Hilliard

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 Franklin County, the county that contains Hilliard.

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 Franklin County, the county that contains Hilliard.

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 Franklin County, the county that contains Hilliard.

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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Sep 14, 2008High Wind, Franklin$129 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong winds of 40 to 50 miles per hour were sustained for several hours. The Columbus International Airport gusted to 75 mph, with 69 mph gusts recorded at Lockbourne and Urbancrest. Widespread damage occurred across the region, from trees being blown down on powerlines, to significant crop losses and structural damage.

2. Oct 4, 2006Hail$100 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail up to hen egg size fell for up to 15 minutes across the eastern Columbus suburbs, causing extensive widespread damage to vehicles, homes and other structures. The hail accumulated up to several inches deep in spots, and remained on the ground well after the thunderstorm had passed.

3. Apr 20, 2003Hail$80.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail up to the size of golf balls affected the north side of the Columbus metro area and southern Delaware county. Hail was extensive from Dublin, through Worthington and Powell, to Westerville. Trees and shrubs were stripped of their foliage and cars and homes sustained significant hail damage. The hail covered the ground in some locations up to six inches deep in Worthington in northern Franklin county and near the Polaris Mall in southern Delaware county.

4. Oct 11, 2006Tornado$50.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down and moved through the Upper Albany West subdivision. Sixty-seven homes were damaged, sixteen of those severely and an additional eight completely destroyed. Many of the homes sustained significant roof, siding and window damage. Much of the damage was F1, with some low end F2 damage to around 120 mph.

5. Oct 4, 2006Hail$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large hail fell for up to ten minutes and covered the ground in spots across much of the western half of the Columbus metropolitan area.

6. Jul 10, 2013Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A damage survey conducted by the National Weather Service confirmed straight line wind damage due to a microburst. Significant damage occurred to at least 4 industrial warehouse buildings with at least some roof loss at 2 to 3 of these sites. Major damage occurred to parts of these buildings. Based on the damage surveyed, the estimated wind speed of this microburst was 95 miles per hour.

7. Jan 5, 1997Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A three block area of a neighborhood received extensive damage from a downburst. Major structural damage occurred to 8 homes while 37 other homes received minor damage. Numerous trees were downed. One injury occurred when debris was blown through a window into a child's bedroom.

8. Jun 29, 1998Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Nearly 10 inches of rain fell in southwestern parts of the county causing significant flooding, especially near Wrightsville, Darbydale, Pleasant Corners, and Grove City. Numerous roads were closed, including Interstate 71. Several homes were flooded and some evacuations occurred.

9. Sep 26, 2018Tornado$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Damage evident of a weak tornado began in the Olde Towne neighborhood of Columbus. There were numerous large tree branches down or tree trunks snapped, along with a pickup truck that was briefly partially lifted off the ground. The pickup truck suffered damage to both passenger side tires as it was forced back down to the pavement. In the same area of Olde Towne, there was damage to power poles. Damage in this area was consistent with an EF0 strength tornado. Further down the damage path, several areas of tree damage occurred in the Bexley area. ||The most significant tornado damage occurred in the Mayfair neighborhood near East Broad Street and South James Road, and where the…

10. Jan 21, 2013Winter Weather, Franklin$700,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Snow squalls in the region caused whiteout conditions, resulting in a 29 car pileup in the southbound lanes of I-270 on the northeast side of Columbus. Four people were hospitalized as a result. Later in the afternoon, I-71 at the intersection of I-670 saw an accident involving two semi-trailers and other vehicles.

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

104°FJul 14, 1954

All-time low

−22°FJan 19, 1994

Warmest night

79°FJul 30, 1999

Coldest day

−5°FJan 20, 1985

Wettest day

5.13 inJul 13, 1992

Snowiest day

15.5 inMar 8, 2008

Hottest year

2024mean 57.3°F

Coldest year

1976mean 49.6°F

Wettest year

201855.18 in

Driest year

196324.51 in

Snowiest season

56.4 in2013-14

Station John Glenn International Airport (USW00014821), 810 ft elevation, 15.2 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1948 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 Franklin 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 USW00014821.
• 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.
• 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.