NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Wilton, ME
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
31 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Wilton, Maine since 1851, 3 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Irene in 2011. Since 1950, 16 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 3
- Tropical storms
- 28
- Tornadoes
- 16
- 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 Wilton
The strongest storm to pass near Wilton was an unnamed storm in 1869, a Category 1 hurricane with 87 mph winds when its centre passed 27 miles away. The closest pass by a hurricane was an unnamed storm in 1869, whose centre came within 1 mile. The record near Wilton begins with an unnamed storm in 1858; the most recent system was Irene in 2011, a tropical storm 54 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1890s, with 6 systems. Of the 31 systems, one has come since 2000. Of the 160 Maine cities on this site, 38% have more hurricanes within 75 miles than Wilton. The highest rating among the 16 tornadoes within 25 miles is F2, reached 4 times; the most recent, on November 7, 1971, came within 25 miles. Of the 16, one had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 3 have come since 2000. July has had the most tornadoes, 7. The most recent tornado was on June 1, 2011. Wilton has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 51% of the 160 Maine cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 23 times since 1975, with stones up to 2 inches (hen egg size). Of the 160 Maine cities, 61% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Wilton.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Wilton
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | IreneAug 29 | 54 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1999 | FloydSep 17 | 61 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1996 | BerthaJul 14 | 67 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1991 | BobAug 20 | 62 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1985 | GloriaSep 27 | 20 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1979 | DavidSep 6 | 17 mi | Tropical storm (51 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1971 | HeidiSep 14 | 70 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1971 | DoriaAug 28 | 36 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1961 | EstherSep 26 | 27 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1961 | Unnamed 1961 stormSep 15 | 35 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1960 | DonnaSep 13 | 9 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1960 | BrendaJul 31 | 4 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1954 | CarolAug 31 | 45 mi | Category 1 (75 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1949 | Unnamed 1949 stormAug 29 | 39 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1934 | Unnamed 1934 stormSep 9 | 14 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1916 | Unnamed 1916 stormJul 21 | 65 mi | Tropical storm (48 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1916 | Unnamed 1916 stormMay 17 | 18 mi | Tropical storm (48 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1908 | Unnamed 1908 stormMay 31 | 23 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormJun 17 | 63 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1899 | Unnamed 1899 stormNov 1 | overhead | Tropical storm (48 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1897 | Unnamed 1897 stormSep 24 | 53 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1896 | Unnamed 1896 stormSep 11 | 24 mi | Tropical storm (48 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1894 | Unnamed 1894 stormOct 10 | 4 mi | Tropical storm (53 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormAug 30 | 3 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormAug 24 | 61 mi | Tropical storm (64 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1874 | Unnamed 1874 stormSep 30 | 22 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1869 | Unnamed 1869 stormOct 5 | 27 mi | Category 1 (87 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1869 | Unnamed 1869 stormSep 9 | 1 mi | Category 1 (77 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1861 | Unnamed 1861 stormNov 3 | 43 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1861 | Unnamed 1861 stormSep 28 | 64 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1858 | Unnamed 1858 stormSep 16 | 10 mi | Tropical storm (62 mph) | Category 2 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Wilton: 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 Wilton
By decade
- 2010s1
- 2000s2
- 1990s1
- 1980s2
- 1970s6
- 1960s3
- 1950s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 7, 1971 | F2 | 25 mi | 4.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 31, 1971 | F2 | 19 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 31, 1971 | F2 | 16 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 31, 1971 | F2 | 7 mi | 1.9 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jun 1, 2011 | EF1 | 23 mi | 8.38 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 21, 2009 | EF1 | 17 mi | 16.42 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 18, 2000 | F1 | 23 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 21, 1997 | F1 | 19 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 18, 1989 | F1 | 13 mi | 1.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 14, 1988 | F1 | 24 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 12, 1973 | F1 | 5 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 17, 1967 | F1 | 14 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 16, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Wilton
The Storm Prediction Center has 23 hail reports within 10 miles of Wilton since 1975, made on 16 separate days. Of these, 15 were 1 inch across or larger, and one reached 2 inches. The largest, 2 inches (hen egg size), fell on July 7, 1985. The most recent report is from May 23, 2024. July and August have the most reports, 9 each.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Wilton
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Farmington, ME, 7 miles northeast of Wilton at 405 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 79°F and low of 56°F; January is the coolest, at 27°F and 6°F. October is the wettest at 5.2 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 3.2 inches; the year adds up to 49.5 inches over 86 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 53% of the year's precipitation (26.3 of 49.5 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 31 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (14); a normal September there has highs of 70°F and 3.5 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 3 days a year, almost all from July. Lows fall below freezing on about 183 nights a year. Snowfall averages 93.9 inches a year, most of it in February. That 49.5 inches is more than at 34 of the 47 Maine stations used on this site (72%). Jay, 6 miles south, has its own station (Livermore Falls 1 E, ME): 47.3 inches a year, 2.2 less than here, and a July average high of 80°F against 79°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 27 | 6 | 3.5 | 6 | 20.7 |
| Feb | 30 | 7 | 3.2 | 6 | 22.9 |
| Mar | 39 | 18 | 4.0 | 7 | 18.8 |
| Apr | 52 | 30 | 4.3 | 7 | 5.3 |
| May | 65 | 41 | 3.9 | 8 | 0.2 |
| Jun | 74 | 50 | 5.1 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 79 | 56 | 4.0 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 77 | 54 | 4.1 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 70 | 45 | 3.5 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 57 | 35 | 5.2 | 7 | 0.3 |
| Nov | 44 | 26 | 4.4 | 7 | 4.9 |
| Dec | 33 | 15 | 4.3 | 8 | 20.8 |
| Year | 54 | 32 | 49.5 | 86 | 93.9 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Farmington, ME (405 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 Wilton
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 80 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Wilton: 50 thunderstorm wind reports, 15 floods, 14 flash floods and 1 lightning strike. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $9.3 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 69 mph, on July 5, 1999. Of the 154 Maine cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 138 have had fewer than Wilton.
June 29, 2023: flash flood 5 miles from the centre of Wilton — $6.5 million damage.
NWS: “A concentrated area of 3 to 6 inches of rain fell across southern Franklin County during the afternoon of June 29th into the early evening hours. Between 400 pm and 700 pm, a stalled thunderstorm brought 2 to 3 inch per hour rainfall rates which peaked between 430 pm and 600 pm where most of the rain fell.”
December 18, 2023: flood 8 miles from the centre of Wilton — $1.7 million damage.
December 18, 2023: flood 7 miles from the centre of Wilton — $500,000 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
Franklin County, which includes Wilton, has been named in 33 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1970, 24 of them major disasters (by incident: 12 severe storms, 8 floods, 6 snowstorms, 4 hurricanes). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storm and Flooding, on January 30, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Franklin County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for lightning; Relatively Low for hurricanes, inland flooding and strong wind; Very Low for tornadoes, hail and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $13.5 million a year, the 11th highest of 16 Maine counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $7.0 million (52%), 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 Wilton
- Jay, ME6 mi
- Farmington, ME7 mi
- Livermore Falls, ME9 mi
- Dixfield, ME10 mi
- Mexico, ME15 mi
- Rumford, ME17 mi
- Readfield, ME20 mi
- Belgrade, ME21 mi
- Norridgewock, ME21 mi
- Buckfield, ME22 mi
- Leeds, ME23 mi
- Oakland, ME23 mi
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