Putnam County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

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 USGS Conterminous (1).

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. Sep 16, 1999Flash Flood$1.9 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Torrential record rainfall, which caused serious widespread urban, small stream, and river flooding, preceded the remnants of Hurricane Floyd, which passed over Western Suffolk County of Long Island from 7 pm to 9 pm on September 16th.Death: In Rockland County, a 53-year old man died around midnight on the 17th when he was swept into the Pearl River while walking in Orangetown.Property Damage: Orange, Putnam, Rockland, and Westchester Counties were declared disaster areas. For these 4 counties, the initial cost estimates were $14.6 million dollars. These figures represents "eligible" costs for disaster payments, and were provided by the New York State Emergency Management Office.…

2. Jul 9, 2002Lightning$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning strikes caused several fires in the area, including a circa 1910 colonial home on Rock Ledge Place. About 1400 customers lost power due to these storms.

3. May 15, 2018Tornado$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Based on a National Weather Service storm survey, done in|conjunction with the Putnam County Bureau of Emergency |Services, is been determined that an EF2 tornado with estimated |peak winds of 115 mph moved through Kent, New York. The tornado|originated near apartments at 1213 New York Route 52. It continued|down NY State Route 52, damaging some roofs in the strip mall at |the intersection of Route 52 and Farmers Mill Road, where it also|knocked down portions of the parapet above the Dunkin Donuts, and|snapped and uprooted some trees. The tornado lifted near 52 Bowen|Road in Kent. The most extensive damage was along Schuykill |Court, where dozens of large trees were uprooted and…

4. May 15, 2018Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Based on a National Weather Service storm survey, done in|conjunction with the Putnam County Bureau of Emergency Services,|is been determined that an EF1 tornado with estimated peak winds |of 100 mph moved along a discontinuous path through Patterson, New|York. The tornado originated along NY State Route 22, north of |the intersection with Haviland Hollow Road, near the Watchtower |Educational Center. The tornado then tracked along East Branch|Road, turned left toward Putnam Lake, then lifted near the |intersection of East Branch Road and Fairfield Drive. The storm |snapped multiple trees along its path, not all of it continuous. |The most extensive damage occurred in the general…

5. Aug 11, 2008Lightning$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning struck a 19th century barn on Burdick Road in Milltown, destroying the barn and an antique truck in the barn.

6. Apr 13, 2020High Wind, Putnam$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   At 1037 am, social media reported a tree down on US 6 eastbound in Carmel. According to social media reports, a downed tree and wires laid across NY 9D in both directions north of Main Street in Cold Spring at 1110 am.

7. Oct 24, 2017Strong Wind, Putnam$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A downed tree on Route 292 North of Mooney Hill Road was reported, which caused a road closure. This occurred at 630 am in Patterson.

8. Feb 13, 2017Strong Wind, Putnam$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A mesonet station 1 mile north of Peach Lake measured a wind gust up to 51 mph at 202 pm.

9. Sep 30, 2010Strong Wind, Putnam$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong winds were responsible for the loss of power to approximately 1,000 customers in Putnam County due to downed power lines and trees.

10. Jul 9, 1997Thunderstorm Wind$30,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A solid line of thunderstorms, some severe, developed in a warm, moist, unstable airmass ahead of a slow moving cold front.Thunderstorms produced high winds and heavy rains.High winds downed wires in Fostertown and trees fell on and downed powerlines in Middletown of Orange County. A 58 mph peak wind gust was measured at Stewart Airport.Numerous trees fell on powerlines in Lake Carmel and Brewster of Putnam County. A funnel cloud was also sighted in Putnam County. Patterson and Putnam Lake were also hit hard. The school, "Green Chimneys Children's Services," on Putnam Lake Road in Brewster suffered about $30,000 in damages.In Westchester County, a spotter's wind equipment in…

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

−30°FJan 21, 1961

Warmest night

80°FAug 2, 2006

Coldest day

1°FJan 15, 1957

Wettest day

7.57 inOct 8, 2005

Snowiest day

15.0 in2 times, most recently Feb 7, 1967

Hottest year

2012mean 53.5°F

Coldest year

1958mean 47.6°F

Wettest year

201162.01 in

Driest year

196424.52 in

Station Poughkeepsie Airport (USW00014757), 153 ft elevation, 17.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1948 to October 26, 2026; 86.9% 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 USW00014757.
• 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.