Sussex County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Sussex 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 (38), NASA (4), USGS Conterminous (1).

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 12, 2000Flash Flood$167 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…

2. Oct 29, 2012High Wind, Sussex$100 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. Aug 28, 2011Flood$12.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding affected Branchville, Frankford, Hampton, Hardyston, Newton, Ogdensburg and Vernon the hardest in Sussex County. Flooding forced the closure of numerous roadways in the county including U.S. Route 206 as well as state and county routes 94, 15, 23, 517 and 628. Branchville was literally cut off after flooding occurred along the Dry Brook. About 100 people were evacuated within the Borough. Half a dozen bridges were either damaged or totally washed out. In Vernon Township, eight families were cut off after another bridge washed out. Four bridges were also washed out in Frankford Township. ||The Flat Brook at Flatbrookville had major flooding and its second highest crest…

4. Jan 19, 1996Flood, Sussex$6.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The flash flooding of the afternoon and early evening on the 19th led to larger river flooding through the 21st. The worst damage occurred along the Delaware River which crested at its highest stages in most places since the summer of 1955. Widespread flooding along the Raritan was described as the worst in Manville since Tropical Storm Doria in August 1971. Damage estimates exceeded $10 million dollars including $2 million dollars at the Delaware Water Gap National Recreational Area. Only one person was seriously injured (hypothermia) in Raritan Township in Hunterdon County. Sussex, Warren, Morris and Hunterdon Counties were declared disaster areas.In Warren County, the break-up…

5. Sep 16, 1999Flash Flood$2.5 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…

6. Apr 2, 2005Flood, Sussex$1.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   For the second time within seven months a greater than 50-year storm affected the Delaware River Basin and its tributaries. But, this time flooding also extended into the Passaic River Basin. In all, about 6,000 persons were evacuated along the Delaware and Passaic River Basins in New Jersey with about 3,200 homes damaged. New Jersey Acting Governor Richard J. Codey declared a state of emergency on April 3rd. Many homes and businesses that were flooded because of the remnants of Hurricane Ivan along the Delaware River, were flooded again. The crests along the Delaware River were even higher than in September 2004 and were the highest crests since 1955. In many places, it was the…

7. Dec 10, 2008Ice Storm, Sussex$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An ice storm affected the higher terrain of Sussex County from the evening of the 10th into the morning of the 12th. Up to one inch of ice accrued on exposed surfaces and knocked down numerous tree limbs, trees and power lines. Hardest hit was the Highland Lakes region of Vernon Township, but ice damage also occurred in Sandyston, Sparta, Walpack, Wantage, and Montague Townships. Ice damage started at elevations greater than 1000 feet. Because of the recent warm weather, most of the ice accretions occurred on trees and other exposed surfaces and not as much on roadways. About 5,000 homes and businesses lost power. Power was not fully restored until the 13th.||In Vernon Township,…

8. Jan 22, 2005Heavy Snow, Sussex$1.0 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…

9. Feb 16, 2003Heavy Snow, Sussex$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…

10. Sep 7, 2011Flood$1.0 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    The heavy rain caused widespread flooding in Sussex County. Many roadways were closed. Schools were closed on the 8th in Vernon and Sparta Townships. A few homes were flooded in Andover Township. Sections of New Jersey State Route 23 and 94 were closed in Franklin Township and Stockholm (Hardyston Township). The Flat Brook flooded a few homes in southwest Sussex County.||The Flat Brook at Flatbrookville had moderate flooding and was above its 6 foot flood stage from 903 a.m. EDT on the 7th through 905 a.m. EDT on the 9th. It crested at 8.90 feet at 600 p.m. EDT on the 8th. Entire event rainfall totals included 7.93 inches in Montague Township, 7.79 inches in Wantage Township, 7.79…

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

105°FJul 9, 1936

All-time low

−26°FJan 14, 1912

Warmest night

78°FJul 27, 1894

Coldest day

−3°FDec 31, 1917

Wettest day

7.76 inSep 19, 1894

Snowiest day

27.0 inFeb 4, 1926

Hottest year

2024mean 52.9°F

Coldest year

1917mean 44.8°F

Wettest year

195273.26 in

Driest year

192424.84 in

Snowiest season

92.0 in1960-61

Station Charlotteburg Rsvr (USC00281582), 778 ft elevation, 12.7 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 27, 2026; 93.1% 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 USC00281582.
• 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.