NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Plainville, MA
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
51 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Plainville, Massachusetts since 1851, 11 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Ida in 2021. Since 1950, 44 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 2 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 11
- Tropical storms
- 40
- Tornadoes
- 44
- EF3 or stronger
- 2
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
95 deaths in all
What the records show for Plainville
The strongest storm to pass near Plainville was Edna in 1954, a Category 2 hurricane with 109 mph winds when its centre passed 57 miles away. The closest pass by a hurricane was an unnamed storm in 1869, whose centre came within 6 miles. The record near Plainville begins with an unnamed storm in 1851; the most recent system was Ida in 2021, a tropical storm 67 miles away. The 1870s and the 1960s were the busiest decades, with 5 systems each. Of the 51 systems, 7 have come since 2000. Plainville has more hurricanes within 75 miles than 49% of the 346 Massachusetts cities on this site. The strongest of the 44 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F4 on June 9, 1953; its path came within 22 miles, and it killed 94 people. Of the 44, 6 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 21 have come since 2000. August has had the most tornadoes, 12. The most recent tornado was on June 26, 2024. Of the 346 Massachusetts cities, 54% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Plainville. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 56 times since 1969, with stones up to 2 inches (hen egg size). Plainville has more hail reports within 10 miles than 51% of the 346 Massachusetts cities.
Compare Plainville's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Plainville
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | IdaSep 2 | 67 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 4 |
| 2021 | HenriAug 22 | 50 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2021 | ElsaJul 9 | 13 mi | Tropical storm (53 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2013 | AndreaJun 8 | 16 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2008 | HannaSep 7 | 5 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2007 | BarryJun 4 | 10 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2004 | HermineAug 31 | 42 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1999 | FloydSep 17 | 33 mi | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1996 | JosephineOct 9 | 67 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1996 | BerthaJul 14 | 25 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1991 | BobAug 19 | 17 mi | Category 1 (92 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1985 | GloriaSep 27 | 62 mi | Category 1 (82 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1976 | BelleAug 10 | 66 mi | Tropical storm (45 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1966 | AlmaJun 14 | 39 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1961 | EstherSep 26 | 60 mi | Tropical storm (55 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1961 | Unnamed 1961 stormSep 15 | 30 mi | Tropical storm (66 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1960 | DonnaSep 12 | 22 mi | Category 1 (78 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1960 | BrendaJul 30 | 46 mi | Tropical storm (48 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1959 | CindyJul 11 | 39 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1954 | EdnaSep 11 | 57 mi | Category 2 (109 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1954 | CarolAug 31 | 22 mi | Category 2 (105 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1952 | AbleSep 2 | 60 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1944 | Unnamed 1944 stormSep 15 | 14 mi | Category 1 (79 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1934 | Unnamed 1934 stormSep 9 | 45 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1934 | Unnamed 1934 stormJun 20 | 46 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1923 | Unnamed 1923 stormOct 19 | 24 mi | Tropical storm (54 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1916 | Unnamed 1916 stormJul 21 | 21 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1916 | Unnamed 1916 stormMay 17 | 19 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormAug 5 | 24 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1913 | Unnamed 1913 stormOct 2 | 72 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1908 | Unnamed 1908 stormMay 31 | 10 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1907 | Unnamed 1907 stormJun 30 | 34 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1904 | Unnamed 1904 stormSep 15 | 34 mi | Category 1 (85 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormJun 17 | 2 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1897 | Unnamed 1897 stormSep 24 | 14 mi | Tropical storm (47 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1896 | Unnamed 1896 stormSep 10 | 32 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1894 | Unnamed 1894 stormOct 10 | 27 mi | Tropical storm (62 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1889 | Unnamed 1889 stormSep 25 | 57 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormSep 12 | overhead | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormAug 22 | 4 mi | Tropical storm (47 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1879 | Unnamed 1879 stormAug 19 | 49 mi | Category 1 (81 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1878 | Unnamed 1878 stormOct 24 | 59 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1877 | Unnamed 1877 stormOct 5 | 46 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1874 | Unnamed 1874 stormSep 30 | 41 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1872 | Unnamed 1872 stormOct 27 | 14 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1869 | Unnamed 1869 stormOct 4 | 50 mi | Category 2 (104 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1869 | Unnamed 1869 stormSep 8 | 6 mi | Category 2 (105 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1861 | Unnamed 1861 stormNov 3 | 8 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1861 | Unnamed 1861 stormSep 28 | 40 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1858 | Unnamed 1858 stormSep 16 | 18 mi | Category 1 (77 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1851 | Unnamed 1851 stormOct 19 | 14 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Plainville: 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 Plainville
By decade
- 2020s12
- 2010s6
- 2000s3
- 1990s3
- 1980s7
- 1970s6
- 1960s2
- 1950s5(2 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 9, 1953 | F4 | 22 mi | 34.9 mi | 94 / 1228 |
| Jun 9, 1953 | F3 | 4 mi | 28 mi | 0 / 17 |
| Aug 18, 2023 | EF2 | 11 mi | 9.1 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Aug 7, 1986 | F2 | 14 mi | 4 mi | 0 / 20 |
| Nov 18, 1967 | F2 | 22 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 21, 1956 | F2 | 14 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 9, 1972 | F1 | 19 mi | 4.9 mi | 1 / 6 |
| Jun 26, 2024 | EF1 | 15 mi | 0.55 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 26, 2024 | EF1 | 6 mi | 8.6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 13, 2023 | EF1 | 10 mi | 0.21 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 13, 2023 | EF1 | 21 mi | 0.21 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 18, 2023 | EF1 | 22 mi | 0.35 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 44, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Plainville
The Storm Prediction Center has 56 hail reports within 10 miles of Plainville since 1969, made on 39 separate days. Of these, 21 were 1 inch across or larger, and one reached 2 inches. The largest, 2 inches (hen egg size), fell on July 18, 2012. The most recent report is from September 28, 2021. June has the most reports, 21.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Plainville
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Norton W, MA, 8 miles east of Plainville at 95 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 83°F and low of 62°F; January is the coolest, at 37°F and 18°F. March is the wettest at 5.4 inches of precipitation on average and July the driest at 3.5 inches; the year adds up to 52.4 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 (25.3 of 52.4 inches); the other six months are wetter. September has brought the most of the 51 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (20); a normal September there has highs of 73°F and 4.1 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 12 days a year, almost all from June to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 147 nights a year. Snowfall averages 49.5 inches a year, most of it in January. That 52.4 inches is more than at 58 of the 65 Massachusetts stations used on this site (89%). North Attleboro, 3 miles south, has its own station (Woonsocket, RI): 52.0 inches a year, 0.4 less than here, and a July average high of 84°F against 83°F.
Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Providence, RI, 15 miles south, averaged 72°F in August and 36°F in February over 2021–2025. No month averaged 80°F. Sea level at the Providence tide gauge, 15 miles from Plainville, has risen 1.04 ± 0.05 inches per decade from 1938 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 10.4 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 58 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in | Water °F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 37 | 18 | 4.4 | 7 | 14.3 | 39 |
| Feb | 39 | 19 | 3.8 | 7 | 12.6 | 36 |
| Mar | 46 | 27 | 5.4 | 8 | 10.1 | 40 |
| Apr | 58 | 35 | 4.7 | 8 | 1.9 | 47 |
| May | 69 | 46 | 3.6 | 7 | 0.0 | 55 |
| Jun | 77 | 55 | 4.3 | 6 | 0.0 | 64 |
| Jul | 83 | 62 | 3.5 | 6 | 0.0 | 71 |
| Aug | 81 | 60 | 3.8 | 6 | 0.0 | 72 |
| Sep | 73 | 52 | 4.1 | 6 | 0.0 | 68 |
| Oct | 61 | 41 | 5.1 | 7 | 0.2 | 61 |
| Nov | 51 | 32 | 4.5 | 7 | 1.2 | 52 |
| Dec | 42 | 24 | 5.2 | 8 | 9.2 | 42 |
| Year | 60 | 39 | 52.4 | 83 | 49.5 | 54 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Norton W, MA (95 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals; water temperature: average of hourly readings 2021–2025 at the NOAA tide station Providence, RI, 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.
Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Plainville
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 248 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Plainville: 151 thunderstorm wind reports, 58 floods, 24 flash floods, 12 lightning strikes and 3 heavy rain events. They killed 0 people and injured 4, and the NWS estimated $45.3 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 81 mph, on August 10, 2000. September has had the most flash floods, 10 of 24. Of the 339 Massachusetts cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 210 have had fewer than Plainville.
March 29, 2010: flood 4 miles from the centre of Plainville — 2 injured, $23.6 million damage.
June 1, 2010: lightning strike 4 miles from the centre of Plainville — 1 injured, $20,000 damage.
August 10, 2012: lightning strike 5 miles from the centre of Plainville — 1 injured.
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
Norfolk County, which includes Plainville, has been named in 38 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1972, 23 of them major disasters (by incident: 9 snowstorms, 8 hurricanes, 7 floods, 7 severe storms). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm, on April 18, 2022. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Norfolk County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for inland flooding, coastal flooding and lightning; Relatively Moderate for hurricanes, tornadoes, strong wind and heat waves; Very Low for hail. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $146.9 million a year, the 4th highest of 14 Massachusetts counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $103.1 million (70%), 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.