Richmond County

Every recorded tornado

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

The National Weather Service sets flood stages for 2 gauges here but lists no crests for them.

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. Sep 1, 2021Flash Flood$60.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flash flooding resulted in an estimated $60 million in damages across Staten Island, and an estimated $300 million city-wide. This estimate only includes FEMA and SBA fund requests.

2. Aug 4, 2020Tropical Storm, Richmond (Staten Is.)$3.8 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Mariner's Harbor on the north side of the borough reported a maximum sustained wind of 41 mph and a peak wind gust of 61 mph at 1154 am LST. Nearby Bayonne, NJ, reported a maximum sustained wind of 43 mph at 1216 pm LST and a peak wind gust of 62 mph at 1151 am LST.||These type of winds across the borough resulted in numerous trees and tree limbs being downed, power outages, damages to homes and automobiles, and disruption to mass transit. The NYC Office of Emergency Management reported 58,879 power outages. NYCEM has calculated property damages of $3,804,385 in the borough.||There were no reports of coastal flooding as the highest storm surge did not coincide with high tide and…

3. Sep 16, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$1.7 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees were downed on Staten Island.

4. Oct 29, 2012High Wind, Richmond (Staten Is.)$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Many trees were downed due to the high winds. Winds ranged from 60 to 80 mph across the area during the late afternoon and through the evening hours.

5. Mar 2, 2017Strong Wind, Richmond (Staten Is.)$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The media reported a tree down on a car in Port Richmond at 530 am. This occurred near Trantor Place and Dixon Avenue.

6. Mar 13, 2010High Wind, Richmond (Staten Is.)$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   There were 560 trees downed across the Island due to the high winds from the storm.|Power lines were downed as well.

7. Mar 2, 2018High Wind, Richmond (Staten Is.)$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Around 2 pm, the media reported an overturned tractor trailer on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge due to the high winds. An 84 mph wind gust at an elevation of 700 feet was measured at the bridge.

8. Nov 1, 2019Strong Wind, Richmond (Staten Is.)$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A buoy 2 miles southeast of Elizabeth measured a 55 mph wind gust at 1248 am.

9. Jun 25, 2012Lightning$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning struck the steeple of St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church, causing a fire and a hole in the roof.

10. Nov 1, 2013Strong Wind, Richmond (Staten Is.)$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A skywarn spotter reported trees and wires down on Landis Avenue in the Arrochar neighborhood. Damage to cars was reported. This occurred around 10 am. A mesonet reported a wind gust to 57 mph in Tompkinsville around 10 am.

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, 6.7 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.

• 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.
• 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.