NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Vandalia, 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
4 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Vandalia, Ohio since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Opal in 1995. Since 1950, 128 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 10 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 4
- Tornadoes
- 128
- EF3 or stronger
- 10
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
38 deaths in all
What the records show for Vandalia
None of the 4 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Vandalia; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1892, a tropical storm with 53 mph winds when its centre passed 11 miles away. The record near Vandalia begins with an unnamed storm in 1892; the most recent system was Opal in 1995, a tropical storm 74 miles away. None of the 4 systems has come since 2000. Of the 605 Ohio cities on this site, 53% have more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than Vandalia. The strongest of the 128 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F5 on April 3, 1974; its path came within 19 miles, and it killed 36 people. Of the 128, 7 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 74 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 37. The most recent tornado was on July 19, 2025. Vandalia has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 96% of the 605 Ohio cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 145 times since 1956, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Vandalia has more hail reports within 10 miles than 88% of the 605 Ohio cities.
Compare Vandalia's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Vandalia
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | OpalOct 5 | 74 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormAug 21 | 37 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormJun 29 | 67 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1892 | Unnamed 1892 stormSep 13 | 11 mi | Tropical storm (53 mph) | Tropical storm |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Vandalia: 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 Vandalia
By decade
- 2020s22(1 EF3+)
- 2010s45(4 EF3+)
- 2000s7(1 EF3+)
- 1990s14(1 EF3+)
- 1980s12
- 1970s9(1 EF3+)
- 1960s15(2 EF3+)
- 1950s4
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 3, 1974 | F5 | 19 mi | 31.3 mi | 36 / 1150 |
| Sep 20, 2000 | F4 | 20 mi | 9 mi | 1 / 100 |
| May 27, 2019 | EF4 | 8 mi | 18.17 mi | 0 / 166 |
| Apr 25, 1961 | F4 | 24 mi | 63.1 mi | 0 / 7 |
| Mar 14, 2024 | EF3 | 19 mi | 41.34 mi | 1 / 39 |
| May 27, 2019 | EF3 | 10 mi | 9.92 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 27, 2019 | EF3 | 7 mi | 10.49 mi | 0 / 1 |
| May 14, 2014 | EF3 | 24 mi | 8.93 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 22, 1992 | F3 | 19 mi | 20 mi | 0 / 21 |
| May 8, 1969 | F3 | 14 mi | 1.9 mi | 0 / 25 |
| Feb 28, 2024 | EF2 | 22 mi | 21.11 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Jun 8, 2022 | EF2 | 6 mi | 13.75 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 128, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Vandalia
The Storm Prediction Center has 145 hail reports within 10 miles of Vandalia since 1956, made on 85 separate days. Of these, 70 were 1 inch across or larger, and 3 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on April 9, 2001. The most recent report is from February 27, 2025. May has the most reports, 41.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Vandalia
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Dayton International Airport, OH, 1 mile northwest of Vandalia at 1,000 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 86°F and low of 66°F; January is the coolest, at 37°F and 22°F. April and May are the wettest at 4.5 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.4 inches; the year adds up to 41.6 inches over 79 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 16 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 110 nights a year. Snowfall averages 25.0 inches a year, most of it in January. That 41.6 inches is more than at 63 of the 129 Ohio stations used on this site (49%). Huber Heights, 6 miles southeast, has its own station (Dayton Mcd, OH): 41.6 inches a year, the same as here, and a July average high of 87°F against 86°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 37 | 22 | 3.1 | 6 | 8.3 |
| Feb | 41 | 25 | 2.4 | 6 | 6.6 |
| Mar | 52 | 33 | 3.5 | 7 | 3.9 |
| Apr | 65 | 43 | 4.5 | 9 | 0.4 |
| May | 74 | 54 | 4.5 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 83 | 63 | 4.1 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 86 | 66 | 4.0 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 85 | 64 | 3.0 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 79 | 57 | 3.3 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 66 | 46 | 3.0 | 6 | 0.2 |
| Nov | 53 | 35 | 3.1 | 6 | 0.8 |
| Dec | 42 | 27 | 3.1 | 6 | 4.8 |
| Year | 63 | 45 | 41.6 | 79 | 25.0 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Dayton International Airport, OH (1,000 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 Vandalia
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 357 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Vandalia: 282 thunderstorm wind reports, 41 floods, 30 flash floods, 3 heavy rain events and 1 lightning strike. They killed 1 person and injured 4, and the NWS estimated $3.3 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 89 mph, on April 20, 2000. July has had the most flash floods, 8 of 30. Of the 597 Ohio cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 515 have had fewer than Vandalia.
May 25, 2026: flood 5 miles from the centre of Vandalia — 1 killed.
May 17, 2019: thunderstorm wind 6 miles from the centre of Vandalia — 2 injured, $100,000 damage.
June 8, 2015: thunderstorm wind 8 miles from the centre of Vandalia — 2 injured, $7,500 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
Montgomery County, which includes Vandalia, has been named in 13 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1968, 8 of them major disasters (by incident: 5 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 2 floods, 2 snowstorms). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 31, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Montgomery County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for tornadoes, hail, inland flooding, strong wind and lightning; Relatively Moderate for heat waves; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $119.2 million a year, the 5th highest of 88 Ohio counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $79.6 million (67%), 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.