Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit West River, MD

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Upper Marlboro 3 NNW, MD, 12 miles west of West River at 130 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 88°F and low of 67°F; January is the coolest, at 44°F and 25°F. September is the wettest at 4.5 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.7 inches; the year adds up to 45.1 inches over 74 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 54% of the year's precipitation (24.4 of 45.1 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 41 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (15); a normal September there has highs of 80°F and 4.5 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 32 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 103 nights a year. Snowfall averages 15.9 inches a year, most of it in February. That 45.1 inches is more than at 16 of the 41 Maryland stations used on this site (39%). Chesapeake Beach, 11 miles south, has its own station (Mechanicsville 5 NE, MD): 48.1 inches a year, 3.0 more than here, and a July average high of 85°F against 88°F.

Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Annapolis, MD, 11 miles north, averaged 85°F in July and 42°F in January over 2021–2025. It averaged 80°F or warmer from July to August. Sea level at the Annapolis tide gauge, 11 miles from West River, has risen 1.52 ± 0.04 inches per decade from 1928 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 15.2 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 92 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 283 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of West River: 239 thunderstorm wind reports, 25 floods, 18 flash floods and 1 lightning strike. They killed 1 person and injured 0, and the NWS estimated $2.0 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 90 mph, on May 31, 2008. August has had the most flash floods, 6 of 18. Of the 239 Maryland cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 60 have had fewer than West River.

Flood insurance policyholders in West River's ZIP code 20778 have filed 38 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $888,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Hurricane Isabel in 2003: 25 claims (66% of all) and $795,000. 71% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 150 Maryland cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 72 have fewer than West River.