Belknap County

Every recorded tornado

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

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 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. Jan 7, 1998Ice Storm, Belknap$3.8 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A severe ICE STORM hit sections of New Hampshire from January 7 through January 9. The hardest hit areas in northern and central New Hampshire were generally between about 1000 and 2000 ft above sea level. While many cities and towns at lower elevations received only rain, towns at higher elevations, such as New London, where the temperatures were slightly cooler had freezing rain. Ice accreted several inches thick on trees, power lines, and other exposed surfaces causing many people in those areas to lose electrical service. Statewide, the storm knocked out power to about 55,000 customers, an estimated 125,000 people. During the time without power, residents and those involved…

2. Aug 7, 2008Flash Flood$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain caused flash flooding in the Laconia area washing out several roads and damaging cars and homes.

3. Oct 8, 2005Flood, Belknap$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The interaction between a cold frontal boundary and the remnants of Tropical Storm Tammy resulted in tremendous amount of rainfall throughout most of central and southern New Hampshire. Rainfall ranged from just under 2 inches in far northern New Hampshire to 9 inches at Gilford in Belknap County. An unofficial report was received of 12.75 inches near Gunstock Ski area. There was a tremendous amount of damage to roads and bridges, and to the infrastructure in general due to flooding of small rivers and streams. Homes and businesses were damaged. Tragically, two young people lost their lives in the town of Unity in Sullivan County when they attempted to drive over a bridge that had…

4. Apr 16, 2007Flood$700,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Overview: An area of low pressure intensified rapidly as it moved slowly from the southeastern United States on the morning of Sunday, April 15th to near New York City by the morning of Monday, April 16th. The intense low over New York City in combination with high pressure over eastern Canada produced a very intense pressure gradient across the area which caused strong east to northeast winds to develop across the region. Over land, the strong winds downed numerous trees. The downed trees caused widespread power outages, especially near the coast, and numerous road closures. Over the marine areas, the strong winds caused a storm surge and large ocean waves of up to 30 feet to…

5. Aug 7, 2008Flash Flood$700,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain caused flash flooding in Ashland resulting in the death of a young girl and injuring her mother and brother as they tried to drive out of the flood waters in a local campground. Many roads were flooded or washed out in other areas of town.

6. Apr 16, 2007High Wind, Belknap$685,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Laconia hard hit with trees down on 6 homes, one commercial building collapse, and the roof blown off 4-H Fair Grounds building. Large tree toppled onto two cars. 64 mph gust reported in Center Harbor.

7. Jul 24, 2008Tornado$561,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An E-F2 tornado moving north northeast out of Rockingham County entered Belknap County about 2 miles southwest of South Barnstead near Province Road. The storm travaled almost 12 miles before crossing into Strafford County resulting in E-F0 to E-F2 damage. There were numerous houses and buildings that were damaged or destroyed by the tornado or by falling trees. In addition, there were thousands of downed trees and numerous power lines down along the path of the storm.

8. Aug 7, 2008Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain caused flash flooding in Meredith washing out several roads.

9. Sep 16, 1999Flash Flood$432,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A southeast flow of tropical moisture developed over New Hampshire late Wednesday, September 15 as Hurricane Floyd moved slowly northeastward along the East Coast of the United States. The rains became heavier on Thursday and Thursday night as the remnants of Floyd moved toward and into New England. By early Friday morning, the remnants of Floyd were centered over southeastern New Hampshire. As the storm continued to move to the northeast, precipitation tapered to scattered showers in southern parts of the state, however a steady, moderate to heavy rain continued in the north. Minor flooding occurred along the Pemigewasset and Saco Rivers. Strong winds accompanied the storm and…

10. Oct 29, 2012High Wind, Belknap$387,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    High winds associated with the remnants of Sandy knocked down trees and branches and caused widespread power outages causing an estimated $387,000 in damages.

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

100°FAug 18, 1987

All-time low

−24°FJan 21, 1994

Warmest night

77°FAug 3, 2006

Coldest day

−2°FJan 16, 2004

Wettest day

6.90 inSep 16, 1932

Snowiest day

34.0 inDec 17, 2020

Hottest year

2012mean 49.9°F

Coldest year

1992mean 44.9°F

Wettest year

200861.47 in

Driest year

196525.39 in

Snowiest season

122.1 in1970-71

Station Lakeport 2 (USC00274480), 500 ft elevation, 2.5 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1938 to October 27, 2026; 99.0% 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 USC00274480.
• 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.