NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Sparta, NJ
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
32 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Sparta, New Jersey since 1851, 2 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Ida in 2021. Since 1950, 27 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 4 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 2
- Tropical storms
- 30
- Tornadoes
- 27
- EF3 or stronger
- 4
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
no recorded deaths
What the records show for Sparta
The strongest storm to pass near Sparta was an unnamed storm in 1893, a Category 1 hurricane with 85 mph winds when its centre passed 43 miles away. The record near Sparta begins with an unnamed storm in 1861; the most recent system was Ida in 2021, a tropical storm 62 miles away. Of the 32 systems, 5 have come since 2000. Of the 455 New Jersey cities on this site, 93% have more hurricanes within 75 miles than Sparta. The highest rating among the 27 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3, reached 4 times; the most recent, on May 31, 1998, came within 18 miles. Of the 27, one had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 7 have come since 2000. July has had the most tornadoes, 10. The most recent tornado was on June 26, 2023. Of the 455 New Jersey cities, 90% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Sparta. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 31 times since 1975, with stones up to 2.5 inches (tennis ball size). Of the 455 New Jersey cities, 82% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Sparta.
Compare Sparta's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Sparta
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | IdaSep 2 | 62 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Category 4 |
| 2020 | IsaiasAug 4 | 18 mi | Tropical storm (62 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2020 | FayJul 11 | 60 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2011 | IreneAug 28 | 41 mi | Tropical storm (62 mph) | Category 3 |
| 2008 | HannaSep 7 | 58 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1999 | FloydSep 16 | 66 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1996 | BerthaJul 13 | 46 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1976 | BelleAug 10 | 74 mi | Tropical storm (71 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1972 | AgnesJun 22 | 45 mi | Tropical storm (55 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1971 | DoriaAug 28 | 40 mi | Tropical storm (60 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1968 | Unnamed 1968 stormSep 11 | 75 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1960 | BrendaJul 30 | 57 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1955 | DianeAug 19 | 38 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1952 | AbleSep 1 | overhead | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1949 | Unnamed 1949 stormAug 29 | 60 mi | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1934 | Unnamed 1934 stormJun 19 | 57 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1929 | Unnamed 1929 stormOct 3 | 53 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1924 | Unnamed 1924 stormSep 30 | 40 mi | Tropical storm (68 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormAug 4 | 18 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1903 | Unnamed 1903 stormSep 16 | 39 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1900 | Unnamed 1900 stormOct 14 | 68 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1899 | Unnamed 1899 stormNov 1 | 14 mi | Tropical storm (55 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormAug 29 | 11 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormAug 24 | 43 mi | Category 1 (85 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormSep 11 | 71 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormAug 22 | 5 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1878 | Unnamed 1878 stormOct 23 | 50 mi | Category 1 (81 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1874 | Unnamed 1874 stormSep 29 | 49 mi | Tropical storm (68 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1872 | Unnamed 1872 stormOct 26 | 53 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1866 | Unnamed 1866 stormOct 30 | 31 mi | Tropical storm (59 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1863 | Unnamed 1863 stormSep 19 | 26 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1861 | Unnamed 1861 stormSep 28 | 54 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 1 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Sparta: 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 Sparta
By decade
- 2020s3
- 2010s2
- 2000s2
- 1990s7(1 EF3+)
- 1980s8(1 EF3+)
- 1970s4(2 EF3+)
- 1950s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 31, 1998 | F3 | 18 mi | 20 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Jul 14, 1988 | F3 | 21 mi | 7.2 mi | 0 / 1 |
| May 28, 1973 | F3 | 14 mi | 0.4 mi | 0 / 12 |
| May 28, 1973 | F3 | 18 mi | 0.4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 29, 2009 | EF2 | 14 mi | 6.56 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 26, 1981 | F2 | 17 mi | 0.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 20, 1981 | F2 | 10 mi | 3.6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 14, 1974 | F2 | 18 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 26, 2023 | EF1 | 22 mi | 1.38 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 31, 2019 | EF1 | 22 mi | 4.87 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 28, 2019 | EF1 | 9 mi | 1.25 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 11, 1997 | F1 | 15 mi | 0.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 27, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Sparta
The Storm Prediction Center has 31 hail reports within 10 miles of Sparta since 1975, made on 21 separate days. Of these, 14 were 1 inch across or larger, and one reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.5 inches (tennis ball size), fell on July 3, 2014. The most recent report is from July 22, 2019. July has the most reports, 9.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Sparta
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Andover Aeroflex Airport, NJ, 6 miles west of Sparta at 583 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 84°F and low of 62°F; January is the coolest, at 36°F and 19°F. July is the wettest at 5.1 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.8 inches; the year adds up to 48.8 inches over 84 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 55% of the year's precipitation (26.8 of 48.8 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 32 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (11); a normal September there has highs of 74°F and 4.3 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 11 days a year, almost all from June to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 127 nights a year. That 48.8 inches is more than at 29 of the 51 New Jersey stations used on this site (57%). Ogdensburg, 4 miles northeast, has its own station (Sussex Airport, NJ): 40.9 inches a year, 7.9 less than here, and the same July average high, 84°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 36 | 19 | 3.3 | 7 |
| Feb | 39 | 20 | 2.8 | 6 |
| Mar | 48 | 28 | 4.1 | 7 |
| Apr | 61 | 38 | 3.8 | 7 |
| May | 71 | 48 | 3.8 | 8 |
| Jun | 79 | 57 | 4.5 | 8 |
| Jul | 84 | 62 | 5.1 | 8 |
| Aug | 82 | 60 | 4.9 | 8 |
| Sep | 74 | 52 | 4.3 | 6 |
| Oct | 63 | 42 | 4.6 | 6 |
| Nov | 52 | 32 | 3.4 | 6 |
| Dec | 41 | 25 | 4.2 | 7 |
| Year | 61 | 40 | 48.8 | 84 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Andover Aeroflex Airport, NJ (583 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 Sparta
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 192 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Sparta: 160 thunderstorm wind reports, 11 flash floods, 9 floods, 9 lightning strikes and 3 heavy rain events. They killed 3 people and injured 16, and the NWS estimated $203.6 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 72 mph, on September 14, 2016. June has had the most flash floods, 5 of 11. Of the 455 New Jersey cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 22 have had fewer than Sparta.
August 28, 2011: flood 5 miles from the centre of Sparta — 1 killed, $200.0 million damage.
August 16, 1997: thunderstorm wind 10 miles from the centre of Sparta — 1 killed.
July 8, 2025: lightning strike 8 miles from the centre of Sparta — 1 killed.
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 Sparta's ZIP code 07871 have filed 15 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $33,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 53% 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, 30 have fewer than Sparta.
Sussex County, which includes Sparta, has been named in 28 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 17 of them major disasters (by incident: 9 hurricanes, 7 severe storms, 4 snowstorms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Remnants of Hurricane Ida, on September 5, 2021. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Sussex County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for strong wind; Relatively Moderate for inland flooding and lightning; Relatively Low for hurricanes, tornadoes and heat waves; Very Low for hail. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $58.7 million a year, the 18th highest of 21 New Jersey counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $27.3 million (47%), 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.