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NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Yarmouth, 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

37 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Yarmouth, Maine since 1851, 3 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Elsa in 2021. Since 1950, 12 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
3

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
34

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
12

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
0

no recorded deaths

What the records show for Yarmouth

The strongest storm to pass near Yarmouth was an unnamed storm in 1869, a Category 2 hurricane with 100 mph winds when its centre passed 6 miles away. The record near Yarmouth begins with an unnamed storm in 1858; the most recent system was Elsa in 2021, a tropical storm 58 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1890s, with 5 systems. Of the 37 systems, 3 have come since 2000. Of the 160 Maine cities on this site, 38% have more hurricanes within 75 miles than Yarmouth. The highest rating among the 12 tornadoes within 25 miles is F1, reached 5 times; the most recent, on November 24, 2005, came within 18 miles. Of the 12, one had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 7 have come since 2000. July has had the most tornadoes, 8. The most recent tornado was on July 1, 2017. Of the 160 Maine cities, 64% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Yarmouth. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 20 times since 1986, with stones up to 1.75 inches (golf ball size). Of the 160 Maine cities, 68% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Yarmouth.

Compare Yarmouth's storm record with another city →

Tropical storms and hurricanes near Yarmouth

Tropical systems that passed within 75 miles of Yarmouth, Maine, newest first
YearStormClosestStrength when closestPeak
2021ElsaJul 958 miTropical storm (48 mph)Category 1
2013AndreaJun 866 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
2008HannaSep 763 miTropical storm (52 mph)Category 1
1999FloydSep 1716 miTropical storm (52 mph)Category 4
1996BerthaJul 1426 miTropical storm (64 mph)Category 3
1991BobAug 1925 miTropical storm (71 mph)Category 3
1985GloriaSep 2750 miTropical storm (68 mph)Category 4
1979DavidSep 665 miTropical storm (51 mph)Category 5
1971HeidiSep 1474 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
1971DoriaAug 2868 miTropical storm (52 mph)Tropical storm
1961EstherSep 2614 miTropical storm (40 mph)Category 5
1961Unnamed 1961 stormSep 158 miTropical storm (69 mph)Tropical storm
1960DonnaSep 1317 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 4
1960BrendaJul 3132 miTropical storm (44 mph)Tropical storm
1959CindyJul 1173 miTropical storm (54 mph)Category 1
1954CarolAug 3155 miCategory 1 (83 mph)Category 3
1944Unnamed 1944 stormSep 1547 miTropical storm (68 mph)Category 5
1934Unnamed 1934 stormSep 926 miTropical storm (41 mph)Category 2
1923Unnamed 1923 stormOct 1964 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
1916Unnamed 1916 stormJul 2127 miTropical storm (49 mph)Category 2
1916Unnamed 1916 stormMay 1730 miTropical storm (53 mph)Tropical storm
1908Unnamed 1908 stormMay 315 miTropical storm (40 mph)Category 1
1902Unnamed 1902 stormJun 1728 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1899Unnamed 1899 stormNov 145 miTropical storm (49 mph)Category 2
1897Unnamed 1897 stormSep 2411 miTropical storm (39 mph)Tropical storm
1896Unnamed 1896 stormSep 112 miTropical storm (53 mph)Category 3
1894Unnamed 1894 stormOct 1029 miTropical storm (55 mph)Category 3
1893Unnamed 1893 stormAug 2942 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 3
1888Unnamed 1888 stormSep 1253 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1880Unnamed 1880 stormOct 2362 miTropical storm (69 mph)Tropical storm
1878Unnamed 1878 stormOct 2474 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 2
1874Unnamed 1874 stormSep 3013 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 1
1869Unnamed 1869 stormOct 46 miCategory 2 (100 mph)Category 2
1869Unnamed 1869 stormSep 920 miCategory 1 (83 mph)Category 3
1861Unnamed 1861 stormNov 31 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 1
1861Unnamed 1861 stormSep 2820 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 1
1858Unnamed 1858 stormSep 1631 miTropical storm (67 mph)Category 2

Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Yarmouth: 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 Yarmouth

By decade

  • 2010s4
  • 2000s3
  • 1970s2
  • 1960s1
  • 1950s2
Strongest tornadoes near Yarmouth, Maine
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
Nov 24, 2005F118 mi3.8 mi0 / 0
Jun 22, 1974F117 mi0.1 mi0 / 1
Jul 24, 1972F123 mi0.1 mi0 / 0
Jul 9, 1962F116 mi11.3 mi0 / 0
Jul 11, 1958F121 mi1 mi0 / 0
Jul 1, 2017EF020 mi3.42 mi0 / 0
Jul 27, 2014EF021 mi0.63 mi0 / 0
Jul 24, 2012EF024 mi0.16 mi0 / 0
Jul 21, 2010EF014 mi6 mi0 / 0
Nov 24, 2005F012 mi2 mi0 / 0
Aug 8, 2004F018 mi0.2 mi0 / 0
Jul 7, 1953F03 mi1 mi0 / 1

The strongest 12 of 12, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

Hail in Yarmouth

The Storm Prediction Center has 20 hail reports within 10 miles of Yarmouth since 1986, made on 14 separate days. Of these, 11 were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest, 1.75 inches (golf ball size), fell on June 1, 1986. The most recent report is from July 20, 2025. June has the most reports, 10.

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.

Weather by month in Yarmouth

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Gray, ME, 7 miles northwest of Yarmouth at 378 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 79°F and low of 60°F; January is the coolest, at 30°F and 14°F. October is the wettest at 5.4 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 3.3 inches; the year adds up to 50.1 inches over 84 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 53% of the year's precipitation (26.6 of 50.1 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 37 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (17); a normal September there has highs of 70°F and 4.3 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 5 days a year, almost all from July to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 144 nights a year. Snowfall averages 84.0 inches a year, most of it in January. That 50.1 inches is more than at 38 of the 47 Maine stations used on this site (81%). Falmouth, 6 miles southwest, has its own station (Portland International Jetport, ME): 48.3 inches a year, 1.8 less than here, and a July average high of 80°F against 79°F.

Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Portland, ME, 10 miles south, averaged 63°F in August and 36°F in February over 2021–2025. No month averaged 80°F. Sea level at the Portland tide gauge, 10 miles from Yarmouth, has risen 0.78 ± 0.03 inches per decade from 1912 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 7.8 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 37 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.

Monthly climate normals 1991–2020 at Gray, ME
MonthHigh °FLow °FPrecip. inDays ≥ 0.1"Snow inWater °F
Jan30143.6720.639
Feb33163.3720.436
Mar41254.0716.239
Apr53344.474.744
May64443.680.050
Jun73544.780.057
Jul79603.770.061
Aug78593.860.063
Sep70524.360.062
Oct58415.470.657
Nov46314.773.850
Dec35214.6817.743
Year553850.18484.050

Averages for 1991–2020 at Gray, ME (378 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals; water temperature: average of hourly readings 2021–2025 at the NOAA tide station Portland, ME, from NOAA Tides & Currents. Normals describe the station; the farther a place is from it, and the bigger the difference in height, the more its weather can differ.

Maine weather by month, station by station →

Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Yarmouth

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 68 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Yarmouth: 50 thunderstorm wind reports, 8 flash floods, 8 floods and 2 lightning strikes. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $1.8 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 69 mph, on June 29, 2016. August has had the most flash floods, 3 of 8. Of the 154 Maine cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 111 have had fewer than Yarmouth.

  • August 8, 2008: flood 6 miles from the centre of Yarmouth — $581,000 damage.

  • August 13, 2014: flash flood 5 miles from the centre of Yarmouth — $200,000 damage.

  • January 10, 2024: flash flood 10 miles from the centre of Yarmouth — $200,000 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 Yarmouth's ZIP code 04096 have filed 16 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $25,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 19% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 61 Maine cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 17 have fewer than Yarmouth.

Cumberland County, which includes Yarmouth, has been named in 39 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1970, 26 of them major disasters (by incident: 12 severe storms, 8 floods, 8 snowstorms, 4 hurricanes). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Winter Storm, on May 24, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Cumberland County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for lightning; Relatively Moderate for hurricanes, hail, coastal flooding and strong wind; Relatively Low for inland flooding and heat waves; Very Low for tornadoes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $69.2 million a year, the highest of 16 Maine counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $26.9 million (39%), 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 Yarmouth