Hampton city

Every recorded tornado

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

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 4, 1999Tornado$7.7 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tornado touchdown in the city of Hampton. Extensive structural damage in a 3 block area. Numerous minor injuries, with 6 people transported to the hospital. Three apartment complexes and an assisted living facility condemned. Two additional apartment complexes partially condemned. There were 300 persons from apartment complexes forced to evacuate while 160 persons from the assisted living facility were forced to evacuate. Many roofs were lifted off buildings and as much as 800 vehicles were reported damaged. One 18 wheel tractor trailer was overturned. There was not a continuous damage swath, but areas where the tornado did not completely touch the ground. In some areas the tops…

2. Oct 8, 2016Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain caused an extended period of significant flooding across much of the county. Numerous roads were impassable or closed for two days, and many homes and businesses were impacted.

3. May 1, 1997Hail$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail caused widespread damage to homes, businesses, and vehicles.

4. Jun 1, 2012Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado began on the James River just east of the Monitor Merrimac Bridge Tunnel. Its track went over Chesapeake Avenue, through downtown Hampton to the Hampton Yacht Club before moving across Mercury Boulevard, then dissipating over the Chesapeake Bay. Numerous tents and vendor areas at the Blackbeard Festival were blown over. Hundreds of homes were damaged at both the Merrimac Shores and Withe Neighborhoods. At the Hampton Yacht Club, windows were blown out and the roof was partially damaged. Many trees were downed, some onto homes. A number of large oak trees 3 feet in diameter were felled by the tornado. The Hampton Roads Seafood building on Sunset Road and Armory's…

5. Aug 25, 2012Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   About 40 residents of an apartment building had to be rescued with boats due to flooding. Location was near a creek.

6. Jul 24, 2000Flash Flood$350,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Torrential rain fell in the Buckroe Beach section of Hampton. Up to 35 residences had to be evacuated due to high water on Scoggin Circle and Grimes Road.

7. Aug 4, 2020Tropical Storm, Hampton/Poquoson$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tropical storm winds downed and uprooted several trees and power lines, produced significant structural damage, and caused power outages across the county. Wind gust of 51 knots (59 mph) was measured at LFI. Wind gust of 59 knots (68 mph) was measured at Poquoson.

8. Jan 11, 2014Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado touched down near Routten Road and Cabell Lane where around 50 trees were snapped and homes had 10 to 20 percent of their roof shingles blown off. The tornado traveled east northeast damaging the roof of the Fox Hill Central Methodist Church and completely ripping the roof off of the city of Hampton school maintenance compound on Windmill Point Road. The tornado moved to Canal Road snapping trees, damaging residential rooftops and blowing out the windows of an automobile. The tornado continued on to completely destroy the Fox Hill Athletic Association Building at the Nike site on Grundland Drive, before ending at the marshes of the Grandview Nature Preserve.

9. Oct 12, 2025Coastal Flood, Hampton/Poquoson$60,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A coastal low lingering off the Southeast coast on October 12 resulted in a prolonged period of elevated northeast to north winds across the Chesapeake Bay. This led to widespread moderate to major coastal flooding across the cities of Hampton and Poquoson on October 12 into October 13. Yorktown reached 5.66 ft MLLW at 136 PM EST on October 12 which was the nineth highest crest ever at that site. Fort Monroe reached 6.13 ft MLLW at 124 PM EST on October 12. Sewell's Point reached 6.18 ft MLLW at 130 PM EST on October 12. Major coastal flooding was reported along Poquoson Avenue where two to three feet of inundation was noted. Additionally, knee deep water (estimated to be one to…

10. Sep 5, 2019Tropical Storm, Hampton/Poquoson$25,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Tropical storm winds downed and uprooted several trees and power lines, produced minor structural damage, and caused power outages across the county. Wind gust of 48 knots (55 mph) was measured at (1 W) Hallwood. Wind gust of 45 knots (52 mph) was measured at Poquoson. Wind gust of 42 knots (48 mph) was measured at Hampton.

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 25, 2010

All-time low

−1°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

84°F3 times, most recently Jul 8, 2012

Coldest day

14°F2 times, most recently Jan 19, 1994

Wettest day

9.26 inSep 30, 2010

Snowiest day

13.1 inFeb 18, 1989

Hottest year

2012mean 64.1°F

Coldest year

1963mean 58.0°F

Wettest year

197967.79 in

Driest year

196521.79 in

Station Norfolk NAS (USW00013750), 17 ft elevation, 8.5 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1945 to October 29, 2026; 88.9% 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 USW00013750.
• 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 November 1, 2026.