States › New Hampshire › Strafford County

Strafford County, New Hampshire

Recorded hazard history: storm events since 1950, federal disaster declarations since 1953, flood insurance claims since 1978, and FEMA's risk index.

FIPS 33017 · 132,416 residents (2021) · 367 sq mi · dominant hazard Winter

Hail · 71Tornado · 7Flood · 26Wind · 180Winter · 190

Strafford County within New Hampshire. Dots: HailTornadoFloodWind event locations in the kept record. Boundaries: US Census Bureau.

NCEI notes that Storm Data is compiled from a variety of sources including the National Weather Service, other federal, state and local agencies, the media and the public; that property and crop damage figures are estimates; and that some events are recorded by NWS forecast zone rather than by county. FEMA notes that NFIP claim records are redacted and aggregated to protect the privacy of policyholders. NCEI storm records through 30 Jun 2026; OpenFEMA declarations refreshed 1 Oct 2026; NFIP claims as of 8 Sep 2026.

Between 1950 and 2026, NCEI recorded 558 storm events in Strafford County, New Hampshire, led by winter storms and snow.

That is 151.8 events per 100 square miles, above the New Hampshire figure of 96.7, and 42.1 per 10,000 residents against 62.4 statewide.

16 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 1 death and 24 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $18M and crop damage at $9.5M.

FEMA has designated the county in 25 federal disaster declarations since 1953; the most recent is Covid-19 Pandemic (major disaster, 3 Apr 2020).

National Flood Insurance Program policyholders in the county filed 137 claims since 1978, of which 106 were paid, totalling $2.3M (about $22K per paid claim). FEMA counts 198 residential flood policies in force.

FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county's overall risk as "Relatively Low" and its expected annual loss as "Relatively Low" ($29M a year across 18 hazards).

39 tropical storm or hurricane tracks in the HURDAT2 record passed within 100 miles of the county's centre at tropical-storm strength or more, 2 of them within 50 miles at hurricane strength.

16events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

558events since 19501 death, 24 injuries recorded

25disaster declarationslast 3 Apr 2020

137NFIP flood claims$2.3M paid

Compared with New Hampshire and the United States

Measure	Strafford County	New Hampshire	US
Recorded events since 1950	558	8,661	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	151.8	96.7	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	42.1	62.4	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	16	298	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	1	42	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$18M	$343M	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	1.0	3.2	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$22K	$20K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	3.5	15.3	16.1

County-recorded events plus zone-recorded events whose forecast zone is named for the county. State and US rows include events recorded only by forecast zone. Rates use 2021 Census population and land area.

Events by decade

Tornado: 1

Hail: 1Tornado: 1

Hail: 2Tornado: 1Wind: 2

Hail: 2Tornado: 1Wind: 14

Hail: 3Tornado: 2Flood: 7Wind: 32Winter: 31Heat: 2Cold: 7Drought: 4Lightning: 6Fog: 1Other: 2

Hail: 43Tornado: 1Flood: 9Wind: 56Winter: 82Cold: 13Drought: 5Lightning: 22Other: 3

Hail: 16Flood: 6Wind: 51Winter: 50Tropical: 1

Hail: 4Flood: 4Wind: 25Winter: 27Tropical: 1Heat: 1Cold: 2Drought: 14

11950s21960s51970s171980s971990s2342000s1242010s782020s

Recorded events in Strafford County by decade and hazard group. HailTornadoFloodWindWinterTropicalHeatColdDroughtLightningFogOther NCEI recorded only tornadoes, hail and thunderstorm wind before 1996.

Trend: 292 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 246 in the 20 years before. Reporting practice changed in 1996 and again with automated reports in the 2000s, so decade totals measure the record as much as the weather.

Events by type

Winter190

Wind180

Hail71

Lightning28

Flood26

Drought23

Cold22

Tornado7

Other5

Heat3

Tropical2

Fog1

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Winter	190	—	7.3%	detail
■ Wind	180	1	5.9%	detail
■ Hail	71	—	7.4%	detail
■ Lightning	28	—	13.5%
■ Flood	26	—	2.5%	detail
■ Drought	23	—	8.4%
■ Cold	22	—	7.7%
■ Tornado	7	—	6.3%
■ Other	5	—	10.2%
■ Heat	3	—	8.8%
■ Tropical	2	—	5.3%
■ Fog	1	—	25.0%

Hazard pages exist for hail, tornado, flood, wind and winter where the county has at least 10 recorded events. "Other" covers heavy rain, debris flow, dust, funnel clouds and similar reports.

Largest recorded events

Date	Event type	Group	Magnitude	Property damage	Crop damage	Deaths	Injuries	Geography
24 Sep 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	52 mph	—	—	1	—	County
28 Jul 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	81 mph	—	—	—	8	County
1 Oct 1998	Strong Wind	Wind	—	—	—	—	5	Forecast zone
14 Jul 1996	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	—	3	County
15 Jul 2007	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	—	3	County
12 Jan 1996	Heavy Snow	Winter	—	$400K	—	—	1	Forecast zone
9 Jul 1996	Lightning	Lightning	—	$2K	—	—	1	County
15 May 2004	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	—	1	County
29 Jun 2005	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	—	1	County
29 Jun 2005	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	—	1	County
1 Nov 2020	Drought	Drought	—	$20K	$9.0M	—	—	Forecast zone
2 Aug 1993	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	0 mph	$5.0M	—	—	—	County
7 Jan 1998	Ice Storm	Winter	—	$2.8M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
22 Jun 1981	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$2.5M	—	—	—	County
20 Oct 1996	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$1.8M	—	—	—	County
13 May 2006	Flood	Flood	—	$1.1M	—	—	—	County
16 Apr 2007	Flood	Flood	—	$1.0M	—	—	—	County
13 Jun 1998	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$600K	—	—	—	County
1 Oct 2020	Drought	Drought	—	$100K	$500K	—	—	Forecast zone
14 Mar 2010	Flood	Flood	—	$349K	—	—	—	County

Ranked by deaths, then injuries, then NCEI's damage estimate. Deaths and injuries are NCEI counts (direct plus indirect); no personal details are recorded here.

Federal disaster declarations

Declared	Number	Type	Incident	Title	Programs
3 Apr 2020	DR-4516	Major disaster	Biological	Covid-19 Pandemic	Individual assistance, Public assistance
13 Mar 2020	EM-3445	Emergency	Biological	Covid-19	Public assistance
8 Jun 2018	DR-4371	Major disaster	Snowstorm	Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm	Public assistance
25 Mar 2015	DR-4209	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm	Public assistance
19 Mar 2013	DR-4105	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm	Public assistance
30 Oct 2012	EM-3360	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Sandy	Public assistance
1 Nov 2011	EM-3344	Emergency	Severe Storm	Severe Storm	Public assistance
3 Sep 2011	DR-4026	Major disaster	Hurricane	Tropical Storm Irene	Public assistance
27 Aug 2011	EM-3333	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Irene	Public assistance
29 Mar 2010	DR-1892	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storm	Public assistance
2 Jan 2009	DR-1812	Major disaster	Severe Ice Storm	Severe Winter Storm	Public assistance
13 Dec 2008	EM-3297	Emergency	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storm	Public assistance
11 Aug 2008	DR-1782	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornado, And Flooding	Public assistance
27 Apr 2007	DR-1695	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
25 May 2006	DR-1643	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
19 Sep 2005	EM-3258	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Katrina Evacuation	Public assistance
30 Mar 2005	EM-3207	Emergency	Snowstorm	Record And/Or Near Record Snow	Public assistance
11 Mar 2003	EM-3177	Emergency	Snowstorm	Snow	Public assistance
28 Mar 2001	EM-3166	Emergency	Snowstorm	Snow	Public assistance
15 Jan 1998	DR-1199	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Ice Storm, Rains And High Winds	Individual assistance, Public assistance
29 Oct 1996	DR-1144	Major disaster	Flood	Fall Northeaster Rainstorm	Individual assistance, Public assistance
16 Mar 1993	EM-3101	Emergency	Snowstorm	Blizzards, High Winds & Record Snowfall	Public assistance
9 Sep 1991	DR-917	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Bob & Severe Storms	Public assistance
16 Apr 1987	DR-789	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	Individual assistance
11 Jul 1973	DR-399	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance

Declarations in which FEMA designated this county, from the OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2). DR: major disaster; EM: emergency; FM: fire management assistance. Programs show whether individual or public assistance was made available.

Flood insurance claims

197820022026

NFIP claims by year of loss in Strafford County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 1978137

Paid claims106

Total paid$2.3M

Average paid claim$22K

Repetitive-loss properties142 severe

Residential policies in force1980.6% of 34,531 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2024	2	2	$57,556	$28,778
2023	3	2	$40,097	$20,049
2022	1	1	$3,096	$3,096
2017	1	0	$0	—
2015	1	0	$0	—
2014	1	1	$2,057	$2,057
2013	1	0	$0	—
2011	1	1	$1,201	$1,201
2010	15	13	$343,890	$26,453
2009	1	1	$11,028	$11,028
2007	30	24	$879,898	$36,662
2006	39	35	$732,340	$20,924
2005	1	0	$0	—
2003	1	1	$3,249	$3,249
2001	1	0	$0	—
1999	1	0	$0	—
1998	3	3	$26,112	$8,704
1997	1	1	$1,139	$1,139
1996	14	10	$133,065	$13,306
1993	2	1	$858	$858
1988	2	0	$0	—
1987	5	3	$7,877	$2,626
1984	2	1	$8,803	$8,803
1983	2	2	$26,381	$13,190
1979	1	0	$0	—

OpenFEMA NFIP claims (v3, as of 8 Sep 2026), aggregated by year of loss; amounts are building, contents and increased-cost-of-compliance payments as recorded. Repetitive-loss counts from the NFIP Multiple Loss Properties file (2 Aug 2026); policies in force from the NFIP Residential Penetration Rates file (3 Aug 2026).

National Risk Index

Overall riskRelatively Lowscore 64.1 of 100

Expected annual loss$29MRelatively Low

Social vulnerabilityVery Low

Community resilienceRelatively High

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Inland flooding	Relatively Moderate	$20,545,620
Earthquake	Relatively Low	$1,631,800
Hurricane	Relatively Low	$1,497,715
Tornado	Relatively Low	$1,157,270
Ice storm	Relatively High	$951,269
Cold wave	Relatively Low	$861,400
Lightning	Relatively Moderate	$714,819
Strong wind	Relatively Low	$548,821
Drought	Relatively Moderate	$509,291
Heat wave	Relatively Low	$442,093
Hail	Very Low	$88,411
Winter weather	Relatively Low	$74,593
Coastal flooding	Relatively Low	$57,270
Wildfire	Very Low	$22,891
Landslide	Very Low	$3,679

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 release. Ratings are FEMA's relative comparison of counties; expected annual loss is FEMA's modelled estimate of average yearly building, population and agriculture loss. See how to read the NRI.

Hurricane and tropical storm passes

Tracks within 100 miles39

Tracks within 50 miles13

Hurricane strength within 50 miles2

Storm	Year	Closest approach	Max wind while within 100 mi
Elsa	2021	89 mi	52 mph
Andrea	2013	70 mi	46 mph
Irene	2011	82 mi	52 mph
Barry	2007	63 mi	40 mph
Floyd	1999	22 mi	58 mph
Bertha	1996	93 mi	69 mph
Bob	1991	80 mi	69 mph
Belle	1976	84 mi	40 mph
Doria	1971	52 mi	52 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1968	80 mi	52 mph
Alma	1966	93 mi	46 mph
Esther	1961	67 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1961	73 mi	69 mph
Brenda	1960	31 mi	46 mph
Donna	1960	35 mi	69 mph
Carol	1954	23 mi	92 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1949	81 mi	52 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1944	89 mi	75 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1934	39 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1923	55 mi	52 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1916	20 mi	58 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1916	38 mi	52 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1915	97 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1908	51 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1907	93 mi	40 mph

HURDAT2 best-track positions at tropical-storm strength (34 kt) or more, measured from the county's Census centre point; through the 2025 season. Distance from a track is not the same as the extent of the storm's wind, rain or surge.

ZIP codes with flood claims

03820 38
03824 25
03851 18
03867 13
03821 7
03835 7
03825 6
03861 6

ZIP codes whose NFIP claims carry this county's code, with the number of claims. Five or more claims are needed for a ZIP page to be indexed.

Questions and answers

How often does it hail in Strafford County, NH?

NCEI records 71 hail events in Strafford County since 1950, in 22 different years; that is about 0.9 recorded events a year. 8 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Strafford County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 7 tornadoes in Strafford County since 1950, 5 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 0.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Strafford County?

3 Apr 2020: Covid-19 Pandemic, a major disaster declaration for biological. The county appears in 25 declarations since 1953.

How many flood insurance claims have been filed in Strafford County, and how much was paid?

137 NFIP claims since 1978, 106 of them paid, for $2.3M in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

Is Strafford County in the National Risk Index's high-risk band?

FEMA's National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the county "Relatively Low" for overall risk, "Relatively Low" for expected annual loss, "Very Low" for social vulnerability and "Relatively High" for community resilience. These ratings are FEMA's relative comparison across all US counties.

How does Strafford County compare with the rest of New Hampshire?

151.8 recorded events per 100 square miles against 96.7 statewide, and 1.0 NFIP claims per 1,000 residents against 3.2. The comparison table on this page shows each measure beside the state and national figures.

Provenance

Storm events: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, yearly details files through 30 Jun 2026 (public domain). Declarations: OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2, refreshed 1 Oct 2026. Flood claims: OpenFEMA NfipClaims v3 as of 8 Sep 2026; NfipMultipleLossProperties v1 (2 Aug 2026); NfipResidentialPenetrationRates v1 (3 Aug 2026). Risk index: FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025. Hurricane tracks: NHC HURDAT2 through 2025. Population and area: US Census Bureau, 2021 vintage. Built 1 Oct 2026; see the methodology and corrections pages. Hazard hubs: Hail · Tornado · Flood · Wind · Winter.