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NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit York, 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

40 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of York, Maine since 1851, 7 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Elsa in 2021. Since 1950, 18 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 1 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
7

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
33

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
18

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
1

no recorded deaths

What the records show for York

The strongest storm to pass near York was an unnamed storm in 1869, a Category 2 hurricane with 104 mph winds when its centre passed 24 miles away. The closest pass by a hurricane was an unnamed storm in 1869, whose centre came within 13 miles. The record near York begins with an unnamed storm in 1858; the most recent system was Elsa in 2021, a tropical storm 44 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1890s, with 5 systems. Of the 40 systems, 4 have come since 2000. York has more hurricanes within 75 miles than any other of the 160 Maine cities on this site. The strongest of the 18 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F3 on June 9, 1953; its path came within 21 miles. Of the 18, none had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 3 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 6. The most recent tornado was on July 21, 2010. York has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 60% of the 160 Maine cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 21 times since 1992, with stones up to 2 inches (hen egg size). Of the 160 Maine cities, 66% have more hail reports within 10 miles than York.

Compare York's storm record with another city →

Tropical storms and hurricanes near York

Tropical systems that passed within 75 miles of York, Maine, newest first
YearStormClosestStrength when closestPeak
2021ElsaJul 944 miTropical storm (49 mph)Category 1
2013AndreaJun 848 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
2008HannaSep 741 miTropical storm (52 mph)Category 1
2007BarryJun 553 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1999FloydSep 175 miTropical storm (52 mph)Category 4
1996BerthaJul 1410 miTropical storm (67 mph)Category 3
1991BobAug 1925 miCategory 1 (79 mph)Category 3
1985GloriaSep 2751 miCategory 1 (74 mph)Category 4
1971DoriaAug 2872 miTropical storm (52 mph)Tropical storm
1961EstherSep 2633 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 5
1961Unnamed 1961 stormSep 1513 miTropical storm (68 mph)Tropical storm
1960DonnaSep 1314 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 4
1960BrendaJul 3132 miTropical storm (45 mph)Tropical storm
1959CindyJul 1163 miTropical storm (55 mph)Category 1
1954EdnaSep 1175 miCategory 2 (97 mph)Category 3
1954CarolAug 3137 miCategory 1 (91 mph)Category 3
1944Unnamed 1944 stormSep 1538 miTropical storm (70 mph)Category 5
1934Unnamed 1934 stormSep 935 miTropical storm (44 mph)Category 2
1923Unnamed 1923 stormOct 1930 miTropical storm (48 mph)Tropical storm
1916Unnamed 1916 stormJul 2117 miTropical storm (52 mph)Category 2
1916Unnamed 1916 stormMay 1715 miTropical storm (56 mph)Tropical storm
1908Unnamed 1908 stormMay 314 miTropical storm (40 mph)Category 1
1907Unnamed 1907 stormJun 3053 miTropical storm (39 mph)Tropical storm
1904Unnamed 1904 stormSep 1573 miCategory 1 (84 mph)Category 1
1902Unnamed 1902 stormJun 1720 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1899Unnamed 1899 stormNov 167 miTropical storm (52 mph)Category 2
1897Unnamed 1897 stormSep 243 miTropical storm (41 mph)Tropical storm
1896Unnamed 1896 stormSep 1111 miTropical storm (56 mph)Category 3
1894Unnamed 1894 stormOct 1025 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 3
1893Unnamed 1893 stormAug 2956 miTropical storm (59 mph)Category 3
1888Unnamed 1888 stormSep 1234 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1888Unnamed 1888 stormAug 2253 miTropical storm (51 mph)Category 3
1880Unnamed 1880 stormOct 2372 miTropical storm (69 mph)Tropical storm
1878Unnamed 1878 stormOct 2425 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 2
1874Unnamed 1874 stormSep 3020 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 1
1869Unnamed 1869 stormOct 424 miCategory 2 (104 mph)Category 2
1869Unnamed 1869 stormSep 913 miCategory 1 (89 mph)Category 3
1861Unnamed 1861 stormNov 31 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 1
1861Unnamed 1861 stormSep 28overheadTropical storm (58 mph)Category 1
1858Unnamed 1858 stormSep 1623 miTropical storm (70 mph)Category 2

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

By decade

  • 2010s1
  • 2000s2
  • 1990s2
  • 1980s1
  • 1970s5
  • 1960s3
  • 1950s4(1 EF3+)
Strongest tornadoes near York, Maine
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
Jun 9, 1953F321 mi1.5 mi0 / 5
May 21, 2006F219 mi0.1 mi0 / 2
Jun 22, 1981F223 mi8.7 mi0 / 0
May 3, 1976F210 mi1 mi0 / 0
Oct 10, 1966F220 mi0.2 mi0 / 0
May 14, 1963F212 mi8.7 mi0 / 0
Jun 19, 1957F29 mi0.2 mi0 / 1
Jul 21, 2010EF123 mi5.44 mi0 / 0
Sep 29, 2006F111 mi1.5 mi0 / 0
Aug 13, 1976F112 mi0.3 mi0 / 2
Jul 1, 1968F119 mi0.3 mi0 / 1
Jun 1, 1956F121 mi1 mi0 / 0

The strongest 12 of 18, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

Hail in York

The Storm Prediction Center has 21 hail reports within 10 miles of York since 1992, made on 10 separate days. Of these, 13 were 1 inch across or larger, and one reached 2 inches. The largest, 2 inches (hen egg size), fell on August 4, 2015. The most recent report is from June 5, 2024. June has the most reports, 11.

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

Weather by month in York

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Greenland, NH, 13 miles southwest of York at 95 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 81°F and low of 60°F; January is the coolest, at 33°F and 16°F. October is the wettest at 5.0 inches of precipitation on average and January and February the driest at 3.6 inches; the year adds up to 50.9 inches over 84 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 50% of the year's precipitation (25.4 of 50.9 inches). September has brought the most of the 40 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (17); a normal September there has highs of 72°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 143 nights a year. Snowfall averages 65.0 inches a year, most of it in January. That 50.9 inches is more than at 41 of the 47 Maine stations used on this site (87%). Cape Neddick, 4 miles north, has its own station (Kennebunkport, ME): 52.0 inches a year, 1.1 more than here, and a July average high of 77°F against 81°F.

Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Seavey Island, ME, 7 miles southwest, averaged 64°F in August and 37°F in February over 2021–2025. No month averaged 80°F. Sea level at the Seavey Island tide gauge, 7 miles from York, has risen 0.87 ± 0.04 inches per decade from 1926 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 8.7 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 48 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.

Monthly climate normals 1991–2020 at Greenland, NH
MonthHigh °FLow °FPrecip. inDays ≥ 0.1"Snow inWater °F
Jan33163.6717.140
Feb36183.6615.837
Mar43254.8813.940
Apr56354.682.344
May66454.080.052
Jun75544.670.058
Jul81603.960.061
Aug79593.760.064
Sep72524.160.062
Oct60415.070.157
Nov48314.171.650
Dec38224.9814.243
Year573850.98465.051

Averages for 1991–2020 at Greenland, NH (95 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals; water temperature: average of hourly readings 2021–2025 at the NOAA tide station Seavey Island, 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 York

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 63 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of York: 49 thunderstorm wind reports, 8 floods, 3 flash floods, 2 lightning strikes and 1 heavy rain event. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $8.1 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 81 mph, on June 24, 2010.

  • February 25, 2010: flood 8 miles from the centre of York — $4.2 million damage.

  • July 15, 2014: thunderstorm wind in York — $1.4 million damage.

    NWS: “A severe thunderstorm produced microburst winds in the village of York. 5 miles wide.”

  • March 14, 2010: flood 7 miles from the centre of York — $1.2 million 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 York's ZIP code 03909 have filed 135 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $2.9 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 2006, with 34. 10% 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, 53 have fewer than York.

York County, which includes York, has been named in 42 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1970, 31 of them major disasters (by incident: 18 severe storms, 6 floods, 6 snowstorms, 4 hurricanes). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Winter Storm, on May 24, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives York County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for coastal flooding; Relatively Moderate for hurricanes, inland flooding and lightning; Relatively Low for tornadoes, strong wind and heat waves; Very Low for hail. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $55.7 million a year, the 2nd highest of 16 Maine counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $25.9 million (46%), 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 York