Salem County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Salem 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. Aug 28, 2011Flood$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   In Pilesgrove Township, a 20-year-old woman was swept away by flood waters near the Salem River on U.S. Route 40 and drowned while driving her car early on the 28th. The combination of flooding rains and tropical storm force wind gusts closed forty roadways in the county. The collapse of the East Lake Road Dam in Woodstown flooded sections of the borough and Pilesgrove Township. In Pittsgrove Township, both Centerton and Palantine Lakes flooded. Half of Parvin State Park suffered wind and flood damage. ||For the second time within the month, the Maurice River at Norma had major flooding and set the second highest crest on record. The river at the Norma gage was above its 4 foot…

2. Oct 29, 2012High Wind, Salem$10.0 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…

3. Apr 15, 2007Flood$7.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Four homes were evacuated around the Willow Grove Lake in Pittsgrove Township. The Willow Grove Lake Bridge was also closed as a precaution. There were several breaches of water around Centerton Lake (Pittsgrove Township). Six detours were set up around the county. The worst damage occurred to Landis Avenue at the Rainbow Lake Dam (Pittsgrove Township). Water from the Rainbow Lake destroyed a major section of the road. Several other roads around the dam were closed as a precaution. The washed away Rainbow Lake Bridge along Landis Avenue (New Jersey State Route 56) will cost between 5 and 6 million dollars to replace. The Willow Grove Road Bridge between Salem and Cumberland County…

4. Oct 30, 2012Coastal Flood, Salem$7.0 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…

5. Aug 14, 2011Flash Flood$5.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorms with repeated torrential downpours caused flash flooding with damaging effects across eastern Salem County, especially in Pittsgrove Township. A county state of emergency was declared. At least one water rescue was reported. Flooding was reported in Alloway, Pittsgrove, Elmer and Upper Pittsgrove Townships. Fourteen roadways, nine bridges and many culverts were damaged, most in Pittsgrove Township. Some families were evacuated in Pittsgrove Township around Palatine and Centerton Lakes. Two bridges washed away in the township on Greenville and Burlington Roads. It was expected to take six to twelve months for both bridges to be replaced. Two other township roadways…

6. Sep 16, 1999Flash Flood$5.0 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…

7. Jan 22, 2005Winter Storm, Salem$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A very potent Alberta low pressure system dropped heavy snow across northern and southwestern New Jersey and a wintry mix across southeastern New Jersey. Only Cape May County and coastal Atlantic County were spared heavy accumulations. In northern and southwestern New Jersey accumulations ranged from 8 to 17 inches with the highest amounts in Ocean, Burlington, Monmouth and Middlesex Counties. Across southeastern New Jersey accumulations ranged from around 10 inches in interior Atlantic and Cumberland Counties to less than an inch along coastal Cape May County. Seventeen of the twenty-one New Jersey counties reported at least one measurement of a foot or greater of snow. Governor…

8. Feb 16, 2003Winter Storm, Salem$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The most powerful storm to affect New Jersey since the Blizzard of 1996 struck during the President's Day Weekend. One person in Middlesex County was directly killed after a canopy full of snow collapsed on him. Snow slowly spread from south to north from around sunrise on Sunday the 16th in Cumberland and Cape May Counties to into the evening in Sussex County on the 16th. The heaviest snow fell during the daylight hours of the 16th in the southern half of the state and during the first half of the 17th in the northern half of the state. Heavy snow continued into the afternoon of the 17th in Sussex County. Precipitation started mixing with and changing to sleet across the southern…

9. Jun 29, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A gust front outrunning a cluster of severe thunderstorms entered near Pennsville in western Salem County at approximately 12:19 am EDT on the 30th. This gust front produced damaging wind gusts estimated from 65 to 70 mph as it traversed eastward across the county. Within approximately 20 minutes of the gust front passage, a potent line of severe thunderstorms tracked eastward into Salem county. One thunderstorm cell in particular experienced rapid intensification and expansion as it tracked into southern New Jersey. Destructive wind gusts, estimated at 75 mph, resulted in significant tree and power line damage county-wide. Severe thunderstorms exited eastern Salem County,…

10. Aug 27, 2011Tropical Storm, Salem$500,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Irene produced torrential downpour rains that resulted in major flooding and a number of record breaking crests on area rivers, tropical storm force wind gusts with record breaking outages for New Jersey utilities, one confirmed tornado and a three to five foot storm surge that caused moderate to severe tidal flooding with extensive beach erosion over the weekend of August 27th and 28th. Irene is expected to be the costliest natural disaster in the history of New Jersey. Approximately one million people were evacuated from the coast and low lying areas prone to inland flooding throughout the state of New Jersey including all of Cape May County. Irene also caused record breaking…

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°F3 times, most recently Jul 2, 2026

All-time low

−14°F2 times, most recently Jan 21, 1985

Warmest night

82°FJul 22, 2011

Coldest day

4°FJan 19, 1994

Wettest day

8.29 inSep 16, 1999

Snowiest day

22.0 inJan 7, 1996

Hottest year

2023mean 57.8°F

Coldest year

1958mean 52.1°F

Wettest year

201861.37 in

Driest year

196524.90 in

Snowiest season

72.7 in2009-10

Station Wilmington New Castle County Airport (USW00013781), 74 ft elevation, 12.5 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1931 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 USW00013781.
• 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.