Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Sea Isle City, NJ

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Estell Manor, NJ, 18 miles northwest of Sea Isle City at 85 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 87°F and low of 66°F; January is the coolest, at 43°F and 23°F. August is the wettest at 5.5 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 3.4 inches; the year adds up to 50.4 inches over 80 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 52% of the year's precipitation (26.2 of 50.4 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 64 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (27); a normal September there has highs of 79°F and 3.9 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 26 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 117 nights a year. Snowfall averages 22.0 inches a year, most of it in February. That 50.4 inches is more than at 35 of the 51 New Jersey stations used on this site (69%). Cape May Court House, 9 miles southwest, has its own station (Cape May 2 NW, NJ): 43.9 inches a year, 6.5 less than here, and a July average high of 86°F against 87°F.

Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Cape May, NJ, 19 miles southwest, averaged 75°F in August and 40°F in January over 2021–2025. No month averaged 80°F. Sea level at the Cape May tide gauge, 19 miles from Sea Isle City, has risen 2.01 ± 0.09 inches per decade from 1965 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 20.1 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 120 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 82 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Sea Isle City: 40 thunderstorm wind reports, 16 heavy rain events, 11 floods, 8 lightning strikes and 7 flash floods. They killed 0 people and injured 2, and the NWS estimated $30.6 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 75 mph, on October 9, 2007. July has had the most flash floods, 5 of 7. Of the 455 New Jersey cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 5 have had fewer than Sea Isle City.

Flood insurance policyholders in Sea Isle City's ZIP code 08243 have filed 2,967 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $37.8 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Hurricane Sandy in 2012: 1,257 claims (42% of all) and $25.7 million, then Flooding in 1984 with 800 and December Storm - Nor'easter in 1992 with 230. 88% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 395 New Jersey cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 379 have fewer than Sea Isle City.