamed 1915 stormAug 440 miTropical storm (47 mph)Category 1
1904Unnamed 1904 stormSep 1552 miTropical storm (71 mph)Category 1
1902Unnamed 1902 stormOct 1251 miTropical storm (40 mph)Category 2
1902Unnamed 1902 stormJun 1662 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
1899Unnamed 1899 stormNov 15 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 2
1893Unnamed 1893 stormOct 2313 miTropical storm (45 mph)Tropical storm
1893Unnamed 1893 stormAug 2948 miTropical storm (63 mph)Category 3
1888Unnamed 1888 stormSep 1138 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1886Unnamed 1886 stormJul 270 miTropical storm (40 mph)Category 2
1882Unnamed 1882 stormSep 2369 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
1882Unnamed 1882 stormSep 1167 miTropical storm (54 mph)Category 3
1878Unnamed 1878 stormOct 2330 miCategory 1 (93 mph)Category 2
1877Unnamed 1877 stormOct 445 miTropical storm (64 mph)Category 3
1876Unnamed 1876 stormSep 1844 miTropical storm (68 mph)Category 3
1874Unnamed 1874 stormSep 2946 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 1
1872Unnamed 1872 stormOct 2642 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 1
1863Unnamed 1863 stormSep 1856 miTropical storm (58 mph)Tropical storm
1861Unnamed 1861 stormSep 2768 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 1
1859Unnamed 1859 stormSep 1773 miTropical storm (63 mph)Category 1

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

By decade

  • 2020s9
  • 2010s19
  • 2000s18(1 EF3+)
  • 1990s26
  • 1980s4
  • 1970s12
  • 1960s3
  • 1950s2
Strongest tornadoes near Owings, Maryland
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
Apr 28, 2002F414 mi38 mi3 / 122
Sep 1, 2021EF211 mi11.43 mi0 / 0
Jul 23, 2017EF224 mi2.37 mi0 / 1
Apr 28, 2002F223 mi3 mi0 / 0
Oct 5, 1995F220 mi2.5 mi0 / 3
Jul 27, 1994F222 mi0.8 mi0 / 0
Jul 27, 1994F219 mi0.8 mi0 / 0
Oct 13, 1983F219 mi4 mi0 / 0
Jun 27, 1978F22 mi6.9 mi0 / 0
Sep 12, 1971F218 mi3 mi0 / 0
Jul 5, 2022EF120 mi0.8 mi0 / 0
May 27, 2022EF113 mi4.14 mi0 / 0

The strongest 12 of 93, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

Hail in Owings

The Storm Prediction Center has 34 hail reports within 10 miles of Owings since 1993, made on 21 separate days. Of these, 23 were 1 inch across or larger, and 2 reached 2 inches. The largest, 3 inches (tea cup size), fell on May 16, 2022. The most recent report is from June 30, 2024. May has the most reports, 12.

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

Weather by month in Owings

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Upper Marlboro 3 NNW, MD, 14 miles northwest of Owings at 130 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 88°F and low of 67°F; January is the coolest, at 44°F and 25°F. September is the wettest at 4.5 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.7 inches; the year adds up to 45.1 inches over 74 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 54% of the year's precipitation (24.4 of 45.1 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 44 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (16); a normal September there has highs of 80°F and 4.5 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 32 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 103 nights a year. Snowfall averages 15.9 inches a year, most of it in February. That 45.1 inches is more than at 16 of the 41 Maryland stations used on this site (39%). Sunderland, 2 miles southeast, has its own station (Mechanicsville 5 NE, MD): 48.1 inches a year, 3.0 more than here, and a July average high of 85°F against 88°F.

Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Annapolis, MD, 21 miles north, averaged 85°F in July and 42°F in January over 2021–2025. It averaged 80°F or warmer from July to August. Sea level at the Annapolis tide gauge, 21 miles from Owings, has risen 1.52 ± 0.04 inches per decade from 1928 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 15.2 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 92 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.

Monthly climate normals 1991–2020 at Upper Marlboro 3 NNW, MD
MonthHigh °FLow °FPrecip. inDays ≥ 0.1"Snow inWater °F
Jan44253.065.742
Feb47262.756.342
Mar55333.971.750
Apr67443.470.059
May75544.170.068
Jun84634.270.078
Jul88674.260.085
Aug86654.160.084
Sep80584.560.078
Oct69464.150.069
Nov58363.350.058
Dec48293.672.247
Year674545.17415.963

Averages for 1991–2020 at Upper Marlboro 3 NNW, MD (130 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals; water temperature: average of hourly readings 2021–2025 at the NOAA tide station Annapolis, MD, 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.

Maryland weather by month, station by station →

Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Owings

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 286 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Owings: 245 thunderstorm wind reports, 28 floods, 12 flash floods and 1 lightning strike. They killed 0 people and injured 3, and the NWS estimated $1.1 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 90 mph, on May 31, 2008. August has had the most flash floods, 5 of 12. Of the 239 Maryland cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 29 have had fewer than Owings.

  • August 1, 2011: thunderstorm wind 5 miles from the centre of Owings — 2 injured, $100,000 damage.

  • October 8, 2005: flood 9 miles from the centre of Owings — 1 injured.

  • May 27, 2022: thunderstorm wind 5 miles from the centre of Owings — $150,000 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 Owings's ZIP code 20736 have filed 12 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1985, and were paid $144,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 33% 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, 8 have fewer than Owings.

Calvert County, which includes Owings, has been named in 24 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1972, 17 of them major disasters (by incident: 8 hurricanes, 6 snowstorms, 4 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Tropical Storm Isaias, on February 4, 2021. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Calvert County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for hurricanes and lightning; Relatively Low for coastal flooding, strong wind and heat waves; Very Low for tornadoes, hail and inland flooding. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $16.0 million a year, the 17th highest of 24 Maryland counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $5.7 million (36%), 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.

Cities near Owings