407
Recorded events
1
Direct deaths
23
Direct injuries
$1.2M
Property damage
Thunderstorm Wind in Ocean County, New Jersey: 407 recorded events between 1958 and 2026. The strongest on record measured 81. That places the county #200 nationally and #2 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Thunderstorm Wind in Ocean County, New Jersey: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for thunderstorm wind in Ocean County is the 2020s, when 166 of the county's 407 recorded events were logged. Comparing decades is useful for spotting active periods, but the earliest years are thin because systematic reporting for this hazard began later.
Within the Ocean County archive, thunderstorm wind makes up 51.4% of all recorded severe weather across 12 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #200 for this hazard and #2 within New Jersey, putting it in the 93.7 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jun is the peak month for thunderstorm wind in Ocean County with 122 recorded events, while Dec is the quietest. Seasonality here is a property of the archive as much as the climate: reports cluster where population and spotter networks are densest.
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 22, 2011 | RIDGEWAY | 52 | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Aug 17, 1988 | 0 | 0 | 14 | $0 | |
| Jun 1, 1998 | WHITING | 69 | 0 | 4 | $0 |
| Jul 9, 2014 | PINEWALD | 50 | 0 | 3 | $0 |
| Sep 7, 1998 | BAY HEAD | 50 | 0 | 1 | $0 |
| Jun 19, 1994 | Long Beach Island | 0 | 0 | 1 | $0 |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 16, 2026 | LAKEWOOD | 50 | $0 |
| Mar 16, 2026 | HARVEY CEDARS | 54 | $0 |
| Mar 16, 2026 | SURF CITY | 58 | $0 |
| Mar 16, 2026 | CASSVILLE | 50 | $0 |
| Mar 16, 2026 | SURF CITY | 55 | $0 |
| Mar 16, 2026 | NEW EGYPT | 50 | $0 |
| Sep 6, 2025 | SEASIDE HGTS | 51 | $0 |
| Jul 25, 2025 | TUCKERTON | 50 | $0 |
| Jul 25, 2025 | WEST CREEK ARPT | 50 | $0 |
| Jul 25, 2025 | SEASIDE HGTS | 57 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Ocean County
- Hail 89
- Lightning 78
- Flash Flood 74
- Heavy Rain 69
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A severe thunderstorm knocked down a few trees in the northeast part of Manchester Township and resulted in a fatality. A 69-year-old man was killed on County Route 571 in front of the Ridgeway Elementary School when two trees fell onto his vehicle. A police officer was injured trying to extricate the man from the vehicle.
A severe thunderstorm knocked down numerous trees in Toms River Township. Nearly half of all of the 26,200 outages in Jersey Central Power and Light's service area in Ocean County occurred within the township. There were forty-three downed trees, forty-four separate reports of downed wires and/or poles, two blown transformers and over a dozen reports of property damage throughout the township. On the morning of the 8th, there were still about 11,000 customers throughout Ocean County that did not have their power restored.
A severe thunderstorm caused tree and roof damage in Lakewood Township. Around sixty people were evacauated from the Peter Ward Tower on Woehr Street after a large part of the apartment building's roof was blown away. A shelter was opened at the Lakewood High School. The residents were permitted to return on August 1st. The Atlantic Coast Rehabilitation Center Nursing Home was evacuated after they lost power.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many thunderstorm wind events are on record in Ocean County, New Jersey?
407 thunderstorm wind events are recorded in Ocean County between 1958 and 2026, causing 1 direct deaths.
What is the strongest thunderstorm wind recorded in Ocean County?
The strongest thunderstorm wind on record in Ocean County measured 81.
Where does the thunderstorm wind data for Ocean County come from?
All events come from the NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database, the federal public-domain archive of severe weather reports. Dates are UTC, damage is as reported and not inflation-adjusted, and the most recent entries may still be revised.
Cite this page
“Thunderstorm Wind in Ocean County, New Jersey.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/new-jersey/ocean-county/thunderstorm-wind/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.