NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Pickerington, OH
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
3 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Pickerington, Ohio since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Opal in 1995. Since 1950, 102 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 5 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 3
- Tornadoes
- 102
- EF3 or stronger
- 5
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
1 deaths in all
What the records show for Pickerington
None of the 3 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Pickerington; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1892, a tropical storm with 54 mph winds when its centre passed 62 miles away. The record near Pickerington begins with an unnamed storm in 1888; the most recent system was Opal in 1995, a tropical storm 5 miles away. Of the 605 Ohio cities on this site, 82% have more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than Pickerington. The highest rating among the 102 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3, reached 5 times; the most recent, on October 13, 1999, came within 24 miles. The deadliest, an F3 on May 31, 1985, killed 1 person. Of the 102, 3 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 50 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 19. The most recent tornado was on March 30, 2025. Pickerington has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 85% of the 605 Ohio cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 110 times since 1961, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Pickerington has more hail reports within 10 miles than 74% of the 605 Ohio cities.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Pickerington
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | OpalOct 5 | 5 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1892 | Unnamed 1892 stormSep 13 | 62 mi | Tropical storm (54 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormAug 21 | 70 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 3 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Pickerington: 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 Pickerington
By decade
- 2020s15
- 2010s23
- 2000s12
- 1990s8(1 EF3+)
- 1980s12(1 EF3+)
- 1970s15(3 EF3+)
- 1960s11
- 1950s6
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 31, 1985 | F3 | 18 mi | 29 mi | 1 / 20 |
| Oct 13, 1999 | F3 | 24 mi | 3.6 mi | 0 / 6 |
| May 10, 1973 | F3 | 7 mi | 89.6 mi | 0 / 8 |
| Feb 22, 1971 | F3 | 9 mi | 6.8 mi | 0 / 7 |
| Sep 3, 1970 | F3 | 18 mi | 2.3 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Feb 28, 2024 | EF2 | 9 mi | 14.04 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 20, 2011 | EF2 | 17 mi | 3.85 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 16, 2010 | EF2 | 21 mi | 6.99 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Oct 11, 2006 | F2 | 13 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 11, 2006 | F2 | 20 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 20, 2000 | F2 | 16 mi | 21 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Jun 13, 1981 | F2 | 23 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 2 |
The strongest 12 of 102, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Pickerington
The Storm Prediction Center has 110 hail reports within 10 miles of Pickerington since 1961, made on 72 separate days. Of these, 49 were 1 inch across or larger, and one reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on May 23, 2000. The most recent report is from April 2, 2025. April has the most reports, 28.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Pickerington
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Columbus-Valley Crossing, OH, 9 miles west of Pickerington at 760 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 86°F and low of 64°F; January is the coolest, at 38°F and 19°F. July is the wettest at 4.6 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.6 inches; the year adds up to 43.3 inches over 80 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 17 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 118 nights a year. That 43.3 inches is more than at 91 of the 129 Ohio stations used on this site (71%). Reynoldsburg, 4 miles northwest, has its own station (Columbus Port Columbus International Airport, OH): 41.5 inches a year, 1.8 less than here, and a July average high of 85°F against 86°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 38 | 19 | 3.4 | 7 |
| Feb | 43 | 21 | 2.6 | 5 |
| Mar | 52 | 30 | 3.9 | 7 |
| Apr | 65 | 40 | 4.0 | 8 |
| May | 75 | 51 | 4.4 | 8 |
| Jun | 83 | 60 | 3.9 | 7 |
| Jul | 86 | 64 | 4.6 | 7 |
| Aug | 85 | 61 | 3.6 | 6 |
| Sep | 80 | 54 | 3.6 | 6 |
| Oct | 68 | 42 | 2.9 | 5 |
| Nov | 54 | 32 | 3.0 | 7 |
| Dec | 43 | 25 | 3.4 | 6 |
| Year | 64 | 42 | 43.3 | 80 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Columbus-Valley Crossing, OH (760 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals. Normals describe the station; the farther a place is from it, and the bigger the difference in height, the more its weather can differ.
Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Pickerington
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 258 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Pickerington: 191 thunderstorm wind reports, 37 floods, 27 flash floods and 3 heavy rain events. They killed 1 person and injured 0, and the NWS estimated $1.0 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 81 mph, on April 11, 2008. July has had the most flash floods, 15 of 27. Of the 597 Ohio cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 493 have had fewer than Pickerington.
May 19, 2020: flash flood 7 miles from the centre of Pickerington — 1 killed, $20,000 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 Pickerington's ZIP code 43147 have filed 27 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $145,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 19% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 318 Ohio cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 136 have fewer than Pickerington.
Fairfield County, which includes Pickerington, has been named in 13 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1968, 8 of them major disasters (by incident: 7 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 2 snowstorms, 1 flood). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 31, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Fairfield County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for lightning; Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, hail, inland flooding, strong wind and heat waves; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $39.0 million a year, the 19th highest of 88 Ohio counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $26.6 million (68%), 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 Pickerington
- Reynoldsburg, OH4 mi
- Canal Winchester, OH4 mi
- Blacklick, OH7 mi
- Carroll, OH7 mi
- Pataskala, OH7 mi
- Lithopolis, OH8 mi
- Baltimore, OH8 mi
- Groveport, OH8 mi
- Gahanna, OH11 mi
- Millersport, OH12 mi
- New Albany, OH13 mi
- Lockbourne, OH13 mi
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