Elkton

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond this area.
2. Weak tornadoes were under-recorded before Doppler radar coverage became national in the early 1990s, so earlier decades read low. Ratings use the Fujita scale before February 2007 and the Enhanced Fujita scale after.

Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, 1950 to 2025.

Every storm within 100 miles

1. Tropical storms and hurricanes (34 kt or more, still tropical) at closest approach. Post-tropical remnants with gale-force winds are listed but not counted. Direct: track within 50 miles; near: within 100 miles. Distance is measured to the county boundary for counties and to the city centre for cities, using positions interpolated hourly between HURDAT2 fixes.

National Hurricane Center HURDAT2, 1851 to 2025.

Smoke overhead

1. A smoke day is a date on which a smoke plume traced by NOAA Hazard Mapping System analysts from satellite imagery covered this place's point (the county's population centre or the city centre). Counts here are of medium or heavy smoke. Since 2018 analysts have often drawn light smoke as one area over most of the continent, so light-smoke counts are not comparable from year to year. The plumes show smoke anywhere in the air above, not air quality at the ground, and smoke hidden by cloud is missed.

NOAA Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, 2011 to 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Flood insurance figures are for Cecil County, the county that contains Elkton.

Claims by ZIP code

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).

OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 2026.

River crests

River gauges in Cecil County, the county that contains Elkton.

River gauges

1. Crests are the highest and the recent crests the National Weather Service lists for each river gauge in the county that has a flood stage, not every flood. Flood categories use each gauge's current flood stages; crests from before levees, dams or channel changes may not be comparable. Crests measured on an old datum are left out of the rankings.

NOAA National Water Prediction Service gauge records, retrieved October 30, 2026.

High tide flooding

Tide gauges in Cecil County.

1. High tide flooding days are days on which a NOAA tide gauge recorded water at or above NOAA's minor flood threshold, set from the gauge's tide range, counted by meteorological year (May to April). These are the counts in NOAA's annual high tide flooding reports; they are not National Weather Service flood stages. Years with less than 80 percent of data are left out.

NOAA CO-OPS high tide flooding counts, through April 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

The drought index is for Cecil County, the county that contains Elkton.

1. The Palmer Drought Severity Index is computed by NOAA each month from the county's average temperature and precipitation, relative to the county's own climate. Zero is normal; -3 or lower is severe drought and -4 or lower extreme drought. It describes the long-term balance of moisture, not water supply or crop losses.

NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, 1895 to September 2026, issued October 6, 2026.

Every earthquake of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles

1. Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more in the USGS Comprehensive Catalog since 1900. Within 50 miles means the epicentre lies within 50 miles of the city centre.
2. Small earthquakes were under-recorded before the modern seismic networks of the 1970s and are still missed in remote areas, so early decades read low. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them and mix scales (moment, local and body-wave).

USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, 1900 to present, retrieved October 30, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Sep 16, 1999Flash Flood$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Floyd battered the Maryland Eastern Shore on September 16th and brought with it torrential rains and damaging winds. The hurricane caused widespread flash flooding as storm totals averaged around ten inches, most of which fell in a twelve hour period from the early morning through the afternoon on the 16th. The highest verifiable storm total was 14.00 inches in Chestertown (Kent County). Based on Doppler Radar storm totals estimate similar amounts also fell across northern Queen Anne's County. Flooding along tidal sections of inland creeks and rivers were exacerbated during times of high tide. The torrential downpours associated with Hurricane Floyd exceeded the…

2. Jul 12, 2004Flash Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A series of thunderstorms with torrential downpours caused considerable flooding throughout Cecil County on the 12th and hit North East the hardest. A limited state of emergency was declared. In the county five bridges were destroyed or closed, three homes were condemned, six other homes suffered major damage, fifty-six others suffered minor damage and thirty-five people were evacuated and sheltered. More than thirty-five roads were closed in the county, about two dozen remained closed on the 13th. Many vehicles and their occupants were stranded in flood waters. Road repairs alone was estimated at one million dollars. In North East, one house collapsed. Several residents were…

3. Apr 1, 2023Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A severe thunderstorm produced an EF1 tornado just east of Rising Sun, MD in Cecil County Saturday evening April 1 2023 between 6:34 PM and 6:41 PM EDT. The severe thunderstorm formed as a result of a multi-cell cluster of thunderstorms that formed ahead of a cold front passage late Saturday afternoon. As the cell moved east of Rising Sun, it began to show signs of rotation.||The tornado touched down in Plumpton Park Zoo, downing a few dozen trees. It then |proceeded to near the village of Calvert, just east of Chandlee Road and its intersection with Telegraph Road/MD-273 where three wooden power poles were snapped. The tornado continued to move east along Telegraph Road and…

4. Sep 18, 2004Flood, Cecil$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The remnants of Hurricane Ivan interacting with a slowly moving cold front caused very heavy rain to fall during the late morning and early afternoon of the 18th in the eastern part of the county. Flooding was reported along the Big Elk Creek along Maryland State Route 7. Runoff from the heavy rain also caused flooding along the Susquehanna River which affected Port Deposit the most. Damage was estimated at one million dollars. Storm totals included 4.25 inches in Elkton.

5. Feb 9, 2010Winter Storm, Cecil$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   For the second time within a week a major winter storm, this one with blizzard conditions at times, affected the Maryland Eastern Shore. Blizzard conditions occurred at times during the late morning and the first half of the afternoon on the 10th. Snowfall averaged around one foot with the highest amounts in Kent and Cecil Counties. Ice accretions were less than one-quarter of an inch.||Across the lower Eastern Shore, precipitation started briefly as rain or sleet during the late afternoon on the 9th. As the precipitation intensity increased, the rain and sleet changed to snow by the middle of the evening. As warmer air moved in aloft, the snow changed back to sleet and freezing…

6. Sep 19, 2003Storm Surge/Tide, Cecil$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tropical Storm Isabel caused a record breaking tide and storm surge up the Chesapeake Bay, heavy rain and strong power outage producing winds. Isabel made landfall as a hurricane near Drum Inlet, North Carolina around 100 p.m. EDT on the 18th and weakened as it tracked farther inland. At one time in its life cycle, it was a powerful Category 5 hurricane when it was north of the Leewood Islands. Isabel's track took it west of the bay and was able to funnel water into the bay. This caused flooding along coastal areas into Cecil County. A record breaking high tide of 7.91 feet above mean lower low water was observed at Tolchester Beach (Kent County). The surge was 6.88 feet. Tidal…

7. Oct 29, 2012Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The heavy rain that fell across Cecil County not only caused poor drainage flooding, but exacerbated the tidal flooding along the Chesapeake Bay. Event precipitation totals of around just under 6 inches were reported near Elkton.

8. Jun 29, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A gust front outrunning a cluster of severe thunderstorms entered near Port Deposit in western Cecil County at approximately 11:27 pm EDT on the 29th. This gust front produced damaging wind gusts estimated from 65 to 70 mph as it traversed eastward across the county. Within approximately 20 minutes of the gust front passage, a potent line of severe thunderstorms tracked eastward into Cecil County. One thunderstorm cell in particular experienced rapid intensification and expansion as it tracked from around Baltimore, MD across Cecil County and into northern Delaware. Destructive wind gusts, estimated at 70 mph, resulted in significant tree and power line damage county-wide.…

9. Jul 1, 2015Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A severe thunderstorm caused wind damage along the east side of the Northeast River from the McDaniel Yacht Basin northeast to near Maryland State Route 7. At the McDaniel Yacht Basin, metal siding was peeled from buildings, boats were tossed and a wooden shed was destroyed. Farther to the northeast, trees and poles were knocked down along both Maryland State Routes 272 and 7. Trees were also knocked down between Granview Avenue and Hillcrest Lane, Irishtown Road and Saddler Avenue. Nearly 2,000 homes and businesses lost power in Cecil County.

10. Oct 29, 2012Strong Wind, Cecil$400,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Post Tropical Storm Sandy caused an initial estimate of $5 million dollars in damage in the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Most of the damages were due to flooding caused by excessive rainfall, as up to 13 inches of rain were reported, and due to the high winds, which caused trees and wires to come down across the state. Delmarva Power, which serves portions of the eastern shore counties, reported over 30,000 households without power during the peak of the storm. The majority of residents had power returned by the morning of the 30th. Hundreds of roads were closed due to numerous downed trees and flooding. | |No direct deaths were reported on the Eastern Shore of Maryland due to the…

1. Storm Events records before 1996 cover only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail. Damage figures are as reported by the National Weather Service at the time, not adjusted for inflation.

NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 1950 to 2026, issued October 26, 2026.

All-time high

103°F3 times, most recently Jul 2, 2026

All-time low

−14°F2 times, most recently Jan 21, 1985

Warmest night

82°FJul 22, 2011

Coldest day

4°FJan 19, 1994

Wettest day

8.29 inSep 16, 1999

Snowiest day

22.0 inJan 7, 1996

Hottest year

2023mean 57.8°F

Coldest year

1958mean 52.1°F

Wettest year

201861.37 in

Driest year

196524.90 in

Snowiest season

72.7 in2009-10

Station Wilmington New Castle County Airport (USW00013781), 74 ft elevation, 12.4 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1931 to October 27, 2026; 100.0% of days in the last 30 years are complete. Records at a single station can differ from a city’s official threaded record, which may combine several stations.

NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily.

Declarations for Cecil County.

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).

OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, retrieved October 30, 2026. Statewide declarations are not listed.

• Tornadoes NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, through 2025.
• Tropical cyclones NOAA National Hurricane Center HURDAT2 (Atlantic; Northeast and Central Pacific), through 2025.
• Wildfire USGS/USFS Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity, through 2026.
• Storm events NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, through 2026.
• Flood insurance OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026.
• Declarations OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Weather records NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily, station USW00013781.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Tide gauges NOAA CO-OPS high tide flooding counts, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Drought NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, through September 2026.
• Smoke NOAA NESDIS Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Earthquakes USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat), retrieved October 30, 2026.

Joins, thresholds and known limits are set out in the methodology. Found an error? Report it. Page built October 30, 2026.