Morris County

Every recorded tornado

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

Mapped landslides

Mapped by NJ GS (32), NASA (6).

Deadly landslides

1. Landslides mapped in the USGS compilation of landslide inventories across the United States (version 3.0, 2025), rated probable or better. The compilation joins inventories made by federal and state agencies for different purposes and areas, so the number mapped in a county reflects how closely it has been surveyed as much as how often its slopes fail. An area with few records may simply not have been mapped. Deaths are as recorded in the inventories; a slide listed in two inventories is counted once.

USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0, retrieved October 27, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Aug 28, 2011Flood$200 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Morris County was greatly effected by flooding from Irene, especially along the Passaic and Pompton Rivers. |In Dover Township, a construction worker fell off a bridge, was washed away and drowned in the Rockaway River. About 4,000 homes in the county were affected by flood waters in Pequannock, Lincoln Park, Dover, Parsippany and Denville. The flooding along the Rockaway River forced the collapse of the northbound Interstate 287 roadway shoulder in Boonton. All northbound lanes remained closed until August 30th. In Hanover Township, a 177-yearold historic First Presbyterian Church of Whippany suffered approximately about $350,000 in damages, one of the hardest hit structures in…

2. Sep 16, 1999Flash Flood$30.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Floyd battered New Jersey (especially the central and northern thirds) on September 16th and brought with it torrential and in some areas, unprecedented and record breaking rains and damaging winds. The hurricane will go down in history as the greatest natural disaster to ever effect the state of New Jersey to date. Preliminary damage estimates for the entire state were 1.1 billion dollars hitting Bergen and Somerset Counties the hardest. Manville and Bound Brook were hardest hit within Somerset County. Six persons died in the state; all drownings: two each in Somerset and Bergen Counties, one in Passaic County and one in Salem County. Hundreds were injured. The…

3. Apr 15, 2007Flood$26.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The heavy rain and stream and river flooding forced about 1000 people to be evacuated throughout Morris County. About half of those evacuated still could not return to their home as of April 26th. Evacuations occurred in Lincoln Park, Pequannock, Parsippany, Denville, Hanover and East Hanover. In addition, about 100 businesses along New Jersey State Route 23 suffered flood damage.|In Lincoln Park, flooding along the Pompton River severely affected the borough. About 1000 homes were damaged with water up to five feet in some homes. Twenty-four roads were closed. There was no access to New Jersey State Routes 23 and Interstate 80. Two Bridges Road was expected to be closed into May.…

4. Mar 13, 2010Flood$15.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   In Morris County, this was the highest flooding along the Passaic and Pompton Rivers since April of 1984. Both rivers had crests within the top five. In Pequannock, about 300 people were evacuated and 1,000 homes were affected by the flood waters. Two shelters were opened. The A&P Shopping Center was under water. Boat rescues were performed along three blocks. Residents returned to their homes by the 19th. New Jersey State Route 23 was closed. In Lincoln Park, about 260 residents were evacuated. Two Bridges Road and U.S. Route 206 to Wayne were still closed on the 17th. In Long Hill Township, eighteen roads were closed, several were still closed near the Passaic River on the 17th.…

5. Aug 12, 2000Flash Flood$12.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A nearly unprecedented thunderstorm with torrential downpour remained nearly stationary for about six hours from 9 a.m. EDT through 3 p.m. EDT on August 12th over the Hamburg Mountains of eastern Sussex County. Doppler Radar Storm total estimates reached around 15 inches along the Sussex/Morris County border. Two to three inches of rain fell per hour in the strongest storms and caused considerable, widespread and devastating flooding across southeastern Sussex County and western Morris County. Mud and rock slides exacerbated the damage. This was approximately a one in a thousand year event. About 2,700 homes and businesses were flooded. Eight houses were totally destroyed, about…

6. Mar 7, 2011Flood$10.6 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Major flooding occurred in eastern Morris County and started on the 7th. Sections of the Pompton and Passaic Rivers never had a chance to recede before the next round of heavy rain arrived on the 10th. The worst flooding and damaged occurred after the second round of heavy rain. Nevertheless, about twenty homes were evacuated in Lincoln Park when the Pompton River crested the first time. During the second and more serious round of flooding, over 1,000 homes were affected by flood waters in Pequannock and Lincoln Park. The American Red Cross and Salvation Army distributed nearly 4,000 meals and 4,500 snacks. The American Red Cross also distributed nearly 700 clean-up kits and 200…

7. Sep 1, 2021Flash Flood$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread flash flooding occurred in Morris County with numerous road closures. Many waterways in the county overflowed their banks, including the Passaic River, the Whippany River, the Pompton River and the Pequannock River.

8. Sep 16, 1999High Wind, Morris$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Floyd battered New Jersey (especially the central and northern thirds) on September 16th and brought with it torrential and in some areas, unprecedented and record breaking rains and damaging winds. The hurricane will go down in history as the greatest natural disaster to ever effect the state of New Jersey to date. Preliminary damage estimates for the entire state were 1.1 billion dollars hitting Bergen and Somerset Counties the hardest. Manville and Bound Brook were hardest hit within Somerset County. Six persons died in the state; all drownings: two each in Somerset and Bergen Counties, one in Passaic County and one in Salem County. Hundreds were injured. The…

9. Jan 7, 1996Blizzard, Morris$1.5 million
10. Apr 30, 2014Flood$1.3 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    Very heavy rain caused poor drainage flooding as well as minor to moderate flooding in the Passaic Basin. Some of the flooding along the Passaic River did not start until May 1st. That flood information is included below and will be repeated in May's stormdata entry. In Roxbury Township, the exit ramps in both directions off of U.S. Route 46 were flooded and closed. The heavy rain forced emergency repair lane closures on Interstate 287 in Parsippany-Troy Hills and Morristown. Mass transit was not immune. Service was suspended along a section of New Jersey Transit's Montclair-Boonton Line until May 5th as workers repaired a track washout. Buses were made available to shuttle…

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

108°FJul 22, 2011

All-time low

−14°FFeb 9, 1934

Warmest night

86°F2 times, most recently Jul 23, 2011

Coldest day

−1°FJan 10, 1859

Wettest day

15.00 inAug 5, 1843

Snowiest day

25.9 inDec 26, 1947

Hottest year

2023mean 58.8°F

Coldest year

1875mean 48.3°F

Wettest year

201169.91 in

Driest year

196526.09 in

Snowiest season

78.4 in1995-96

Station Newark Liberty International Airport (USW00014734), 6 ft elevation, 21.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1843 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 USW00014734.
• 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.
• Landslides USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0 (2025).
• 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.