Hartford County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Hartford County: 3.
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.

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

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.

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.

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 county boundary (or inside the county).
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. Aug 28, 2011Tropical Storm, Hartford$20.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees, wires, and power poles were downed in Glastonbury (Route 17), New Britain (Pendleton Road, Pinehurst Avenue, and Grand Street), East Hartford (Larrabee and Tolland Streets, Woodlawn Circle), South Windsor (Long Hill Road), Newington (Pebble Drive), West Hartford (Waterside Lane), Hartford (Hungerford Street), East Windsor, Plantsville, Suffield, and Enfield (Pearl and Pierce Streets). Several of these trees fell onto houses. The Automated Surface Observing System at Bradley International Airport (KBDL) recorded sustained wind speeds of 26 knots (30 mph) and wind gusts to 44 knots (51 mph). The Automated Surface Observing System at Hartford-Brainard Airport (KHFD)…

2. Aug 4, 2020Tropical Storm, Hartford$8.9 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Between 238 PM EDT and 630 PM EDT, there was widespread damage from fallen trees and power lines. At 351 PM EDT, a wind gust to 56 mph was recorded at the Bradley International Airport (KBDL) in Windsor Locks. At 455 PM EDT, a wind gust to 52 mph (45 kt) was measured at Hartford-Brainard Airport (KHFD). In West Hartford, trees and power lines were reported down in West Hartford, Newington, Enfield, and Burlington. Utility poles were downed in South Windsor. Trees were reported to have fallen onto houses in New Britain, Marlborough, Wethersfield (house crushed on Olney Street), East Windsor (heavy damage to a home on Pleasant Street), Bristol, and Rocky Hill. A tree was down onto a…

3. Oct 29, 2011Heavy Snow, Hartford$8.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Six to seventeen inches of snow fell across Hartford County. Heavy wet snow fell on foliated trees, breaking branches and downing trees and wires, resulting in widespread power outages that lasted for up to 11 days. The Enfield DMV roof was compromised by the heavy snow and was shutdown. Both Avon and South Windsor have estimated 100,000 cubic yards of debris from fallen trees and power lines. The estimated cleanup costs across several towns in Hartford County is between $1.5 to $2.5 million. In addition, the Glastonbury Pheasant Farm lost more than 4,000 birds.

4. Aug 28, 2011Flood$8.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Four to ten inches of heavy rain from Tropical Storm Irene resulted in the Pequabuck River overflowing its banks. This led to flooding on roads and homes along the river throughout Bristol. Flooded roads ran approximately three and a half feet deep. A 46 year old man went canoeing in floodwaters. He drowned when his canoe capsized and he was unable to make it to shore. At least 50 people were evacuated from areas around the river, and took shelter at Chippens Hill Middle School. The river flooding undermined at least 7 feet of Route 72 eastbound, washing out this portion of the road. Numerous houses and businesses were affected by the flooding. Forty high water rescues took place in Bristol.

5. Aug 2, 2018Thunderstorm Wind$5.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   At 3:25 PM EST thunderstorm winds in Suffield brought a tree down on wires on Suffield Street, and a tree down on a house on Hickory Street.

6. Jul 1, 2013Tornado$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF1 tornado touched down on Hayden Station Road in Windsor and continued moving northeastward through portions of Windsor Locks and across the Connecticut River, ending in the 200 block of Main Street in East Windsor. ||The roof was blown off a warehouse on Hayden Station Road in Windsor. Numerous trees were downed near Raymond Road and Alicia Terrace, including some that were downed onto cars and houses. Shingles were blown off houses on Preston Road and Gaylord Road. As the tornado traveled northeastward, tobacco tents were ripped off the tobacco fields and some tobacco was flattened. This can be seen from Interstate 91. Several eyewitnesses reported debris being lofted into…

7. Mar 5, 2001Heavy Snow, Hartford$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A major winter storm impacted northern Connecticut with heavy snow and strong winds. The slow-moving storm, which tracked south of New England, dumped 10 to 20 inches of snow across Hartford, Tolland, and Windham counties and knocked out power to tens of thousands of customers. Schools and businesses were shut down for three days in some communities. Officially, Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks reported a storm total of 9.9 inches. Other reports from Hartford County include 15 inches in Farmington, 14 inches in East Windsor, Burlington, and Wethersfield, 13 inches in Glastonbury, and 12 inches in Manchester. In Tolland County, 16 inches of snow fell in Stafford, 15…

8. Oct 15, 2005Flood, Hartford$4.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A low pressure system interacted with a plume of tropical moisture as the low slowly moved parallel to the Long Island and south Massachusetts coasts, resulting in excessive rain and flooding across north central and northeast Connecticut. Between approximately 4 and 8.5 inches of rain fell across the region. The county of Hartford was the hardest hit by this flood event, with much of the damage concentrated in the town of West Hartford.In Hartford county, most of the damages were confined to basement flooding, with over 1 foot of water reported in these flooded basements. One home was destroyed as a result of a basement wall collapse. In addition, Interstate 91 in Windsor…

9. Dec 7, 1996Heavy Snow, Hartford$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A low pressure system centered over Georgia at 7 AM on December 7th moved rapidly northeast across North Carolina. The intensifying system then moved about parallel to the Mid-Atlantic coast with its center reaching Plymouth County in southeastern Massachusetts during the early morning hours on December 8th. This storm brought heavy, wet snow and resulted in widespread power outages. There had been another heavy, wet snow event the day before, too. A total of 225,000 electric customers lost power statewide, including 100,000 in central Connecticut and 95,000 in the eastern part of the state. Power remained out for several days, despite the efforts of dozens of electric company…

10. Feb 1, 2011Winter Storm, Hartford$2.5 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    A total of 6-11 inches of snow fell across Hartford County over the two day period, with upwards of a quarter inch of ice accumulation for isolated locations falling during the morning perod on the 2nd. Damage amounts are for the roof collapses of some 75 structures that occurred following heavy snowfall that totaled 86.4 inches by the end of the snow season. Most of this snow fell from December 26 through February 2 and most roof collapses occurred during or shortly after the February 1 and 2 snow storm.

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°F2 times, most recently Jul 22, 2011

All-time low

−24°FFeb 16, 1943

Warmest night

79°FAug 9, 2022

Coldest day

−1°FDec 26, 1980

Wettest day

6.10 inSep 20, 1938

Snowiest day

17.7 inDec 29, 1945

Hottest year

2023mean 54.8°F

Coldest year

1940mean 47.5°F

Wettest year

202364.53 in

Driest year

196528.44 in

Station Hartford Brainard Field (USW00014752), 13 ft elevation, 3.9 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1920 to October 26, 2026; 98.0% 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.

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.

Neighbouring counties

• 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 USW00014752.
• 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.