Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Willimantic, CT

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Willimantic Windham Airport, CT, 2 miles northeast of Willimantic at 247 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 83°F and low of 62°F; January is the coolest, at 36°F and 18°F. August is the wettest at 4.4 inches of precipitation on average and February and July the driest at 2.7 inches; the year adds up to 43.5 inches over 76 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 52% of the year's precipitation (22.5 of 43.5 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 54 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (22); a normal September there has highs of 74°F and 4.1 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 11 days a year, almost all from June to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 135 nights a year. That 43.5 inches is more than at 4 of the 27 Connecticut stations used on this site (15%). Storrs, 7 miles north, has its own station (Storrs, CT): 49.3 inches a year, 5.8 more than here, and a July average high of 81°F against 83°F.

Water temperature at the NOAA tide station New London, CT, 24 miles south, averaged 71°F in August and 39°F in February over 2021–2025. No month averaged 80°F. Sea level at the New London tide gauge, 24 miles from Willimantic, has risen 1.16 ± 0.04 inches per decade from 1938 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 11.6 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 66 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 173 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Willimantic: 124 thunderstorm wind reports, 28 floods, 17 flash floods, 3 lightning strikes and 1 heavy rain event. They killed 1 person and injured 2, and the NWS estimated $817,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 81 mph, on July 14, 2022. September has had the most flash floods, 13 of 17. Of the 186 Connecticut cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 57 have had fewer than Willimantic.

Flood insurance policyholders in Willimantic's ZIP code 06226 have filed 25 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $452,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 56% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 128 Connecticut cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 38 have fewer than Willimantic.