Cape May County

Every recorded tornado

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

High tide flooding

1. High tide flooding days are days on which a NOAA tide gauge recorded water at or above NOAA's minor flood threshold, set from the gauge's tide range, counted by meteorological year (May to April). These are the counts in NOAA's annual high tide flooding reports; they are not National Weather Service flood stages. Years with less than 80 percent of data are left out.

NOAA CO-OPS high tide flooding counts, through April 2026, 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.

Tsunamis

1. Places where NOAA's Global Historical Tsunami Database records a tsunami's water arriving, with the greatest height it reached above sea level at the time. Only tsunamis NOAA rates probable or definite are counted. Heights from eyewitness accounts and tide gauges are mixed, and older events are less completely recorded.

NOAA NCEI/WDS Global Historical Tsunami Database, retrieved October 30, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Oct 29, 2012High Wind, Eastern Cape May$150 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Post Tropical Storm Sandy was the costliest natural disaster by far in the state of New Jersey. Record breaking high tides and wave action combined with sustained winds as high as 60 to 70 mph with wind gusts as high as around 90 mph to batter the state. Statewide, Sandy caused an estimated 29.4 billion dollars in damage, destroyed or significantly damaged 30,000 homes and businesses, affected 42,000 additional structures and was responsible directly or indirectly for 38 deaths. A new temporary inlet formed in Mantaloking (Ocean County) where some homes were swept away. About 2.4 million households in the state lost power. It would take two weeks for power to be fully restored to…

2. Oct 28, 2012Coastal Flood, Eastern Cape May$125 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Post Tropical Storm Sandy was the costliest natural disaster by far in the state of New Jersey. Record breaking high tides and wave action combined with sustained winds as high as 60 to 70 mph with wind gusts as high as around 90 mph to batter the state. Statewide, Sandy caused an estimated 29.4 billion dollars in damage, destroyed or significantly damaged 30,000 homes and businesses, affected 42,000 additional structures and was responsible directly or indirectly for 38 deaths. A new temporary inlet formed in Mantaloking (Ocean County) where some homes were swept away. About 2.4 million households in the state lost power. It would take two weeks for power to be fully restored to…

3. Nov 13, 2009Coastal Flood, Eastern Cape May$121 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A powerful nor'easter produced wind gusts to nearly 60 mph, widespread moderate tidal flooding, heavy rain and severe beach erosion along the New Jersey coast from November 12th through the 14th. Initial damage estimates were placed at 180 million dollars. By several measures this was one of the worst nor'easters to affect New Jersey since 1990. The Dolan Davis Nor'easter power ranking for Long Island Buoy 44025 ranked it 4th and the strongest since March of 1994. The Miller Storm Erosion Index and the Kraus and Wise Maximum Wave Run-up Index were both ranked second only to December 1992 nor'easter. The highest winds occurred from the afternoon of the 12th into the afternoon of…

4. Feb 6, 2010Blizzard, Eastern Cape May$50.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A major winter storm dropped 20 to 30 inches of snow across the southern third of New Jersey, 10 to 20 inches across the central third of New Jersey and less than 10 inches of snow north of Interstate 78 in the northern third of New Jersey from the afternoon of the 5th into the afternoon of the 6th. Blizzard conditions occurred in the southeastern part during the early morning of the 6th as winds gusted up to 50 mph. The 18.2 inches of snow that fell at the Atlantic City International Airport (Atlantic County) was the 3rd highest single snowfall event on record. The 28.5 inches of snow that fell at the Philadelphia International Airport was the 2nd highest single snowfall event on…

5. Oct 28, 2012Coastal Flood, Western Cape May$50.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Post Tropical Storm Sandy was the costliest natural disaster by far in the state of New Jersey. Record breaking high tides and wave action combined with sustained winds as high as 60 to 70 mph with wind gusts as high as around 90 mph to batter the state. Statewide, Sandy caused an estimated 29.4 billion dollars in damage, destroyed or significantly damaged 30,000 homes and businesses, affected 42,000 additional structures and was responsible directly or indirectly for 38 deaths. A new temporary inlet formed in Mantaloking (Ocean County) where some homes were swept away. About 2.4 million households in the state lost power. It would take two weeks for power to be fully restored to…

6. Feb 6, 2010Blizzard, Western Cape May$50.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A major winter storm dropped 20 to 30 inches of snow across the southern third of New Jersey, 10 to 20 inches across the central third of New Jersey and less than 10 inches of snow north of Interstate 78 in the northern third of New Jersey from the afternoon of the 5th into the afternoon of the 6th. Blizzard conditions occurred in the southeastern part during the early morning of the 6th as winds gusted up to 50 mph. The 18.2 inches of snow that fell at the Atlantic City International Airport (Atlantic County) was the 3rd highest single snowfall event on record. The 28.5 inches of snow that fell at the Philadelphia International Airport was the 2nd highest single snowfall event on…

7. Oct 29, 2012High Wind, Western Cape May$50.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Post Tropical Storm Sandy was the costliest natural disaster by far in the state of New Jersey. Record breaking high tides and wave action combined with sustained winds as high as 60 to 70 mph with wind gusts as high as around 90 mph to batter the state. Statewide, Sandy caused an estimated 29.4 billion dollars in damage, destroyed or significantly damaged 30,000 homes and businesses, affected 42,000 additional structures and was responsible directly or indirectly for 38 deaths. A new temporary inlet formed in Mantaloking (Ocean County) where some homes were swept away. About 2.4 million households in the state lost power. It would take two weeks for power to be fully restored to…

8. Oct 28, 2012High Surf, Eastern Cape May$40.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Post Tropical Storm Sandy was the costliest natural disaster by far in the state of New Jersey. Record breaking high tides and wave action combined with sustained winds as high as 60 to 70 mph with wind gusts as high as around 90 mph to batter the state. Statewide, Sandy caused an estimated 29.4 billion dollars in damage, destroyed or significantly damaged 30,000 homes and businesses, affected 42,000 additional structures and was responsible directly or indirectly for 38 deaths. A new temporary inlet formed in Mantaloking (Ocean County) where some homes were swept away. About 2.4 million households in the state lost power. It would take two weeks for power to be fully restored to…

9. Jan 28, 1998Coastal Flood, Eastern Cape May$14.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An intense northeaster pounded the New Jersey Shore with tidal flooding, beach erosion, strong winds and rain on the 28th. Conditions were progressively worse farther south along the New Jersey shore. While Monmouth County escaped with some minor tidal flooding and light rain, Cape May County was rocked with moderate to locally severe flooding, heavy rain and wind gusts in excess of 60 mph. A limited state of emergency was declared in Avalon, North Wildwood and Stone Harbor. No serious injuries were reported. Preliminary damage estimates were fifteen million dollars, most of which occurred in Cape May County. The low pressure system (Northeaster) was in the Gulf Coast States the…

10. Oct 2, 2015High Wind, Eastern Cape May$10.0 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    A persistent onshore flow caused periods of heavy rain, strong to high winds, beach erosion, and minor to moderate tidal flooding to occur along the Atlantic coast of New Jersey and into Delaware Bay from the 1st through the 4th. Strong winds and minor tidal flooding started with the daytime high tide cycle on the 1st. The winds and minor to moderate tidal flooding both peaked on the 2nd. Slow improvement in conditions occurred through Sunday the 4th, with only some residual minor tidal flooding occurring on the 5th along the southern New Jersey coast. ||In excess of 32 million dollars in storm damage occurred along the New Jersey coast, especially along the coasts of Cape May,…

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

102°F2 times, most recently Jul 23, 2011

All-time low

−3°FFeb 10, 1899

Warmest night

81°F3 times, most recently Aug 21, 1955

Coldest day

4°FFeb 10, 1899

Wettest day

8.90 inOct 29, 2012

Snowiest day

20.0 inFeb 13, 1899

Hottest year

2012mean 58.5°F

Coldest year

1904mean 50.8°F

Wettest year

194857.56 in

Driest year

193026.12 in

Snowiest season

61.6 in1898-99

Station Cape May 2 Nw (USC00281351), 20 ft elevation, 12.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1877 to October 27, 2026; 97.0% 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 USC00281351.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Tide gauges NOAA CO-OPS high tide flooding counts, 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.
• Tsunamis NOAA NCEI/WDS Global Historical Tsunami Database.
• 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.