NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Williamsburg, 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
3 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Williamsburg, Ohio since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Opal in 1995. Since 1950, 100 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 10 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 3
- Tornadoes
- 100
- EF3 or stronger
- 10
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
22 deaths in all
What the records show for Williamsburg
None of the 3 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Williamsburg; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1892, a tropical storm with 52 mph winds when its centre passed 16 miles away. The record near Williamsburg begins with an unnamed storm in 1888; the most recent system was Opal in 1995, a tropical storm 43 miles away. Of the 605 Ohio cities on this site, 82% have more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than Williamsburg. The highest rating among the 100 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 5 times; the most recent, on April 9, 1999, came within 19 miles. The deadliest, an F4 on April 23, 1968, killed 6 people. Of the 100, 4 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 56 have come since 2000. April and June have had the most tornadoes, 22 each. The most recent tornado was on April 2, 2025. Williamsburg has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 83% of the 605 Ohio cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 63 times since 1977, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Of the 605 Ohio cities, 58% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Williamsburg.
Compare Williamsburg's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Williamsburg
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | OpalOct 5 | 43 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1892 | Unnamed 1892 stormSep 13 | 16 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormAug 21 | 47 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 3 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Williamsburg: 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 Williamsburg
By decade
- 2020s23
- 2010s18(1 EF3+)
- 2000s15
- 1990s15(4 EF3+)
- 1980s4
- 1970s11(1 EF3+)
- 1960s9(3 EF3+)
- 1950s5(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 23, 1968 | F4 | 25 mi | 78.7 mi | 6 / 364 |
| Apr 9, 1999 | F4 | 19 mi | 10 mi | 4 / 65 |
| Apr 3, 1974 | F4 | 24 mi | 19.8 mi | 2 / 39 |
| Apr 23, 1968 | F4 | 8 mi | 24.1 mi | 1 / 33 |
| Jun 2, 1990 | F4 | 25 mi | 33 mi | 0 / 37 |
| Aug 9, 1969 | F3 | 6 mi | 22.2 mi | 4 / 247 |
| Mar 2, 2012 | EF3 | 13 mi | 20.41 mi | 3 / 13 |
| Jul 2, 1997 | F3 | 18 mi | 12 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 30, 1993 | F3 | 23 mi | 15 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Feb 10, 1959 | F3 | 18 mi | 10.5 mi | 0 / 6 |
| Apr 25, 1961 | F2 | 15 mi | 25 mi | 2 / 4 |
| Jul 6, 2022 | EF2 | 9 mi | 4.81 mi | 0 / 2 |
The strongest 12 of 100, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Williamsburg
The Storm Prediction Center has 63 hail reports within 10 miles of Williamsburg since 1977, made on 48 separate days. Of these, 28 were 1 inch across or larger, and 3 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on July 10, 1993. The most recent report is from April 19, 2025. May has the most reports, 19.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Williamsburg
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Cincinnati Lunken Airport, OH, 21 miles west of Williamsburg at 490 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 87°F and low of 65°F; January is the coolest, at 41°F and 24°F. May is the wettest at 4.7 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.8 inches; the year adds up to 43.5 inches over 80 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 27 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 102 nights a year. That 43.5 inches is more than at 95 of the 129 Ohio stations used on this site (74%). Mount Orab, 6 miles southeast, has its own station (Ripley Exp Farm, OH): 47.9 inches a year, 4.4 more than here, and a July average high of 86°F against 87°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 41 | 24 | 2.9 | 6 |
| Feb | 45 | 26 | 2.8 | 6 |
| Mar | 55 | 33 | 3.9 | 8 |
| Apr | 67 | 43 | 4.4 | 8 |
| May | 75 | 53 | 4.7 | 9 |
| Jun | 83 | 61 | 4.6 | 8 |
| Jul | 87 | 65 | 4.4 | 7 |
| Aug | 86 | 64 | 3.4 | 6 |
| Sep | 80 | 56 | 3.1 | 5 |
| Oct | 68 | 44 | 3.1 | 6 |
| Nov | 55 | 34 | 2.9 | 6 |
| Dec | 45 | 28 | 3.3 | 6 |
| Year | 65 | 44 | 43.5 | 80 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Cincinnati Lunken Airport, OH (490 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 Williamsburg
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 261 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Williamsburg: 204 thunderstorm wind reports, 27 floods, 26 flash floods and 4 heavy rain events. They killed 3 people and injured 3, and the NWS estimated $5.2 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 100 mph, on April 20, 2011. Of the 597 Ohio cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 484 have had fewer than Williamsburg.
July 18, 2015: flash flood 5 miles from the centre of Williamsburg — 3 killed, 3 injured, $3.0 million damage.
June 10, 1999: thunderstorm wind 10 miles from the centre of Williamsburg — $500,000 damage.
March 3, 2023: thunderstorm wind 3 miles from the centre of Williamsburg — $150,000 damage.
NWS: “The enhanced swath of wind damage is believed to have begun near the intersection of Upper Five Mile West Road and Greenbush West Road. Several structures sustained minor siding damage, with numerous trees and telephone poles snapped or uprooted in this vicinity.”
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
Clermont County, which includes Williamsburg, has been named in 19 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1968, 13 of them major disasters (by incident: 8 severe storms, 4 floods, 3 snowstorms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, Flooding, and Landslides, on October 2, 2026. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Clermont County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for strong wind and lightning; Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, inland flooding and heat waves; Relatively Low for hail; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $46.5 million a year, the 13th highest of 88 Ohio counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $25.6 million (55%), 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.