Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Port Tobacco, MD

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Quantico Mcas, VA, 15 miles west of Port Tobacco at 10 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 88°F and low of 71°F; January is the coolest, at 45°F and 28°F. July is the wettest at 4.6 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.4 inches; the year adds up to 40.9 inches over 70 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 54% of the year's precipitation (22.1 of 40.9 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 40 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (13); a normal September there has highs of 80°F and 3.4 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 29 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 76 nights a year. Snowfall averages 12.4 inches a year, most of it in February. That 40.9 inches is more than at 2 of the 41 Maryland stations used on this site (5%). La Plata, 3 miles northeast, has its own station (Mechanicsville 5 NE, MD): 48.1 inches a year, 7.2 more than here, and a July average high of 85°F against 88°F.

Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Dahlgren, VA, 13 miles south, averaged 85°F in July and 40°F in January over 2021–2025. It averaged 80°F or warmer from July to August. Sea level at the Dahlgren tide gauge, 13 miles from Port Tobacco, has risen 2.24 ± 0.12 inches per decade from 1972 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 22.4 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 127 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 324 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Port Tobacco: 277 thunderstorm wind reports, 25 floods, 20 flash floods and 2 lightning strikes. They killed 1 person and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $7.8 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 81 mph, on April 28, 2002. June has had the most flash floods, 7 of 20. Of the 239 Maryland cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 70 have had fewer than Port Tobacco.

Flood insurance policyholders in Port Tobacco's ZIP code 20677 have filed 46 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $1.4 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Hurricane Isabel in 2003: 11 claims (24% of all) and $901,000. 39% 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, 75 have fewer than Port Tobacco.