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NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Sandy Hook, CT

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

47 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Sandy Hook, Connecticut since 1851, 9 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Ida in 2021. Since 1950, 58 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 3 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
9

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
38

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
58

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
3

1 deaths in all

What the records show for Sandy Hook

The strongest storm to pass near Sandy Hook was Carol in 1954, a Category 3 hurricane with 115 mph winds when its centre passed 63 miles away. The closest pass by a hurricane was Gloria in 1985, whose centre came within 13 miles. The record near Sandy Hook begins with an unnamed storm in 1858; the most recent system was Ida in 2021, a tropical storm 61 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1890s, with 5 systems, 2 of them at hurricane strength. Of the 47 systems, 7 have come since 2000. Of the 186 Connecticut cities on this site, 76% have more hurricanes within 75 miles than Sandy Hook. The strongest of the 58 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F4 on July 10, 1989; its path came within 18 miles. The deadliest, an F3 on May 24, 1962, killed 1 person. Of the 58, 3 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 30 have come since 2000. July has had the most tornadoes, 24. The most recent tornado was on August 12, 2023. Sandy Hook has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 68% of the 186 Connecticut cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 24 times since 1961, with stones up to 1.75 inches (golf ball size). Of the 186 Connecticut cities, 81% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Sandy Hook.

Compare Sandy Hook's storm record with another city →

Tropical storms and hurricanes near Sandy Hook

Tropical systems that passed within 75 miles of Sandy Hook, Connecticut, newest first
YearStormClosestStrength when closestPeak
2021IdaSep 261 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 4
2021HenriAug 2265 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 1
2021ElsaJul 960 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 1
2020IsaiasAug 471 miTropical storm (60 mph)Category 1
2013AndreaJun 859 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
2011IreneAug 2818 miTropical storm (61 mph)Category 3
2008HannaSep 729 miTropical storm (52 mph)Category 1
1999FloydSep 1722 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 4
1996BerthaJul 1315 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 3
1985GloriaSep 2713 miCategory 1 (86 mph)Category 4
1985HenriSep 2457 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1976BelleAug 1012 miTropical storm (63 mph)Category 3
1972AgnesJun 2232 miTropical storm (55 mph)Category 1
1971DoriaAug 2814 miTropical storm (56 mph)Tropical storm
1968Unnamed 1968 stormSep 1111 miTropical storm (63 mph)Tropical storm
1961Unnamed 1961 stormSep 1528 miTropical storm (63 mph)Tropical storm
1960DonnaSep 1241 miCategory 1 (94 mph)Category 4
1960BrendaJul 3012 miTropical storm (54 mph)Tropical storm
1955DianeAug 1951 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 2
1954CarolAug 3163 miCategory 3 (115 mph)Category 3
1952AbleSep 129 miTropical storm (54 mph)Category 2
1944Unnamed 1944 stormSep 1565 miCategory 2 (104 mph)Category 5
1938Unnamed 1938 stormSep 2118 miCategory 3 (113 mph)Category 5
1934Unnamed 1934 stormSep 919 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 2
1934Unnamed 1934 stormJun 1950 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 2
1924Unnamed 1924 stormSep 3017 miTropical storm (66 mph)Category 1
1916Unnamed 1916 stormMay 1748 miTropical storm (58 mph)Tropical storm
1915Unnamed 1915 stormAug 46 miTropical storm (53 mph)Category 1
1908Unnamed 1908 stormMay 3063 miTropical storm (41 mph)Category 1
1904Unnamed 1904 stormSep 1566 miCategory 1 (81 mph)Category 1
1902Unnamed 1902 stormJun 1651 miTropical storm (41 mph)Tropical storm
1899Unnamed 1899 stormNov 158 miTropical storm (53 mph)Category 2
1897Unnamed 1897 stormSep 2448 miTropical storm (52 mph)Tropical storm
1894Unnamed 1894 stormOct 1040 miCategory 1 (79 mph)Category 3
1893Unnamed 1893 stormAug 2945 miTropical storm (63 mph)Category 3
1893Unnamed 1893 stormAug 2419 miCategory 1 (81 mph)Category 3
1888Unnamed 1888 stormSep 1239 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1888Unnamed 1888 stormAug 226 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 3
1882Unnamed 1882 stormSep 2448 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
1877Unnamed 1877 stormOct 560 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 3
1874Unnamed 1874 stormSep 309 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 1
1872Unnamed 1872 stormOct 2627 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 1
1866Unnamed 1866 stormOct 3036 miTropical storm (56 mph)Tropical storm
1863Unnamed 1863 stormSep 1929 miTropical storm (47 mph)Tropical storm
1861Unnamed 1861 stormNov 357 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 1
1861Unnamed 1861 stormSep 287 miTropical storm (60 mph)Category 1
1858Unnamed 1858 stormSep 1662 miCategory 1 (86 mph)Category 2

Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Sandy Hook: 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 Sandy Hook

By decade

  • 2020s7
  • 2010s14
  • 2000s9
  • 1990s8
  • 1980s6(1 EF3+)
  • 1970s8(1 EF3+)
  • 1960s2(1 EF3+)
  • 1950s4
Strongest tornadoes near Sandy Hook, Connecticut
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
Jul 10, 1989F418 mi3 mi0 / 40
May 24, 1962F312 mi11.6 mi1 / 50
Jul 29, 1971F314 mi0.1 mi0 / 2
May 15, 2018EF223 mi1.18 mi0 / 0
Jul 10, 1989F222 mi0.5 mi0 / 5
Jul 10, 1989F214 mi5 mi0 / 70
Jul 10, 1989F221 mi10 mi0 / 4
Jul 5, 1984F224 mi3 mi0 / 0
Sep 18, 1973F222 mi0.1 mi0 / 0
Jun 12, 1973F216 mi1.5 mi0 / 0
Jul 29, 1971F224 mi4.5 mi0 / 0
Jul 19, 1971F224 mi1.5 mi0 / 0

The strongest 12 of 58, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

Hail in Sandy Hook

The Storm Prediction Center has 24 hail reports within 10 miles of Sandy Hook since 1961, made on 18 separate days. Of these, 17 were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest size, 1.75 inches (golf ball size), was reported on 2 days, most recently October 4, 2010. The most recent report is from August 3, 2024. August has the most reports, 8.

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.

Weather by month in Sandy Hook

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Danbury, CT, 9 miles west of Sandy Hook at 405 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 85°F and low of 64°F; January is the coolest, at 36°F and 21°F. July and October are the wettest at 5.0 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 3.3 inches; the year adds up to 53.0 inches over 86 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 54% of the year's precipitation (28.6 of 53.0 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 47 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (21); a normal September there has highs of 75°F and 4.9 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 20 days a year, almost all from May to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 126 nights a year. Snowfall averages 49.3 inches a year, most of it in January. That 53.0 inches is more than at 22 of the 27 Connecticut stations used on this site (81%). Oxford, 6 miles east, has its own station (Mt Carmel, CT): 50.5 inches a year, 2.5 less than here, and the same July average high, 85°F.

Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Bridgeport, CT, 17 miles south, averaged 76°F in August and 39°F in February over 2021–2025. No month averaged 80°F. Sea level at the Bridgeport tide gauge, 17 miles from Sandy Hook, has risen 1.35 ± 0.08 inches per decade from 1964 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 13.5 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 81 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.

Monthly climate normals 1991–2020 at Danbury, CT
MonthHigh °FLow °FPrecip. inDays ≥ 0.1"Snow inWater °F
Jan36213.7715.742
Feb39223.3711.039
Mar48294.4810.442
Apr61394.281.748
May72494.280.056
Jun80594.870.065
Jul85645.070.073
Aug82634.970.076
Sep75554.960.074
Oct63435.060.066
Nov50344.071.956
Dec40264.688.646
Year614253.08649.357

Averages for 1991–2020 at Danbury, CT (405 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals; water temperature: average of hourly readings 2021–2025 at the NOAA tide station Bridgeport, CT, 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.

Connecticut weather by month, station by station →

Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Sandy Hook

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 242 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Sandy Hook: 154 thunderstorm wind reports, 54 flash floods, 28 floods and 6 lightning strikes. They killed 2 people and injured 6, and the NWS estimated $2.4 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 100 mph, on June 9, 2011. August has had the most flash floods, 37 of 54. Of the 186 Connecticut cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 154 have had fewer than Sandy Hook.

  • August 18, 2024: flash flood 7 miles from the centre of Sandy Hook — 2 killed.

  • May 24, 2009: lightning strike 5 miles from the centre of Sandy Hook — 3 injured.

  • January 19, 1996: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Sandy Hook — 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

Flood insurance policyholders in Sandy Hook's ZIP code 06482 have filed 37 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1982, and were paid $312,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 2011, with 17. 35% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 128 Connecticut cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 48 have fewer than Sandy Hook.

Fairfield County, which includes Sandy Hook, has been named in 33 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1978, 18 of them major disasters (by incident: 11 hurricanes, 8 severe storms, 8 snowstorms, 3 floods). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storm, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides, on September 20, 2024.

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).

What counts as a pass, the distances and the sources: how this storm history is built.

Cities near Sandy Hook