Atlantic County, New Jersey severe weather history spans 426 recorded events between 1956 and 2026. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 44.4% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,147 nationally and #15 in New Jersey.
426
Recorded events
2
Direct deaths
16
Direct injuries
$102.9M
Property damage
The record
What the Atlantic County, New Jersey severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Atlantic County, New Jersey severe weather history averages 6.1 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 136 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 52 events fall before 1990 and 374 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Atlantic County, New Jersey record is lightning, responsible for 2 direct deaths. The costliest is flash flood, with $54.1M in reported property damage. In total, 10 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Atlantic County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 189 | 0 | $14.4M | 86 | 1956–2026 |
| Heavy Rain | 71 | 0 | $1.0M | 0 | 1996–2017 |
| Hail | 56 | 0 | $10K | 2 | 1962–2021 |
| Flash Flood | 40 | 0 | $54.1M | 0 | 1997–2025 |
| Lightning | 26 | 2 | $1.3M | 0 | 2001–2017 |
| Flood | 23 | 0 | $31.0M | 0 | 1997–2023 |
| Tornado | 9 | 0 | $1.1M | F2 | 1970–2025 |
| Funnel Cloud | 5 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2004–2020 |
| Wildfire | 4 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1997–2002 |
| Rip Current | 3 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1998–2004 |
Decade by decade
Atlantic County, New Jersey severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
9 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 7 touched down inside it and 2 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993-08-21 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 1.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1987-07-21 | EF2 | 0 | 3 | 0.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1971-08-27 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 28.7 mi | Crossed in |
| 1970-11-04 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 2025-05-16 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 8.1 mi | Crossed in |
| 2023-04-01 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.9 mi | Touched down here |
| 2001-07-05 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 3.6 mi | Touched down here |
| 1993-09-08 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.7 mi | Touched down here |
| 1987-08-05 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Atlantic County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 15, 2011 | Lightning | ATLANTIC CITY | 1 | 2 | $0 |
| Jul 4, 2011 | Lightning | HAMMONTON | 1 | 1 | $0 |
| Oct 19, 1990 | Thunderstorm Wind | 0 | 4 | $0 | |
| Jul 21, 1987 | Tornado | 0 | 3 | $3K | |
| Aug 2, 2009 | Lightning | NORTHFIELD | 0 | 2 | $0 |
| Aug 5, 2002 | Lightning | BRIGANTINE | 0 | 1 | $30K |
| Jul 18, 2001 | Rip Current | BRIGANTINE | 0 | 1 | $0 |
| Jul 29, 1997 | Wildfire | NESCO | 0 | 1 | $0 |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A 40-year-old male construction worker was killed and two others were injured after they were struck by lightning while working on the Revel Casino Project in Atlantic City off of Connecticut Avenue. They were pouring concrete on the 7th floor when the bucket lift they were using was struck by lightning.
A 54-year-old male was struck and killed by lightning while ducking under a tree during a thunderstorm to light a cigar in Hammonton. In 1963, the man's father was also struck and killed by lightning. A 38 year-old male cousin was seriously injured by the same lightning strike. The man felt a blast and remembered being thrown back a few feet before losing consciousness. He regained consciousness in the ambulance and was expected to recover.
Flooding along the Mullica and Great Egg Rivers threatened about 100,000 county residents. Flooding forced the evacuation of 102 residents of a senior mobile home development in Buena Vista Township. The English Creek flooded in Egg Harbor Township. Two bridges (one was the Somers Point-Mays Landing Bridge) were damaged by flooding in the county. Eight roadways were closed due to flooding. ||For the second time within the same month, the Great Egg Harbor River at Folsom had record breaking major flooding. It was above its 6 foot flood stage from 1005 a.m. EDT on the 28th through 415 a.m. EDT on September 1st. It crested at 8.27 feet at 1115 p.m. EDT on the 29th. Event rainfall totals included 8.76 inches in Estell Manor, 7.75 inches in Egg Harbor Township, 7.53 inches in Buena Vista Township, 7.49 inches in Hammonton, 7.40 inches in Linwood and 7.06 inches in Hamilton Township and 5.88 inches at the Atlantic City International Airport.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Moderate
FEMA NRI risk rating
276,270
Population (ACS)
$295K
Median home value
36
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 5, 2021 | Hurricane | REMNANTS OF HURRICANE IDA | DR |
| Sep 2, 2021 | Hurricane | REMNANTS OF HURRICANE IDA | EM |
| Dec 11, 2020 | Hurricane | TROPICAL STORM ISAIAS | DR |
| Mar 25, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
| Mar 14, 2016 | Severe Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND SNOWSTORM | DR |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Atlantic County, New Jersey?
426 events are on record between 1956 and 2026, causing 2 direct deaths and $102.9M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Atlantic County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 189 recorded events — 44.4% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Atlantic County?
9 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 7 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Atlantic County?
36 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Atlantic County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Atlantic County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Atlantic County as relatively moderate risk, placing it in the 93 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Atlantic County, New Jersey severe weather history data come from?
Every figure is drawn from United States federal public-domain records: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events for the event archive, NOAA SPC SVRGIS for mapped tornado paths, FEMA for disaster declarations and risk ratings, and the U.S. Census for population context. Dates are shown in UTC and recent entries may still be revised by NOAA.
Nearby
Neighbouring counties
- Bergen County 897
- Burlington County 1,141
- Camden County 638
- Cape May County 342
- Cumberland County 420
- Essex County 400
Cite this page
“Atlantic County, New Jersey.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/new-jersey/atlantic-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.