Tolland County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Tolland County: 0.
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, Tolland$20.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Trees were downed in Tolland (Robin Circle), Rockville, and Bolton (Route 534, Birch Mountain Road), several falling onto houses.

2. Oct 29, 2011Heavy Snow, Tolland$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Six to ten inches of snow fell across Tolland 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 10 days. Over 250 trees and 106 utility poles were downed in Somers. In addition, 8 transformers were destroyed and 24 were damaged. A motorist died in a traffic accident in Hebron blamed on the road conditions and weather.

3. Dec 7, 1996Heavy Snow, Tolland$2.0 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…

4. Aug 4, 2020Tropical Storm, Tolland$1.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Between 228 PM EDT and approximately 530 PM EDT, numerous trees and wires were downed. Reports of downed trees and wires were received from the towns of Tolland, Andover, Willington, Vernon, Columbia, and Hebron. In Hebron, a tree and wires were down on a car, but there were no injuries. Municipal damage claims were approximately $850,000 and uninsured home/small business claims were near $420,000. That does not count individual homeowners' insurance deductibles, etc.

5. Feb 1, 2011Winter Storm, Tolland$850,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A total of 6-10 inches of snow fell across Tolland County over the two day period, with upwards of a tenth of an inch of ice accumulation for isolated locations falling during the morning perod on the 2nd. Damage amounts are for the roof collapses of some 31 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.

6. Apr 1, 1997Heavy Snow, Tolland$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A low pressure system which formed off theNew Jersey coast during the early morning hours of March 31st intensified rapidly as it moved to a position 60 miles south of Newport, Rhode Island. This system retreated to the south during the early morning hours of April 1st, pulling in cold air from the north. The center then moved slowly eastward.Heavy snow and strong winds produced near-blizzard conditions across the area during the early morning hours of April 1st. Snowfall totals of 12 to 21 inches were reported. Some totals included: Putnam, 21 inches; Union, 18.5 inches; and Mansfield, 16 inches. About 98,000 electric customers lost power statewide when the heavy, wet snow…

7. Oct 15, 2005Flood, Tolland$500,000
   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…

8. Nov 16, 2002Ice Storm, Tolland$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A major ice storm caused significant damage in north central Connecticut. There were numerous reports of downed trees, limbs, and power lines as a result of one-half to three-quarters of an inch of icing. An estimated 100,000 customers in Hartford and Tolland Counties were left without power because of the storm.Damage was especially severe in western Hartford County, where entire communities such as Hartland, Granby, Simsbury, and Canton were left without power for as much as five days. Sections of Canton were completely isolated due to downed trees and wires, according to local police. In Burlington, widespread damage was reported. Trees crashed down on cars, punched through…

9. Oct 29, 2012High Wind, Tolland$439,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   In Coventry, numerous roads were blocked by downed trees. In Mansfield, a 90 year old woman was killed when a tree fell on her and two of her family members on West Highland Road. They were walking to a neighbor's house who still had electricity after they lost power. The other two victims (a male and a female) were seriously injured.

10. Oct 15, 2005Flood, Tolland$300,000
    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…

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°FJul 22, 2011

All-time low

−26°FJan 22, 1961

Warmest night

78°F2 times, most recently Aug 3, 2006

Coldest day

1°FJan 15, 1957

Wettest day

7.70 inAug 19, 1955

Snowiest day

24.0 inJan 12, 2011

Hottest year

2024mean 55.1°F

Coldest year

1958mean 47.5°F

Wettest year

201169.23 in

Driest year

194929.04 in

Snowiest season

114.6 in1995-96

Station Hartford-bradley International Airport (USW00014740), 169 ft elevation, 17.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1949 to October 26, 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.

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 USW00014740.
• 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.