Cheshire County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Oct 9, 2005Flash Flood$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A slow-moving cold front interacted with the remnants of Tammy, producing significant rainfall and flooding across southern New Hampshire. Storm total rainfall ranged from between 9 and 11 inches across southwest New Hampshire; and the worst flooding occurred in the Ashuelot River basin, where the community of Alstead lies. Approximately 1000 people were evacuated in southwest New Hampshire during these floods.The most destructive flooding occurred in Alstead, where there was loss of life, totally destroyed homes and businesses, and numerous bridge washouts. At approximately 6 AM EST, an estimated 20 to 30 foot flood wave resulted when an embankment failed. This flood wave…

2. Dec 11, 2008Ice Storm, Cheshire$9.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees and wires were downed in Rindge, Dublin, Jaffrey, Troy, and Swanzey.

3. May 29, 2012Flash Flood$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous roads flooded in Keene (including Maple and Pako Avenues, Roxbury, Church, Harrison, Gurnsey, and Edwards Streets, Hurricane and Belvedere Roads, and Colonial and Dale Drives), Westmoreland (including Mount Gilboa Road), Sullivan (including Centre Street, Route 9, and South, Hubbard, and East Sullivan Roads) and Gilsum (including Route 10 and Vessel Rock Road). Centre Street in Sullivan and Vessel Rock Road and Route 10 in Gilsum were washed out. Ferry Brook in Keene was out of its banks. Route 9 in Sullivan was closed with cars stuck in the floodwaters. In Keene, Belvedere Road off Route 10 sustained the most damage. Several roads in Keene sustained washouts: including…

4. Aug 6, 2003Flash Flood$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Slow moving severe thunderstorms brought damaging winds, hail, and flash flooding to Cheshire County. Westmoreland was the hardest hit area, where most of the town's roads were blocked off because of flooding, downed trees, and power lines. A spotter measured 4.50 inches of rain in under three hoursalong with dime sized hail. One portion of Route 12 was washed out, part of Route 63 was closed due to flooding, and Mill Brook rose out of its banks and flooded a the first floor of a nearby house. Some people were evacuated from their homes. Dime sized hail was also reported in Walpole.Route 12 was closed for several days following the torrential rainfall. Damage from the storm was…

5. Jan 7, 1998Ice Storm, Cheshire$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   MAJOR ICE STORM...AND PRESIDENTIAL DISASTER DECLARATION. A large low pressure system located in the Tennessee Valley, with its warm front extending northeast to Long Island, New York, set the stage for a prolonged period of freezing rain in northern New England. A moisture-laden airmass overran a cold Canadian airmass which remained in place during moderate to heavy rainfall, producing a massive ice storm. The major and prolonged icing event affected a number of towns in Cheshire and Hillsborough Counties in southern New Hampshire, starting on Wednesday, January 7th and continuing until Saturday, January 10th. Elevations ranging from roughly 1,100 feet to 2,500 feet were most…

6. Jul 17, 2021Flash Flood$617,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Jaffrey airport reported 6.9 in 18 hours, measuring 6 to 8 inches of rain in 24 hours. More than 15 roads were washed out, one of which lost a major culvert. Damage figures were estimated over $1 million mainly for damage to roads and bridges. There was a voluntary evacuation for 39 homes on Letourneau Drive off Nutting Road after a bridge was flooded by a small stream.

7. Aug 10, 2003Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   For the second time in five days, roads in Westmoreland and surrounding towns were devastated by flash flooding after a series of torrential downpours. Up to five inches of rain fell in a three hour period, forcing the evacuation of several homes and undermining roadways already in the midst of repairs from the flooding that occurred on August 6th. A 14-year old boy was found clinging to branches in Mill Brook after he was sucked under Route 63, but only suffered from minor injuries. The boy was out looking at storm damage when he came too close to a whirlpool near the road.

8. Jul 3, 1997Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Very severe thunderstorms moved through Cheshire and Hillsborough Counties, producing two tornadoes, microbursts, damaging thunderstorm winds, and large hail. It appears that a microburst hit Hinsdale and both a microburst and weak tornado affected the town of Swanzey, just south of Keene, in Cheshire County. A horse barn was destroyed and an ice arena damaged at the Cheshire Fairgrounds. Pieces of aluminum were wrapped around street lamps and two-by-fours were driven into the metal sides and roof of the ice arena. One person was slightly injured by flying glass fragments when her car windows were blown in. Many trees were uprooted or blown down. Damage was estimated at…

9. Mar 9, 2001Heavy Snow, Cheshire$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A winter storm tracking from the Great Lakes to just south of New England brought heavy snow to much of southwest New Hampshire. The highest snowfall totals were found in the higher terrain, where around one foot of snow fell. Other areas received 4 to 8 inches of snow on average.

10. Dec 7, 1996Heavy Snow, Cheshire$500,000
    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 of December 8th, before passing along the New Hampshire coast by late morning. This storm dropped from 7 to 15 inches of heavy, wet snow on the region, resulting in widespread damage to trees and power lines. At the height of the storm on Saturday evening, December 7th, the Public Service Company of New Hampshire reported 94,000 electric customers were without power statewide and 16…

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 3, 1911

All-time low

−35°FFeb 20, 1936

Warmest night

76°FSep 3, 1898

Coldest day

−5°FDec 30, 1933

Wettest day

8.64 inOct 9, 2005

Snowiest day

24.9 inFeb 6, 2001

Hottest year

1949mean 49.7°F

Coldest year

1904mean 42.3°F

Wettest year

200559.17 in

Driest year

189427.12 in

Snowiest season

99.6 in1966-67

Station Keene (USC00274399), 511 ft elevation, 4.3 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 27, 2026; 95.5% 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.

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 USC00274399.
• 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.