Back to Tropical Cyclones Records Page | Back to Main FAQ Page
Subject: E24) How long has it been since a hurricane or a major hurricane hit a given community in the United States?

Contributed by Chris Landsea (NHC)

This table summarizes the occurrence of the last hurricane and major hurricane to directly hit the most populated coastal communities from Brownsville, Texas to Eastport, Maine. In addition, if a hurricane indirectly affected a community after the last direct hit, it is listed in the last column of the table. To obtain histories of hurricane strikes by coastal counties, the reader is referred to the NOAA Coastal Services Center web site. There are many illustrative examples of the uncertainty of when a hurricane might strike a given locality. After nearly 70 years without a direct hit, Pensacola, Florida was hit directly by Hurricane Erin in 1995 and major Hurricane Ivan in 2004 within 10 years. Miami, which expects a major hurricane every nine years, on average, has been struck only once since 1950 (in 1992). Tampa has not experienced a major hurricane for 84 years. Many locations along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts have not experienced a major hurricane during the period 1851-2018.

Last direct or indirect hit by any hurricane or a major hurricane
at certain populated coastal communities
through 2018.

State	City	Last Direct Major Hurricane Hit			Last Direct Hurricane Hit
Texas	Brownsville	1980	Cat3	Allen	2008	Cat1	Dolly
	Corpus Christi	1970	Cat3	Celia	1971	Cat1	Fern
	Port Aransas	2017	Cat3	Harvey	2017	Cat3	Harvey
	Matagorda	1961	Cat4	Carla	2003	Cat1	Claudette
	Freeport	1983	Cat3	Alicia	2008	Cat2	Ike
	Galveston	1983	Cat3	Alicia	2008	Cat2	Ike
	Houston	2005	Cat3	Rita	2008	Cat2	Ike
	Beaumont	2005	Cat3	Rita	2007	Cat1	Humberto
Louisiana	Cameron	1957	Cat4	Audrey	1985	Cat1	Danny
	Morgan City	1992	Cat3	Andrew	2008	Cat2	Gustav
	Houma	1974	Cat3	Carmen	2008	Cat2	Gustav
	New Orleans	2005	Cat3	Katrina	2012	Cat1	Isaac
Mississippi	Bay St. Louis	2005	Cat3	Katrina	1985	Cat3	Elena
	Biloxi	1985	Cat3	Elena	2017	Cat1	Nate
	Pascagoula	1985	Cat3	Elena	2005	Cat1	Katrina
Alabama	Mobile	1985	Cat3	Elena	2005	Cat1	Katrina
Florida	Pensacola	2004	Cat3	Ivan	2005	Cat3	Dennis
	Panama City	1995	Cat3	Opal	2005	Cat1	Dennis
	Apalachicola	2018	Cat5	Michael	2018	Cat5	Michael
	Homosassa	1950	Cat3	Easy	1968	Cat2	Gladys
	St. Petersburg	1921	Cat3		1946	Cat1
	Tampa	1921	Cat3		1946	Cat1
	Sarasota	1944	Cat3		1946	Cat1
	Fort Myers	1960	Cat3	Donna	1960	Cat3	Donna
	Naples	2017	Cat3	Irma	2017	Cat3	Irma
	Key West	2017	Cat3	Irma	2017	Cat3	Irma
	Miami	1992	Cat5	Andrew	2005	Cat1	Wilma
	Fort Lauderdale	1950	Cat3	King	2005	Cat2	Wilma
	W. Palm Beach	1949	Cat3		2005	Cat2	Wilma
	Stuart	2004	Cat3	Jeanne	2004	Cat3	Jeanne
	Fort Pierce	2004	Cat3	Jeanne	2004	Cat3	Jeanne
	Vero Beach	2004	Cat3	Jeanne	2004	Cat3	Jeanne
	Cocoa	<1900			1995	Cat1	Erin
	Daytona Bch	<1880			1960	Cat2	Donna
	St. Augustine	<1880			1964	Cat2	Dora
	Jacksonville	<1880			1964	Cat2	Dora
	Fernandina Bch	<1880			1928	Cat2
Georgia	Brunswick	1898	Cat4		1928	Cat1
	Savannah	1854	Cat3		1979	Cat2	David
S. Carolina	Hilton Head	1959	Cat3	Gracie	1979	Cat2	David
	Charleston	1989	Cat4	Hugo	2016	Cat1	Matthew
	Myrtle Beach	1954	Cat4	Hazel	1954	Cat4	Hazel
N. Carolina	Wilmington	1996	Cat3	Fran	2018	Cat1	Florence
	Morehead City	1996	Cat3	Fran	1999	Cat2	Floyd
	Cape Hatteras	1993	Cat3	Emily	2014	Cat2	Arthur
Virginia	Virginia Beach	1944	Cat3		2003	Cat1	Isabel
	Norfolk	<1851			2003	Cat1	Isabel
Maryland	Ocean City	<1851			<1851
	Baltimore	<1851			1878	Cat1
Delaware	Rehoboth Bch	<1851			<1851
	Wilmington	<1851			1954	Cat2	Hazel
New Jersey	Cape May	<1851			1903	Cat1
	Atlantic City	<1851			1903	Cat1
New York	New York City	<1851			1903	Cat1
	Westhampton	1985	Cat3	Gloria	1985	Cat3	Gloria
Connecticut	New London	1938	Cat3		1991	Cat2	Bob
	New Haven	1938	Cat3		1985	Cat2	Gloria
	Bridgeport	1954	Cat3	Carol	1985	Cat2	Gloria
Rhode Island	Providence	1954	Cat3	Carol	1991	Cat2	Bob
Mass.	Cape Cod	1954	Cat3	Edna	1991	Cat2	Bob
	Boston	1869	Cat3		1960	Cat1	Donna
New Hampshire	Portsmouth	<1851			1985	Cat2	Gloria
Maine	Portland	<1851			1985	Cat1	Gloria
	Eastport	<1851			1969	Cat1	Gerda

Reference

Blake, E.S., E.N. Rappaport, J.D. Jarell, and C.W. Landsea, 2005: "The Deadliest, Costliest, and Most Intense United States Hurricanes from 1851 to 2004 (and Other Frequently Requested Hurricane Facts.) NOAA Technical Memorandum NWS-TPC-4, 48 pp.

Last Revised : June 20, 2019

Back to Tropical Cyclones Records Page | Back to Main FAQ Page