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Monmouth County, New Jersey severe weather history spans 730 recorded events between 1952 and 2026. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 52.7% of all recorded events. It ranks #368 nationally and #4 in New Jersey.
730
Recorded events
13
Direct deaths
92
Direct injuries
$48.3M
Property damage
The record
What the Monmouth County, New Jersey severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Monmouth County, New Jersey severe weather history averages 9.9 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2020s, with 237 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 25 events fall before 1990 and 705 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Monmouth County, New Jersey record is lightning, responsible for 7 direct deaths. The costliest is flash flood, with $19.6M in reported property damage. In total, 12 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Monmouth County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 385 | 2 | $13.2M | 87 | 1968–2026 |
| Flash Flood | 91 | 0 | $19.6M | 0 | 1996–2025 |
| Hail | 78 | 0 | $0 | 2 | 1955–2025 |
| Lightning | 64 | 7 | $2.4M | 0 | 1997–2016 |
| Heavy Rain | 48 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1996–2022 |
| Flood | 31 | 0 | $11.5M | 0 | 1998–2025 |
| Tornado | 17 | 0 | $1.5M | F2 | 1952–2023 |
| Rip Current | 8 | 3 | $0 | 0 | 1998–2004 |
| Wildfire | 4 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2000–2002 |
| Funnel Cloud | 2 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2000–2006 |
| Waterspout | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1998–1998 |
| High Surf | 1 | 1 | $0 | 0 | 2002–2002 |
Decade by decade
Monmouth 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
14 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-04-01 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1955-10-16 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 3.8 mi | Touched down here |
| 2023-04-01 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 4.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1964-03-10 | EF1 | 0 | 5 | 59.1 mi | Crossed in |
| 1960-04-18 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1952-08-10 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 39.3 mi | Crossed in |
| 2022-05-20 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.8 mi | Touched down here |
| 2020-08-19 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 1.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 2017-06-24 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 2017-06-24 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.3 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Monmouth County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 7, 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | COUNTYWIDE | 1 | 30 | $0 |
| Jul 20, 2010 | Lightning | WEST KEANSBURG | 1 | 2 | $0 |
| Jul 27, 2008 | Lightning | ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS | 1 | 2 | $0 |
| Aug 15, 2012 | Lightning | WEST END | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Jul 7, 2012 | Lightning | MONMOUTH BEACH | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Aug 18, 2007 | Lightning | HOWELL | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Jul 5, 2003 | Rip Current | BELMAR | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Sep 29, 2002 | Rip Current | AVON BY THE SEA | 1 | 0 | $0 |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A 49-year-old man was struck and killed by lightning on Linden Avenue in Middletown while in contact with a tree and observing a house fire that was started by a previous lightning strike. A 54-year-old man and a police officer were also injured by the same lightning strike.
Lightning struck and killed a 38-year-old male and injured his two companions while they were walking on the beach at the Gateway recreation area in Sandy Hook. They were on Beach Area B when they were struck. An injured male and female were both in stable condition at a local hospital.
A severe thunderstorm knocked down numerous trees in Freehold Borough. All roadway entrances into the borough were blocked. Several cars were crushed and a couple of homes were destroyed by fallen trees. Free ice and water were distributed in four separate places as 4,600 residents still were without power on the evening of the 29th.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively High
FEMA NRI risk rating
645,353
Population (ACS)
$606K
Median home value
28
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 Monmouth County, New Jersey?
730 events are on record between 1952 and 2026, causing 13 direct deaths and $48.3M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Monmouth County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 385 recorded events — 52.7% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Monmouth County?
14 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 12 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Monmouth County?
28 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Monmouth County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Monmouth County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Monmouth County as relatively high risk, placing it in the 96 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Monmouth 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
- Middlesex County 611
- Morris County 650
- Mercer County 536
- Ocean County 792
- Hunterdon County 582
- Passaic County 394
Cite this page
“Monmouth County, New Jersey.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/new-jersey/monmouth-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.