Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Walpole, MA

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Walpole 2, MA, 1 mile north of Walpole at 170 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 83°F and low of 63°F; January is the coolest, at 37°F and 20°F. October and December are the wettest at 5.0 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 3.4 inches; the year adds up to 49.8 inches over 84 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 50% of the year's precipitation (24.7 of 49.8 inches). September has brought the most of the 50 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (20); a normal September there has highs of 74°F and 3.7 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 13 days a year, almost all from June to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 127 nights a year. Snowfall averages 56.1 inches a year, most of it in January. That 49.8 inches is more than at 46 of the 65 Massachusetts stations used on this site (71%). Norwood, 4 miles northeast, has its own station (Norwood Mem Airport, MA): 43.8 inches a year, 6.0 less than here, and a July average high of 86°F against 83°F.

Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Providence, RI, 25 miles south, averaged 72°F in August and 36°F in February over 2021–2025. No month averaged 80°F. Sea level at the Boston tide gauge, 18 miles from Walpole, has risen 1.17 ± 0.03 inches per decade from 1921 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 233 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Walpole: 157 thunderstorm wind reports, 41 floods, 19 lightning strikes and 16 flash floods. They killed 0 people and injured 6, and the NWS estimated $59.4 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 75 mph, on July 7, 2021. September has had the most flash floods, 6 of 16. Of the 339 Massachusetts cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 138 have had fewer than Walpole.

Flood insurance policyholders in Walpole's ZIP code 02081 have filed 14 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $188,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 50% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 229 Massachusetts cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 33 have fewer than Walpole.