NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit West Long Branch, 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
54 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of West Long Branch, New Jersey since 1851, 11 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Ida in 2021. Since 1950, 31 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 11
- Tropical storms
- 43
- Tornadoes
- 31
- EF3 or stronger
- 0
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
no recorded deaths
What the records show for West Long Branch
The strongest storm to pass near West Long Branch was an unnamed storm in 1938, a Category 3 hurricane with 121 mph winds when its centre passed 59 miles away. The closest pass by a hurricane was an unnamed storm in 1893, whose centre came within 6 miles. The record near West Long Branch begins with an unnamed storm in 1856; the most recent system was Ida in 2021, a tropical storm 2 miles away. The 1890s and the 1900s were the busiest decades, with 5 systems each. Of the 54 systems, 10 have come since 2000. West Long Branch has more hurricanes within 75 miles than 82% of the 455 New Jersey cities on this site. The highest rating among the 31 tornadoes within 25 miles is F2 or EF2, reached 6 times; the most recent, on April 1, 2023, came within 20 miles. Of the 31, 2 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 15 have come since 2000. August has had the most tornadoes, 9. Of the 455 New Jersey cities, 86% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than West Long Branch. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 30 times since 1955, with stones up to 2 inches (hen egg size). Of the 455 New Jersey cities, 82% have more hail reports within 10 miles than West Long Branch.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near West Long Branch
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | IdaSep 2 | 2 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Category 4 |
| 2021 | ElsaJul 9 | 34 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2020 | IsaiasAug 4 | 69 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2020 | FayJul 11 | 15 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2013 | AndreaJun 8 | 35 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2012 | SandyOct 30 | 60 mi | Category 1 (81 mph) | Category 3 |
| 2011 | IreneAug 28 | 4 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 3 |
| 2008 | HannaSep 7 | 2 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2004 | CharleyAug 15 | 58 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Category 4 |
| 2001 | AllisonJun 17 | 75 mi | Tropical storm (45 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1999 | FloydSep 16 | 14 mi | Tropical storm (60 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1996 | BerthaJul 13 | 13 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1985 | GloriaSep 27 | 27 mi | Category 1 (89 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1985 | HenriSep 24 | 48 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1976 | BelleAug 10 | 32 mi | Category 1 (77 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1972 | AgnesJun 22 | 29 mi | Tropical storm (62 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1971 | DoriaAug 28 | 11 mi | Tropical storm (61 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1968 | Unnamed 1968 stormSep 11 | 33 mi | Tropical storm (61 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1961 | Unnamed 1961 stormSep 15 | 20 mi | Tropical storm (62 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1960 | DonnaSep 12 | 40 mi | Category 2 (98 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1960 | BrendaJul 30 | 2 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1955 | DianeAug 19 | 19 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1952 | AbleSep 1 | 61 mi | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1944 | Unnamed 1944 stormOct 21 | 72 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1944 | Unnamed 1944 stormSep 15 | 51 mi | Category 2 (104 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1944 | Unnamed 1944 stormAug 3 | 58 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1938 | Unnamed 1938 stormSep 21 | 59 mi | Category 3 (121 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1934 | Unnamed 1934 stormSep 8 | 42 mi | Category 1 (76 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1934 | Unnamed 1934 stormJun 19 | 4 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1924 | Unnamed 1924 stormSep 30 | 10 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1916 | Unnamed 1916 stormMay 17 | 34 mi | Tropical storm (54 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormAug 4 | 43 mi | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1908 | Unnamed 1908 stormMay 30 | 73 mi | Tropical storm (45 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1904 | Unnamed 1904 stormSep 15 | 31 mi | Category 1 (78 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1903 | Unnamed 1903 stormSep 16 | 50 mi | Tropical storm (67 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormJun 16 | 36 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1900 | Unnamed 1900 stormOct 14 | 16 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1899 | Unnamed 1899 stormNov 1 | 70 mi | Tropical storm (55 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1897 | Unnamed 1897 stormSep 24 | 40 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1894 | Unnamed 1894 stormOct 10 | 34 mi | Category 1 (86 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormAug 29 | 70 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormAug 24 | 6 mi | Category 1 (87 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormSep 11 | 12 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormAug 22 | 65 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1882 | Unnamed 1882 stormSep 24 | 25 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1879 | Unnamed 1879 stormAug 19 | 62 mi | Category 1 (91 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1877 | Unnamed 1877 stormOct 5 | 25 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1874 | Unnamed 1874 stormSep 29 | 7 mi | Tropical storm (66 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1872 | Unnamed 1872 stormOct 26 | 5 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1866 | Unnamed 1866 stormOct 30 | 7 mi | Tropical storm (62 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1863 | Unnamed 1863 stormSep 19 | 24 mi | Tropical storm (51 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1861 | Unnamed 1861 stormNov 3 | 58 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1861 | Unnamed 1861 stormSep 28 | overhead | Tropical storm (64 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1856 | Unnamed 1856 stormAug 20 | 60 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Tropical storm |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in West Long Branch: 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 West Long Branch
By decade
- 2020s6
- 2010s4
- 2000s5
- 1990s6
- 1980s3
- 1960s3
- 1950s4
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 1, 2023 | EF2 | 12 mi | 0.14 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 1, 2023 | EF2 | 16 mi | 1.59 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 1, 2023 | EF2 | 20 mi | 2.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 8, 2007 | EF2 | 23 mi | 3.92 mi | 0 / 9 |
| May 27, 2001 | F2 | 16 mi | 1.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 16, 1955 | F2 | 2 mi | 3.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 8, 2012 | EF1 | 18 mi | 4.74 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 8, 2007 | EF1 | 24 mi | 1.95 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 28, 1995 | F1 | 21 mi | 1.6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 31, 1992 | F1 | 19 mi | 1.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 21, 1981 | F1 | 18 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 10, 1964 | F1 | 10 mi | 59.1 mi | 0 / 5 |
The strongest 12 of 31, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in West Long Branch
The Storm Prediction Center has 30 hail reports within 10 miles of West Long Branch since 1955, made on 24 separate days. Of these, 16 were 1 inch across or larger, and one reached 2 inches. The largest, 2 inches (hen egg size), fell on July 22, 2003. The most recent report is from April 1, 2023. July has the most reports, 14.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in West Long Branch
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Long Branch-Oakhurst, NJ, in West Long Branch at 30 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 84°F and low of 67°F; January is the coolest, at 42°F and 25°F. August is the wettest at 6.3 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 3.3 inches; the year adds up to 52.4 inches over 81 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 53% of the year's precipitation (27.8 of 52.4 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 54 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (21); a normal September there has highs of 76°F and 4.3 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 94 nights a year. That 52.4 inches is more than at 49 of the 51 New Jersey stations used on this site (96%). Colts Neck, 9 miles west, has its own station (Freehold-Marlboro, NJ): 48.5 inches a year, 3.9 less than here, and a July average high of 87°F against 84°F.
Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Sandy Hook, NJ, 12 miles north, averaged 77°F in July and 38°F in January over 2021–2025. No month averaged 80°F. Sea level at the Sandy Hook tide gauge, 12 miles from West Long Branch, has risen 1.68 ± 0.04 inches per decade from 1932 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 16.8 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 105 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Water °F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 42 | 25 | 4.2 | 7 | 38 |
| Feb | 43 | 26 | 3.3 | 6 | 39 |
| Mar | 49 | 32 | 4.3 | 7 | 44 |
| Apr | 59 | 41 | 3.9 | 7 | 51 |
| May | 68 | 51 | 4.1 | 7 | 60 |
| Jun | 78 | 61 | 4.3 | 7 | 70 |
| Jul | 84 | 67 | 4.4 | 7 | 77 |
| Aug | 82 | 65 | 6.3 | 7 | 76 |
| Sep | 76 | 59 | 4.3 | 6 | 72 |
| Oct | 66 | 47 | 4.7 | 7 | 63 |
| Nov | 56 | 37 | 3.8 | 6 | 52 |
| Dec | 47 | 30 | 4.8 | 7 | 42 |
| Year | 62 | 45 | 52.4 | 81 | 57 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Long Branch-Oakhurst, NJ (30 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals; water temperature: average of hourly readings 2021–2025 at the NOAA tide station Sandy Hook, NJ, from NOAA Tides & Currents. 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 West Long Branch
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 202 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of West Long Branch: 131 thunderstorm wind reports, 38 flash floods, 16 lightning strikes, 9 heavy rain events and 8 floods. They killed 3 people and injured 9, and the NWS estimated $1.3 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 98 mph, on November 1, 2019. July has had the most flash floods, 17 of 38. Of the 455 New Jersey cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 136 have had fewer than West Long Branch.
August 16, 1997: thunderstorm wind 10 miles from the centre of West Long Branch — 1 killed.
July 7, 2012: lightning strike 4 miles from the centre of West Long Branch — 1 killed.
August 15, 2012: lightning strike 2 miles from the centre of West Long Branch — 1 killed.
NWS: “A 41-year-old male was struck and died the next day from a lightning strike while fishing with his 10-year-old son on Takanassee Lake Beach in Long Branch. His son was not injured.”
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 West Long Branch's ZIP code 07764 have filed 18 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $68,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 61% 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, 46 have fewer than West Long Branch.
Monmouth County, which includes West Long Branch, has been named in 28 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 17 of them major disasters (by incident: 10 hurricanes, 4 floods, 4 snowstorms, 3 severe storms). The latest major disaster declaration was Remnants of Hurricane Ida, on September 5, 2021. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Monmouth County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for strong wind and lightning; Relatively High for inland flooding, coastal flooding and heat waves; Relatively Moderate for hurricanes; Relatively Low for tornadoes; Very Low for hail. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $281.6 million a year, the 3rd highest of 21 New Jersey counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $109.6 million (39%), 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.
Cities near West Long Branch
- Long Branch, NJ1 mi
- Oakhurst, NJ2 mi
- Oceanport, NJ2 mi
- Eatontown, NJ3 mi
- Little Silver, NJ3 mi
- Monmouth Beach, NJ4 mi
- Shrewsbury, NJ4 mi
- Ocean, NJ4 mi
- Fair Haven, NJ5 mi
- Red Bank, NJ5 mi
- Ocean Grove, NJ5 mi
- Rumson, NJ6 mi
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