Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Wakefield, RI

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Kingston 1 W, RI, 4 miles north of Wakefield at 106 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 80°F and low of 60°F; January is the coolest, at 37°F and 19°F. March is the wettest at 5.7 inches of precipitation on average and July the driest at 3.3 inches; the year adds up to 51.7 inches over 83 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 48% of the year's precipitation (24.6 of 51.7 inches); the other six months are wetter. September has brought the most of the 60 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (23); a normal September there has highs of 73°F and 4.3 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 4 days a year, almost all from July to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 135 nights a year. That 51.7 inches is more than at 6 of the 10 Rhode Island stations used on this site (60%). West Kingston, 6 miles northwest, has its own station (Kingston, RI): 53.2 inches a year, 1.5 more than here, and a July average high of 83°F against 80°F.

Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Newport, RI, 12 miles northeast, averaged 72°F in August and 39°F in February over 2021–2025. No month averaged 80°F. Sea level at the Newport tide gauge, 12 miles from Wakefield, has risen 1.17 ± 0.03 inches per decade from 1930 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 11.7 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 68 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 36 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Wakefield: 21 thunderstorm wind reports, 10 floods, 3 lightning strikes and 2 flash floods. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $186,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 83 mph, on August 4, 2015.

Flood insurance policyholders in Wakefield's ZIP code 02879 have filed 488 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $8.6 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Hurricane Sandy in 2012: 198 claims (41% of all) and $6.0 million, then March 2010 Nor'easter in 2010 with 72 and Hurricane Bob in 1991 with 30. 65% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 38 Rhode Island cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 34 have fewer than Wakefield.