Somerville

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.

Every large fire

1. Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.

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 Somerset County, the county that contains Somerville.

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 Somerset County, the county that contains Somerville.

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.

The drought index is for Somerset County, the county that contains Somerville.

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.

Mapped landslides

Landslides mapped in Somerset County.

Mapped by NJ GS (9), NASA (1).

1. Landslides mapped in the USGS compilation of landslide inventories across the United States (version 3.0, 2025), rated probable or better. The compilation joins inventories made by federal and state agencies for different purposes and areas, so the number mapped in a county reflects how closely it has been surveyed as much as how often its slopes fail. An area with few records may simply not have been mapped. Deaths are as recorded in the inventories; a slide listed in two inventories is counted once.

USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0, retrieved October 27, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Sep 16, 1999Flash Flood$358 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Floyd battered New Jersey (especially the central and northern thirds) on September 16th and brought with it torrential and in some areas, unprecedented and record breaking rains and damaging winds. The hurricane will go down in history as the greatest natural disaster to ever effect the state of New Jersey to date. Preliminary damage estimates for the entire state were 1.1 billion dollars hitting Bergen and Somerset Counties the hardest. Manville and Bound Brook were hardest hit within Somerset County. Six persons died in the state; all drownings: two each in Somerset and Bergen Counties, one in Passaic County and one in Salem County. Hundreds were injured. The…

2. Aug 28, 2011Flood$200 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   In Somerset County, about 3,400 homes and 250 businesses suffered flood damage. Seven hundred homes were damaged in Bound Brook and six hundred were damaged in Manville. Mandatory evacuations occurred in Manville, Bound Brook, South Bound Brook and Somerville. In Manville, the Lost Valley section was hit hard by flooding as 250 people were evacuated and continuous water rescues were performed. One in three homes in the borough was damaged. Forty of the homes��� foundations either collapsed or were damaged. In Bound Brook, most of the evacuations occurred along Main Street. Twenty of the county���s municipalities suffered major flooding and every township had at least…

3. Sep 1, 2021Flash Flood$75.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread flash flooding occurred in the southern half of Somerset County with numerous road closures. There were two flood related fatalities in southern Somerset County, both in Hillsborough Township. There were approximately 1200 water rescues in the entire county. Many buildings and homes were either damaged or destroyed by the flood waters. Most waterways in the county overflowed their banks, including the Raritan River, the Millstone River, Green Brook, Stony Brook and Middle Brook.

4. Apr 15, 2007Flood$48.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   In Somerset County, the flooding was the worst since the remnants of Hurricane Floyd in September of 1999. About 1,600 people were evacuated with Bound Brook, Manville and Somerville among the hardest hit municipalities.|In Bound Brook Borough, about 1,100 homes were evacuated. The downtown Main Street area was hit the hardest, but homes and businesses were also flooded on Talmage Street, Mountain Avenue, Fisher Road, Fairview, Drake and Linden Avenues and Second Street south to the Raritan River. Schools and churches were used as shelters. About 600 people were still in shelters as of April 27th. National Guard troops were mobilized as 300 people were rescued from flood waters.…

5. Oct 19, 1996Flash Flood$31.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rain, very heavy at times around noon on the 19th caused widespread and severe flooding throughout Somerset County. For the major rivers, most of the crests were the second highest on record and represented a 25 to 50 year flood. The all-time record crests occurred with Tropical Storm Doria in August 1971. A state of emergency was declared and total damage was estiamted at $31 million dollars. Many motorists were stranded. Parts of Interstate 287, United States Routes 202 and 206, New Jersey State Route 22 and County Route 610 were closed as long as the afternoon of the 20th. The Blackwell Mills and Griggstown Causeways remained closed until the 22nd in Franklin Township. The…

6. Sep 1, 2021Flash Flood$25.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread flash flooding occurred in the northern half of Somerset County with numerous roads closures. There were three flood related fatalities in northern Somerset County, all in Bridgewater Township. There were approximately 1200 water rescues in the entire county. Many buildings and homes were either damaged or destroyed by the flood waters. Most waterways in the county overflowed their banks, including the Raritan River, the Millstone River, Green Brook, Stony Brook and Middle Brook.

7. Oct 29, 2012High Wind, Somerset$20.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Post Tropical Storm Sandy was the costliest natural disaster by far in the state of New Jersey. Record breaking high tides and wave action combined with sustained winds as high as 60 to 70 mph with wind gusts as high as around 90 mph to batter the state. Statewide, Sandy caused an estimated 29.4 billion dollars in damage, destroyed or significantly damaged 30,000 homes and businesses, affected 42,000 additional structures and was responsible directly or indirectly for 38 deaths. A new temporary inlet formed in Mantaloking (Ocean County) where some homes were swept away. About 2.4 million households in the state lost power. It would take two weeks for power to be fully restored to…

8. Mar 13, 2010Flood$15.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   In Somerset County, Bound Brook, Manville and Green Brook were hardest hit by the heavy rain and flooding. There were 1,300 flood related emergency calls and 46 water rescues in the county. In Bound Brook, about 600 residents were evacuated to the borough���s high school gym and a Presbyterian Church. Another shelter was opened at the Raritan Valley Community College. The Salvation Army served meals. Businesses were flooded along Main Street and East Second Avenue also flooded. The flooding affected six less blocks than it did in 2007. In Manville, 200 residents in the Lost Valley section and along Duke Parkway were evacuated. A shelter was opened at the Veterans of Foreign…

9. Jan 7, 1996Blizzard, Somerset$4.4 million
10. Sep 7, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$2.7 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    A squall line of severe thunderstorms rocked Somerset County around 2 p.m. EDT on Monday the 7th. It knocked down numerous trees and power lines and forced four municipalities in the northeastern part of the county to declare states of emergency. Hundreds, if not thousands of trees were knocked down. Numerous homes were damaged by the uprooted trees. Only one person was injured when a tree limb fell on them in Bound Brook. Some schools were closed on the 8th because power was still out and roads were still blocked. The county damage estimate was around 2.656 million dollars. Wind gusts were estimated by SKYWARN Spotters at around 70 mph in both Bridgewater and Hillsborough…

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

105°F2 times, most recently Jul 23, 2011

All-time low

−13°FJan 22, 1984

Warmest night

80°FJul 25, 2022

Coldest day

0°FJan 18, 1982

Wettest day

7.96 inAug 28, 2011

Snowiest day

19.8 inFeb 12, 2006

Hottest year

2024mean 56.3°F

Coldest year

1978mean 50.9°F

Wettest year

201166.11 in

Driest year

197636.16 in

Snowiest season

76.5 in1995-96

Station New Brunswick 3 Se (USC00286055), 111 ft elevation, 11.8 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1968 to October 28, 2026; 99.5% 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 Somerset 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 USC00286055.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, 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.
• Landslides USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0 (2025).
• 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.