NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Williamsport, MD
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
22 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Williamsport, Maryland since 1851, 3 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Sandy in 2012. Since 1950, 68 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 3
- Tropical storms
- 19
- Tornadoes
- 68
- 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 Williamsport
The strongest storm to pass near Williamsport was an unnamed storm in 1878, a Category 1 hurricane with 91 mph winds when its centre passed 49 miles away. The closest pass by a hurricane was an unnamed storm in 1893, whose centre came within 9 miles. The record near Williamsport begins with an unnamed storm in 1876; the most recent system was Sandy in 2012, a tropical storm 34 miles away. The 1890s and the 1950s were the busiest decades, with 4 systems each. Of the 22 systems, 2 have come since 2000. Williamsport has more hurricanes within 75 miles than 14% of the 239 Maryland cities on this site. The highest rating among the 68 tornadoes within 25 miles is F2 or EF2, reached 6 times; the most recent, on April 19, 2019, came within 21 miles. Of the 68, 3 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 31 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 15. The most recent tornado was on August 8, 2024. Of the 239 Maryland cities, 79% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Williamsport. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 87 times since 1956, with stones up to 4 inches (softball size). Williamsport has more hail reports within 10 miles than 74% of the 239 Maryland cities.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Williamsport
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | SandyOct 30 | 34 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 3 |
| 2006 | ErnestoSep 2 | 59 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1979 | DavidSep 6 | 13 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1955 | DianeAug 18 | 32 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1955 | ConnieAug 13 | 45 mi | Tropical storm (54 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1954 | HazelOct 15 | 24 mi | Category 1 (83 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1952 | AbleSep 1 | 34 mi | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1949 | Unnamed 1949 stormAug 29 | 16 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1943 | Unnamed 1943 stormOct 1 | 52 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1934 | Unnamed 1934 stormJun 19 | 38 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1933 | Unnamed 1933 stormAug 24 | 38 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1929 | Unnamed 1929 stormOct 2 | 70 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1928 | Unnamed 1928 stormSep 20 | 8 mi | Tropical storm (47 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormAug 4 | 49 mi | Tropical storm (47 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1896 | Unnamed 1896 stormSep 30 | 37 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormOct 23 | 13 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormOct 14 | 9 mi | Category 1 (74 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormAug 29 | 42 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormAug 21 | 42 mi | Tropical storm (48 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1885 | Unnamed 1885 stormOct 13 | overhead | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1878 | Unnamed 1878 stormOct 23 | 49 mi | Category 1 (91 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1876 | Unnamed 1876 stormSep 18 | 4 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 3 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Williamsport: 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 Williamsport
By decade
- 2020s7
- 2010s9
- 2000s15
- 1990s21
- 1980s3
- 1970s6
- 1960s3
- 1950s4
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 19, 2019 | EF2 | 21 mi | 2.89 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 17, 2004 | F2 | 19 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 6 |
| Sep 17, 2004 | F2 | 16 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 19, 1996 | F2 | 16 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 30, 1994 | F2 | 16 mi | 6 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Nov 16, 1989 | F2 | 19 mi | 9 mi | 0 / 3 |
| May 3, 2021 | EF1 | 20 mi | 1.81 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Aug 4, 2017 | EF1 | 25 mi | 1.22 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 8, 2014 | EF1 | 13 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 26, 2011 | EF1 | 22 mi | 0.12 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 17, 2011 | EF1 | 7 mi | 2.11 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 17, 2004 | F1 | 21 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 68, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Williamsport
The Storm Prediction Center has 87 hail reports within 10 miles of Williamsport since 1956, made on 46 separate days. Of these, 60 were 1 inch across or larger, and 5 reached 2 inches. The largest, 4 inches (softball size), fell on August 7, 2023. The most recent report is from May 27, 2024. May has the most reports, 29.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Williamsport
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Hagerstown Washington Co Airport, MD, 9 miles northeast of Williamsport at 698 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 87°F and low of 68°F; January is the coolest, at 41°F and 25°F. September is the wettest at 3.8 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.0 inches; the year adds up to 35.6 inches over 71 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 52% of the year's precipitation (18.4 of 35.6 inches); the other six months are drier. October has brought the most of the 22 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (8); a normal October there has highs of 66°F and 2.8 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 24 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 93 nights a year. That 35.6 inches is more than at 0 of the 41 Maryland stations used on this site (0%). Falling Waters, WV, 4 miles west, has its own station (Martinsburg 2, WV): 41.4 inches a year, 5.8 more than here, and the same July average high, 87°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 41 | 25 | 2.5 | 5 |
| Feb | 44 | 27 | 2.0 | 5 |
| Mar | 53 | 34 | 3.0 | 6 |
| Apr | 65 | 44 | 3.3 | 7 |
| May | 74 | 55 | 3.6 | 8 |
| Jun | 83 | 64 | 3.4 | 7 |
| Jul | 87 | 68 | 2.9 | 6 |
| Aug | 85 | 66 | 2.9 | 6 |
| Sep | 78 | 59 | 3.8 | 6 |
| Oct | 66 | 47 | 2.8 | 5 |
| Nov | 54 | 37 | 2.6 | 5 |
| Dec | 44 | 30 | 2.8 | 5 |
| Year | 64 | 46 | 35.6 | 71 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Hagerstown Washington Co Airport, MD (698 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 Williamsport
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 327 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Williamsport: 260 thunderstorm wind reports, 50 floods, 15 flash floods, 1 heavy rain event and 1 lightning strike. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $2.2 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 96 mph, on April 19, 2025. July has had the most flash floods, 7 of 15. Of the 239 Maryland cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 43 have had fewer than Williamsport.
April 19, 2025: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Williamsport — $500,000 damage.
August 7, 2023: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Williamsport — $250,000 damage.
June 24, 1996: thunderstorm wind 6 miles from the centre of Williamsport — $120,000 damage.
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 Williamsport's ZIP code 21795 have filed 143 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $1.8 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1996: 53 claims (37% of all) and $978,000, then Hurricane Fran in 1996 with 19. 51% 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, 127 have fewer than Williamsport.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1996 | 53 | $978,000 |
| Hurricane Fran1996 | 19 | $235,000 |
Washington County, which includes Williamsport, has been named in 17 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1972, 10 of them major disasters (by incident: 5 hurricanes, 4 snowstorms, 3 floods, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 26, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Washington County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for hurricanes, inland flooding, strong wind, lightning and heat waves; Relatively Low for tornadoes and hail. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $26.9 million a year, the 10th highest of 24 Maryland counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $14.5 million (54%), 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 Williamsport
- Falling Waters, WV4 mi
- Hagerstown, MD6 mi
- Clear Spring, MD7 mi
- Boonsboro, MD10 mi
- Sharpsburg, MD11 mi
- Shepherdstown, WV11 mi
- Keedysville, MD12 mi
- Martinsburg, WV12 mi
- Hedgesville, WV14 mi
- Greencastle, PA14 mi
- Smithsburg, MD14 mi
- Mercersburg, PA15 mi
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