NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Portsmouth, 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
6 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Portsmouth, Ohio since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Opal in 1995. Since 1950, 46 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 5 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 6
- Tornadoes
- 46
- EF3 or stronger
- 5
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
14 deaths in all
What the records show for Portsmouth
None of the 6 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Portsmouth; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1888, a tropical storm with 52 mph winds when its centre passed 3 miles away. The record near Portsmouth begins with an unnamed storm in 1888; the most recent system was Opal in 1995, a tropical storm 20 miles away. None of the 6 systems has come since 2000. Portsmouth has more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than 64% of the 605 Ohio cities on this site. The strongest of the 46 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F5 on April 23, 1968; its path came within 9 miles, and it killed 7 people. Of the 46, 4 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 18 have come since 2000. April has had the most tornadoes, 12. The most recent tornado was on May 26, 2024. Of the 605 Ohio cities, 84% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Portsmouth. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 80 times since 1968, with stones up to 3 inches (tea cup size). Portsmouth has more hail reports within 10 miles than 55% of the 605 Ohio cities.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Portsmouth
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | OpalOct 5 | 20 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1989 | HugoSep 22 | 64 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1979 | FredericSep 14 | 33 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1957 | AudreyJun 28 | 28 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormOct 1 | 48 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormAug 21 | 3 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 Portsmouth: 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 Portsmouth
By decade
- 2020s4
- 2010s10
- 2000s4(1 EF3+)
- 1990s12
- 1980s8
- 1970s2
- 1960s5(4 EF3+)
- 1950s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 23, 1968 | F5 | 9 mi | 34 mi | 7 / 93 |
| Apr 23, 1968 | F4 | 8 mi | 78.7 mi | 6 / 364 |
| May 10, 2003 | F3 | 19 mi | 25 mi | 0 / 17 |
| Apr 23, 1968 | F3 | 3 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 5 |
| Apr 8, 1965 | F3 | 8 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 2, 2012 | EF2 | 21 mi | 11.07 mi | 1 / 2 |
| Jun 16, 1982 | F2 | 15 mi | 9 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Jul 12, 1980 | F2 | 8 mi | 29.6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 23, 1968 | F2 | 6 mi | 4.9 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Mar 7, 1956 | F2 | 14 mi | 1.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 26, 2024 | EF1 | 24 mi | 3.77 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 2, 2024 | EF1 | 25 mi | 1.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 46, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Portsmouth
The Storm Prediction Center has 80 hail reports within 10 miles of Portsmouth since 1968, made on 59 separate days. Of these, 32 were 1 inch across or larger, and one reached 2 inches. The largest, 3 inches (tea cup size), fell on May 5, 1996. The most recent report is from April 8, 2020. May has the most reports, 19.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Portsmouth
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Portsmouth-Sciotoville, OH, 3 miles east of Portsmouth at 540 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 87°F and low of 65°F; January is the coolest, at 41°F and 23°F. May is the wettest at 4.6 inches of precipitation on average and November the driest at 2.8 inches; the year adds up to 43.2 inches over 84 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 26 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 106 nights a year. That 43.2 inches is more than at 88 of the 129 Ohio stations used on this site (68%). Greenup, KY, 15 miles south, has its own station (Warnock 2, KY): 48.2 inches a year, 5.0 more than here, and a July average high of 86°F against 87°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 41 | 23 | 3.1 | 7 |
| Feb | 45 | 25 | 3.0 | 6 |
| Mar | 55 | 33 | 4.1 | 8 |
| Apr | 67 | 42 | 4.0 | 8 |
| May | 76 | 52 | 4.6 | 8 |
| Jun | 83 | 61 | 4.1 | 8 |
| Jul | 87 | 65 | 4.4 | 8 |
| Aug | 86 | 63 | 3.3 | 6 |
| Sep | 80 | 56 | 3.3 | 5 |
| Oct | 69 | 44 | 3.0 | 6 |
| Nov | 56 | 33 | 2.8 | 6 |
| Dec | 46 | 28 | 3.5 | 7 |
| Year | 66 | 44 | 43.2 | 84 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Portsmouth-Sciotoville, OH (540 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 Portsmouth
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 260 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Portsmouth: 184 thunderstorm wind reports, 44 floods, 28 flash floods and 4 heavy rain events. They killed 1 person and injured 4, and the NWS estimated $6.3 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 94 mph, on July 11, 2009. September has had the most flash floods, 10 of 28. Of the 597 Ohio cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 500 have had fewer than Portsmouth.
July 21, 2010: flash flood 9 miles from the centre of Portsmouth — 1 killed, 4 injured, $300,000 damage.
May 2, 2010: flood 3 miles from the centre of Portsmouth — $3.5 million damage.
June 29, 2012: thunderstorm wind 3 miles from the centre of Portsmouth — $750,000 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 Portsmouth's ZIP code 45662 have filed 91 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $328,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1997: 10 claims (11% of all) and $56,000. The year with the most claims was 2000, with 18. 13% 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, 263 have fewer than Portsmouth.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1997 | 10 | $56,000 |
Scioto County, which includes Portsmouth, has been named in 18 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1968, 14 of them major disasters (by incident: 8 severe storms, 5 floods, 2 biological emergencies, 1 hurricane). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 31, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Scioto County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for inland flooding, strong wind, lightning and heat waves; Relatively Low for tornadoes; Very Low for hurricanes and hail. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $26.6 million a year, the 29th highest of 88 Ohio counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $19.9 million (75%), 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 Portsmouth
- South Shore, KY6 mi
- West Portsmouth, OH6 mi
- Wheelersburg, OH8 mi
- Mc Dermott, OH9 mi
- Minford, OH10 mi
- Franklin Furnace, OH10 mi
- Lucasville, OH11 mi
- Greenup, KY15 mi
- Garrison, KY17 mi
- Beaver, OH18 mi
- Pedro, OH19 mi
- Russell, KY20 mi
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