Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Rising Sun, MD

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Octoraro Lake, PA, 7 miles north of Rising Sun at 260 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 85°F and low of 65°F; January is the coolest, at 39°F and 22°F. September is the wettest at 5.2 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.9 inches; the year adds up to 48.5 inches over 80 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 54% of the year's precipitation (26.4 of 48.5 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 34 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (12); a normal September there has highs of 76°F and 5.2 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 23 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 125 nights a year. Snowfall averages 18.1 inches a year, most of it in February. That 48.5 inches is more than at 38 of the 41 Maryland stations used on this site (93%). Conowingo, 5 miles west, has its own station (Conowingo Dam, MD): 48.2 inches a year, 0.3 less than here, and a July average high of 88°F against 85°F.

Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Chesapeake City, MD, 17 miles southeast, averaged 84°F in July and 38°F in January over 2021–2025. It averaged 80°F or warmer from July to August. Sea level at the Chesapeake City tide gauge, 17 miles from Rising Sun, has risen 1.76 ± 0.12 inches per decade from 1972 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 17.6 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 111 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 380 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Rising Sun: 278 thunderstorm wind reports, 44 flash floods, 35 floods, 12 lightning strikes and 11 heavy rain events. They killed 4 people and injured 10, and the NWS estimated $45.5 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 75 mph, on June 2, 2004. July has had the most flash floods, 21 of 44. Of the 239 Maryland cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 137 have had fewer than Rising Sun.

Flood insurance policyholders in Rising Sun's ZIP code 21911 have filed 12 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $241,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 50% 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, 8 have fewer than Rising Sun.