Rockland County

Every recorded tornado

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

Every large fire

1. Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.

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 USGS Conterminous (4).

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$4.4 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. Sep 1, 2021Flash Flood$3.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flash flooding resulted in an estimated $3,126,485 in damages across Rockland County. This estimate is based on FEMA grant money awarded under the Individuals and Household Program (IHP), which includes funds for both housing assistance and other needs.

3. Apr 13, 2020High Wind, Rockland$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A trained spotter reported a portion of a tree has fallen and leaned over on to other trees near Route 45 and New Hempstead Road. This occurred around 930 am in the town of New Hempstead. Law enforcement reported a tree blocking Viola Road between Quince Lane and Galbraith. Trees and wires were down on to Sky Meadow Road. Highview Road between Spook Rock Road and College Road were closed due to downed wires. Greenridge Way was also closed due to a downed tree. This was all reported around 1113 am in the town of Ramapo. In Spring Valley, local law enforcement reported a tree down on NY 45 southbound between Division Street and Old Nyack Turnpike around 1144 am.

4. Jan 25, 2010High Wind, Rockland$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong winds knocked down numerous trees and power lines. In Nyack, a tree knocked down a utility pole in the area of Flitt Street. A tractor trailer was overturned on the Tappan Zee Bridge due to the high winds around noon. Winds of 62 mph were reported at Westchester County Airport (KHPN) at 1:17 pm.

5. Mar 2, 2018High Wind, Rockland$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   At 651 am, a trained spotter reported a tree down at 9W and Treack Road in Nyack. In Tappan at 1117 am, the Department of Highways reported a tree down on the Palisades Parkway, southbound south of NY 303. The broadcast media reported a downed tree blocking Route 9 West at Main Street and Hastings Lane in Stony Point at 1220 pm. Later in the day, at 535 pm, broadcast media reported a tree down on a house and car on School street in Upper Nyack. Power was knocked out in the neighborhood.

6. Feb 25, 2019High Wind, Rockland$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Around 420 pm, a large tree was reported down in Valley Cottage. The tree knocked wires down, and they were on fire on Carlann Lane.

7. Feb 16, 2016Strong Wind, Rockland$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A trained spotter reported power lines down due to the strong winds in West Nyack at 215 pm.

8. Oct 2, 2018Tornado$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A National Weather Service (NWS) Storm Survey Team, in conjunction with the Rockland County Office of Fire and Emergency Services, conducted a storm survey of the damage around Stony Point New York. Based on the results of this survey and NWS Doppler Radar the following has been determined. The tornado originated in Harriman State Park west of the Palisades Interstate Parkway and Gate Hill Road, and ended near Wilderness Drive in Stony Point. Numerous trees were uprooted and down. The most severe damage is consistent with maximum wind speeds of around 100 MPH, |which indicates this was an EF-1 tornado. The tornado had a maximum path width of around 100 yards and was on the ground…

9. Aug 10, 2009Thunderstorm Wind$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees were reported down in Stony Point, including some into houses. In addition, numerous wires were reported down as well.

10. Sep 27, 2003Heavy Rain$25,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Periods of heavy rain resulted in the Pascack Brook overflowing its' banks around midnight and basement flooding in Stony Point around 1 am EDT on the 28th. At least 3 feet of water collected in a basement, which resulted in $25 thousand dollars in property damage.

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

102°F2 times, most recently Jul 6, 2010

All-time low

−10°F2 times, most recently Feb 11, 1979

Warmest night

81°FJul 6, 1999

Coldest day

5°FJan 21, 1985

Wettest day

6.82 inApr 15, 2007

Snowiest day

20.0 inFeb 10, 1969

Hottest year

2012mean 54.6°F

Coldest year

1978mean 48.2°F

Wettest year

198374.15 in

Driest year

200927.10 in

Station Westchester County Airport (USW00094745), 370 ft elevation, 17.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1948 to October 26, 2026; 95.8% 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 USW00094745.
• 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.