NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Point Of Rocks, 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
24 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Point Of Rocks, Maryland since 1851, 3 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Sandy in 2012. Since 1950, 103 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 1 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 3
- Tropical storms
- 21
- Tornadoes
- 103
- EF3 or stronger
- 1
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
1 deaths in all
What the records show for Point Of Rocks
The strongest storm to pass near Point Of Rocks was an unnamed storm in 1878, a Category 1 hurricane with 92 mph winds when its centre passed 25 miles away. The closest pass by a hurricane was Hazel in 1954, whose centre came within 5 miles. The record near Point Of Rocks begins with an unnamed storm in 1876; the most recent system was Sandy in 2012, a tropical storm 54 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1890s, with 5 systems, one of them at hurricane strength. Of the 24 systems, 2 have come since 2000. Point Of Rocks has more hurricanes within 75 miles than 14% of the 239 Maryland cities on this site. The strongest of the 103 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F3 on September 5, 1979; its path came within 24 miles, and it killed 1 person. Of the 103, 3 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 59 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 27. The most recent tornado was on August 8, 2024. Point Of Rocks has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 66% of the 239 Maryland cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 46 times since 1969, with stones up to 2.5 inches (tennis ball size). Of the 239 Maryland cities, 62% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Point Of Rocks.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Point Of Rocks
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | SandyOct 30 | 54 mi | Tropical storm (59 mph) | Category 3 |
| 2006 | ErnestoSep 2 | 45 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1979 | DavidSep 6 | 38 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1955 | DianeAug 18 | 5 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1955 | ConnieAug 13 | 41 mi | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1954 | HazelOct 15 | 5 mi | Category 1 (83 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1952 | AbleSep 1 | 8 mi | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1949 | Unnamed 1949 stormAug 29 | 8 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1945 | Unnamed 1945 stormSep 18 | 64 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1943 | Unnamed 1943 stormOct 1 | 41 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1934 | Unnamed 1934 stormJun 19 | 12 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1933 | Unnamed 1933 stormAug 24 | 21 mi | Tropical storm (60 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1929 | Unnamed 1929 stormOct 2 | 49 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1928 | Unnamed 1928 stormSep 20 | 18 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormAug 4 | 23 mi | Tropical storm (47 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1899 | Unnamed 1899 stormNov 1 | 57 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1896 | Unnamed 1896 stormSep 30 | 53 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormOct 23 | 18 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormOct 14 | 26 mi | Category 1 (74 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormAug 29 | 16 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormAug 21 | 68 mi | Tropical storm (48 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1885 | Unnamed 1885 stormOct 13 | 19 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1878 | Unnamed 1878 stormOct 23 | 25 mi | Category 1 (92 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1876 | Unnamed 1876 stormSep 18 | 5 mi | Tropical storm (64 mph) | Category 3 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Point Of Rocks: 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 Point Of Rocks
By decade
- 2020s15
- 2010s22
- 2000s22
- 1990s22
- 1980s4
- 1970s7(1 EF3+)
- 1960s7
- 1950s4
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 5, 1979 | F3 | 24 mi | 17.9 mi | 1 / 6 |
| Nov 2, 2018 | EF2 | 20 mi | 5.45 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 17, 2004 | F2 | 9 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 17, 2004 | F2 | 9 mi | 15 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jul 19, 1996 | F2 | 10 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 16, 1989 | F2 | 13 mi | 9 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Jun 3, 1980 | F2 | 20 mi | 2.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 5, 1979 | F2 | 10 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 5, 1979 | F2 | 12 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Jul 31, 1978 | F2 | 25 mi | 0.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 31, 1978 | F2 | 13 mi | 1.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 8, 2024 | EF1 | 24 mi | 4.76 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 103, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Point Of Rocks
The Storm Prediction Center has 46 hail reports within 10 miles of Point Of Rocks since 1969, made on 30 separate days. Of these, 31 were 1 inch across or larger, and one reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.5 inches (tennis ball size), fell on July 10, 1975. The most recent report is from May 23, 2024. June has the most reports, 15.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Point Of Rocks
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Frederick Police Brks, MD, 11 miles northeast of Point Of Rocks at 380 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 89°F and low of 68°F; January is the coolest, at 43°F and 27°F. September is the wettest at 5.8 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 2.6 inches; the year adds up to 43.8 inches over 76 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 52% of the year's precipitation (22.9 of 43.8 inches); the other six months are drier. October has brought the most of the 24 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (8); a normal October there has highs of 69°F and 3.3 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 36 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 84 nights a year. That 43.8 inches is more than at 11 of the 41 Maryland stations used on this site (27%). Brunswick, 6 miles northwest, has its own station (Sharpsburg 5 S, MD): 43.6 inches a year, 0.2 less than here, and a July average high of 86°F against 89°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 43 | 27 | 2.6 | 6 |
| Feb | 48 | 29 | 3.0 | 5 |
| Mar | 55 | 36 | 3.7 | 9 |
| Apr | 69 | 45 | 3.6 | 7 |
| May | 77 | 55 | 4.0 | 7 |
| Jun | 85 | 63 | 4.3 | 7 |
| Jul | 89 | 68 | 3.9 | 7 |
| Aug | 87 | 66 | 2.9 | 5 |
| Sep | 80 | 59 | 5.8 | 7 |
| Oct | 69 | 47 | 3.3 | 4 |
| Nov | 56 | 38 | 2.7 | 5 |
| Dec | 47 | 31 | 4.0 | 7 |
| Year | 67 | 47 | 43.8 | 76 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Frederick Police Brks, MD (380 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 Point Of Rocks
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 391 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Point Of Rocks: 300 thunderstorm wind reports, 65 floods, 23 flash floods and 3 lightning strikes. They killed 0 people and injured 2, and the NWS estimated $2.2 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 86 mph, on July 19, 1996. May has had the most flash floods, 6 of 23. Of the 239 Maryland cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 80 have had fewer than Point Of Rocks.
August 25, 2007: lightning strike 9 miles from the centre of Point Of Rocks — 1 injured.
July 22, 2017: thunderstorm wind 10 miles from the centre of Point Of Rocks — 1 injured.
March 8, 2008: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Point Of Rocks — $400,000 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 Point Of Rocks's ZIP code 21777 have filed 60 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $821,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Hurricane Fran in 1996: 21 claims (35% of all) and $280,000, then Flooding in 1996 with 17. 63% 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, 89 have fewer than Point Of Rocks.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Hurricane Fran1996 | 21 | $280,000 |
| Flooding1996 | 17 | $336,000 |
Frederick County, which includes Point Of Rocks, has been named in 23 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1971, 16 of them major disasters (by incident: 6 hurricanes, 5 floods, 5 snowstorms, 4 severe storms). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 26, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Frederick 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; Relatively Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $49.9 million a year, the 8th highest of 24 Maryland counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $32.2 million (65%), 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 Point Of Rocks
- Adamstown, MD4 mi
- Brunswick, MD6 mi
- Lovettsville, VA6 mi
- Jefferson, MD7 mi
- Dickerson, MD7 mi
- Waterford, VA8 mi
- Knoxville, MD8 mi
- Leesburg, VA11 mi
- Frederick, MD11 mi
- Hamilton, VA12 mi
- Middletown, MD12 mi
- Poolesville, MD12 mi
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