Suffolk County

Every recorded tornado

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

High tide flooding

1. High tide flooding days are days on which a NOAA tide gauge recorded water at or above NOAA's minor flood threshold, set from the gauge's tide range, counted by meteorological year (May to April). These are the counts in NOAA's annual high tide flooding reports; they are not National Weather Service flood stages. Years with less than 80 percent of data are left out.

NOAA CO-OPS high tide flooding counts, through April 2026, 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.

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.

Tsunamis

1. Places where NOAA's Global Historical Tsunami Database records a tsunami's water arriving, with the greatest height it reached above sea level at the time. Only tsunamis NOAA rates probable or definite are counted. Heights from eyewitness accounts and tide gauges are mixed, and older events are less completely recorded.

NOAA NCEI/WDS Global Historical Tsunami Database, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Mapped landslides

Mapped by NASA (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. Aug 13, 2014Flash Flood$35.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Sagtikos Parkway southbound was closed at Exit S2, Crooked Hill Rd., in Brentwood due to flooding. Storm total rainfall amounts reported in Suffolk County ranged from 0.14 inches in Montauk to 13.27 inches at Islip/MacArthur Airport with a 24 hour rainfall record of 13.78 inches at MacArthur Airport which broke the New York State record. Damage amounts are validated costs of damage assessment inspections of municipal property, $11.7 million, and $23.5 million for small business administration loans as a result of the FEMA private property and business damage assessment. This information was provided by the Suffolk County Office of Emergency Management.

2. Mar 13, 2010High Surf, Southeast Suffolk$30.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Hamptons suffered the worst beach erosion in 20 years according to Suffolk County officials as waves up to 20 ft battered the shoreline. The Hamptons are estimated to have suffered at least 30 million dollars in property damage.

3. Apr 16, 2007Coastal Flood, Southwest Suffolk$26.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The storm caused over $26 million in damage in Suffolk County, including significant beach erosion, flooding, and harm to homes, businesses, and infrastructure.

4. Feb 8, 2013Blizzard, Northwest Suffolk$17.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Nearby ASOS observations indicate that blizzard conditions were met for at least 3 consecutive hours. Snow began at 11:45 am on February 8. Spotters reported an average snowfall of 6 inches by 5:50 pm. Total snowfall ranged from 17.5 inches in Melville to 33.5 inches in Medford.||Precipitation changed from rain to very heavy snow from north to south in the late morning and afternoon. The snow accumulated at rates up to 6 inches per hour at the height of the blizzard, accompanied by lightning, thunder, and even small hail. The very heavy snow also stranded numerous motor vehicles and caused some partial roof, house and shed collapses.||Winds gusted up to 47 mph at Eatons Neck.…

5. Oct 14, 2005Flash Flood$11.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Periods of heavy rain continued throughout the day. Bands of torrential rain produced widespread and significant flash flooding of low lying and poor drainage areas, including streets, basements, roofs, and ceilings, as well as small creeks throughout Nassau and Suffolk Counties. Trained spotters reported up to 6 feet of water in basements throughout Massapequa. They reported serious flooding along Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn, where cars were submerged, and the Grand Central Parkway in Queens. Several trees and power poles were leaning from soggy ground. Preliminary damage cost estimates were $22 million for Long Island.

6. Aug 19, 2024Astronomical Low Tide, Northeast Suffolk$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Upwards of 10 feet of water inundated a building of the Smithtown Public Library damaging historical documents and compromising walls.

7. Nov 13, 2009High Surf, Southeast Suffolk$9.4 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe beach erosion occurred along with cuts into the dunes across the Atlantic Ocean facing shoreline.||The surf carved into the dunes in front of the pavilion at Smith Point County Park.||In parts of East Hampton, Bridgehampton, and Quogue, as much as 50 ft. of dunes was eaten away by the high waves.||Damages include $ 5.5 million in Quogue and $ 3.9 million at Smith's Point.||In Wainscott, the pavement at the end of Beach Lane collapsed on November 14th.||In Bridgehampton, homes along Surfside Drive that once had wide dunes between them and the ocean now peek out onto the beach over narrow bands of dune grass.||In Quogue, the sand dunes were scoured out from beneath the…

8. Nov 13, 2009High Surf, Southwest Suffolk$8.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe beach erosion and cuts into the dunes occurred along the Atlantic Ocean facing beaches.||In the Town of Babylon...Ocean Parkway was left 150 ft. from tide line compared with 350 ft. previously. Also an estimated 200,000 cubic yards of sand was lost along a 10,000 ft. stretch of beaches. Damage estimates from locations in Southwest Suffolk County include $ 4 million at Gilgo Beach in Babylon and $ 4.2 million for Davis Park in Brookhaven.| |At Robert Moses Field 4, 15 ft. were cut into the dune line. There was also erosion on the east side of Field 5. Field 5 may have to be closed next summer due to the lack of beach.||At Davis Park on Fire Island, 70 percent of the sand…

9. Dec 16, 2007Coastal Flood, Southeast Suffolk$7.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread beach erosion, some significant, along with coastal flooding occurred across parts of Long Island's south fork. A dock at Maidstone Harbor Marina in East Hampton's Three Mile Harbor was completely submerged an hour after high tide.

10. Feb 8, 2013Blizzard, Northeast Suffolk$6.0 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    Nearby ASOS observations indicate that blizzard conditions were met for at least 3 consecutive hours. Snow began at 12:45 pm on February 8. Spotters reported an average snowfall of 6 inches by 6:10 pm. Total snowfall ranged from 12.9 inches at Mattituck to 30.9 inches at Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton NY. The snowfall at BNL/Upton set an all-time event total snowfall for that location.||Precipitation changed from rain to very heavy snow from north to south in the afternoon. The snow accumulated at rates up to 6 inches per hour at the height of the blizzard, accompanied by lightning, thunder, and even small hail. The very heavy snow also stranded numerous motor…

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

104°FJul 3, 1966

All-time low

−14°FFeb 13, 1967

Warmest night

81°FJul 6, 1999

Coldest day

6°FJan 21, 1985

Wettest day

13.51 inAug 13, 2014

Snowiest day

23.5 inJan 29, 2022

Hottest year

2023mean 55.5°F

Coldest year

1968mean 49.4°F

Wettest year

198965.32 in

Driest year

196525.27 in

Snowiest season

77.1 in1995-96

Station Islip-li Macarthur Airport (USW00004781), 83 ft elevation, 2.0 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1963 to October 26, 2026; 99.9% 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 USW00004781.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Tide gauges NOAA CO-OPS high tide flooding counts, 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.
• Tsunamis NOAA NCEI/WDS Global Historical Tsunami Database.
• 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.