States › New Jersey › Middlesex County

Middlesex County, New Jersey

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

FIPS 34023 · 860,807 residents (2021) · 309 sq mi · dominant hazard Wind

Hail · 62Tornado · 8Flood · 202Wind · 418Winter · 208

Middlesex County within New Jersey. 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 29 Sep 2026; NFIP claims as of 8 Sep 2026.

Middlesex County, New Jersey, has 1,244 weather events in the NCEI Storm Events record since 1950, most of them damaging wind.

That is 402.3 events per 100 square miles, in line with the New Jersey figure of 358.7, and 14.5 per 10,000 residents against 28.5 statewide.

47 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 24 deaths and 209 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $786M and crop damage at $25K.

FEMA has designated the county in 30 federal disaster declarations since 1953; the most recent is Remnants Of Hurricane Ida (major disaster, 5 Sep 2021).

National Flood Insurance Program policyholders in the county filed 5,251 claims since 1978, of which 4,384 were paid, totalling $165M (about $38K per paid claim). FEMA counts 2,496 residential flood policies in force.

FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county's overall risk as "Relatively High" and its expected annual loss as "Relatively High" ($282M a year across 18 hazards).

51 tropical storm or hurricane tracks in the HURDAT2 record passed within 100 miles of the county's centre at tropical-storm strength or more, 1 of them within 50 miles at hurricane strength.

47events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

1,244events since 195024 deaths, 209 injuries recorded

30disaster declarationslast 5 Sep 2021

5,251NFIP flood claims$165M paid

Compared with New Jersey and the United States

Measure	Middlesex County	New Jersey	US
Recorded events since 1950	1,244	26,382	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	402.3	358.7	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	14.5	28.5	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	47	776	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	24	276	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$786M	$28B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	6.1	21.8	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$38K	$38K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	40.6	10.6	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

Wind: 2

Hail: 1Wind: 2

Tornado: 1Wind: 5

Hail: 4Tornado: 4Wind: 8

Hail: 8Tornado: 2Flood: 14Wind: 63Winter: 18Heat: 26Cold: 4Drought: 18Lightning: 4Fog: 5Other: 25

Hail: 12Tornado: 1Flood: 39Wind: 113Winter: 77Tropical: 8Heat: 33Cold: 15Drought: 18Wildfire: 11Lightning: 28Fog: 6Other: 23

Hail: 12Flood: 86Wind: 120Winter: 85Tropical: 2Heat: 19Cold: 10Drought: 6Wildfire: 7Lightning: 11Fog: 4Other: 25

Hail: 25Flood: 63Wind: 105Winter: 28Tropical: 2Heat: 17Cold: 1Lightning: 2Fog: 13Other: 3

21950s31960s61970s161980s1871990s3842000s3872010s2592020s

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

Trend: 781 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 431 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

Wind418

Winter208

Flood202

Heat95

Other76

Hail62

Lightning45

Drought42

Cold30

Fog28

Wildfire18

Tropical12

Tornado8

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Wind	418	6	4.3%	detail
■ Winter	208	6	4.1%	detail
■ Flood	202	5	5.3%	detail
■ Heat	95	5	5.6%
■ Other	76	—	6.1%
■ Hail	62	—	5.4%	detail
■ Lightning	45	—	7.1%
■ Drought	42	—	4.7%
■ Cold	30	2	4.5%
■ Fog	28	—	3.7%
■ Wildfire	18	—	10.2%
■ Tropical	12	—	3.0%
■ Tornado	8	—	3.9%

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
29 Oct 2012	High Wind	Wind	70 mph	$129M	—	6	—	Forecast zone
4 Jul 1999	Heat	Heat	—	—	—	4	—	Forecast zone
1 Sep 2021	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$50M	—	3	—	County
9 Feb 2015	Winter Weather	Winter	—	—	—	1	61	Forecast zone
16 Feb 2003	Heavy Snow	Winter	—	$1.0M	—	1	8	Forecast zone
28 Aug 2011	Flood	Flood	—	$50M	—	1	—	County
5 Jan 2022	Winter Weather	Winter	—	—	—	1	2	Forecast zone
8 Feb 2013	Winter Storm	Winter	—	—	—	1	1	Forecast zone
16 Jul 1999	Heat	Heat	—	—	—	1	—	Forecast zone
14 Jan 2003	Cold/Wind Chill	Cold	—	—	—	1	—	Forecast zone
15 Apr 2007	Flood	Flood	—	—	—	1	—	County
9 Feb 2010	Winter Storm	Winter	—	—	—	1	—	Forecast zone
26 Nov 2014	Winter Weather	Winter	—	—	—	1	—	Forecast zone
24 Feb 2015	Cold/Wind Chill	Cold	—	—	—	1	—	Forecast zone
16 Sep 1999	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$28M	—	—	72	County
29 Oct 2012	Coastal Flood	Flood	—	$500M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
18 Jan 2015	Winter Weather	Winter	—	—	—	—	15	Forecast zone
10 Jan 2014	Winter Weather	Winter	—	—	—	—	10	Forecast zone
5 Oct 1985	Tornado	Tornado	F1	—	—	—	8	County
6 Sep 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	58 mph	—	—	—	4	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
5 Sep 2021	DR-4614	Major disaster	Hurricane	Remnants Of Hurricane Ida	Individual assistance, Public assistance
2 Sep 2021	EM-3573	Emergency	Hurricane	Remnants Of Hurricane Ida	Public assistance
25 Mar 2020	DR-4488	Major disaster	Biological	Covid-19 Pandemic	Individual assistance, Public assistance
13 Mar 2020	EM-3451	Emergency	Biological	Covid-19	Public assistance
14 Mar 2016	DR-4264	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm	Public assistance
30 Oct 2012	DR-4086	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Sandy	Individual assistance, Public assistance
28 Oct 2012	EM-3354	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Sandy	Public assistance
30 Nov 2011	DR-4048	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storm	Public assistance
31 Aug 2011	DR-4021	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Irene	Individual assistance, Public assistance
27 Aug 2011	EM-3332	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Irene	Public assistance
4 Feb 2011	DR-1954	Major disaster	Snowstorm	Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm	Public assistance
2 Apr 2010	DR-1897	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
26 Apr 2007	DR-1694	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Inland And Coastal Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
19 Sep 2005	EM-3257	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Katrina Evacuation	Public assistance
20 Mar 2003	EM-3181	Emergency	Snowstorm	Snow	Public assistance
19 Sep 2001	EM-3169	Emergency	Fire	Fires And Explosions	Public assistance
1 Nov 2000	EM-3156	Emergency	Other	West Nile Virus	Public assistance
18 Sep 1999	DR-1295	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Floyd Major Disaster Declarations	Individual assistance, Public assistance
17 Sep 1999	EM-3148	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Floyd Emergency Declarations	Public assistance
19 Nov 1996	DR-1145	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Flooding	Individual assistance
13 Jan 1996	DR-1088	Major disaster	Snowstorm	Blizzard Of 96 (Severe Snow Storm)	Public assistance
17 Mar 1993	EM-3106	Emergency	Snowstorm	Severe Blizzard	Public assistance
18 Dec 1992	DR-973	Major disaster	Flood	Coastal Storm, High Tides, Heavy Rain, & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
19 Oct 1980	EM-3083	Emergency	Drought	Water Shortage	Public assistance
8 Feb 1977	DR-528	Major disaster	Severe Ice Storm	Ice Conditions	Individual assistance
23 Jul 1975	DR-477	Major disaster	Flood	Heavy Rains, High Winds, Hail & Tornadoes	Individual assistance, Public assistance
7 Aug 1973	DR-402	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
4 Sep 1971	DR-310	Major disaster	Flood	Heavy Rains & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
18 Jun 1968	DR-245	Major disaster	Flood	Heavy Rains & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
18 Aug 1965	DR-205	Major disaster	Drought	Water Shortage	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 Middlesex County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 19785,251

Paid claims4,384

Total paid$165M

Average paid claim$38K

Repetitive-loss properties625164 severe

Residential policies in force2,4961.2% of 212,397 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2026	5	1	$106	$106
2025	163	158	$8,074,976	$51,107
2024	16	5	$119,174	$23,835
2023	38	28	$721,507	$25,768
2022	7	2	$19,347	$9,673
2021	712	644	$41,646,954	$64,669
2020	9	8	$149,989	$18,749
2019	18	13	$314,899	$24,223
2018	38	30	$1,016,935	$33,898
2017	7	1	$2,589	$2,589
2016	8	5	$29,212	$5,842
2015	7	4	$62,514	$15,628
2014	54	38	$476,939	$12,551
2013	6	3	$25,130	$8,377
2012	747	696	$53,573,419	$76,973
2011	1,114	1,005	$28,840,941	$28,697
2010	471	411	$9,669,207	$23,526
2009	9	7	$48,069	$6,867
2008	13	11	$131,414	$11,947
2007	294	250	$4,146,974	$16,588
2006	19	14	$77,172	$5,512
2005	83	69	$791,321	$11,468
2004	32	18	$115,887	$6,438
2003	22	8	$238,063	$29,758
2002	5	1	$601	$601

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 Highscore 97.8 of 100

Expected annual loss$282MRelatively High

Social vulnerabilityRelatively Moderate

Community resilienceRelatively Moderate

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Inland flooding	Relatively High	$196,793,778
Earthquake	Relatively Moderate	$20,290,762
Strong wind	Very High	$14,396,612
Hurricane	Relatively Moderate	$11,963,923
Tornado	Relatively High	$10,334,656
Cold wave	Relatively High	$9,964,614
Heat wave	Relatively Moderate	$7,738,629
Ice storm	Very High	$3,661,962
Coastal flooding	Relatively High	$3,039,760
Winter weather	Very High	$2,226,393
Lightning	Relatively Moderate	$742,690
Drought	Relatively Moderate	$654,928
Wildfire	Relatively Low	$376,175
Hail	Relatively Low	$180,573
Landslide	Relatively Low	$7,585

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 miles51

Tracks within 50 miles15

Hurricane strength within 50 miles1

Storm	Year	Closest approach	Max wind while within 100 mi
Elsa	2021	69 mi	58 mph
Ida	2021	77 mi	46 mph
Fay	2020	17 mi	52 mph
Isaias	2020	48 mi	63 mph
Andrea	2013	57 mi	46 mph
Sandy	2012	65 mi	81 mph
Irene	2011	19 mi	69 mph
Hanna	2008	31 mi	52 mph
Charley	2004	85 mi	40 mph
Allison	2001	95 mi	46 mph
Floyd	1999	49 mi	58 mph
Bertha	1996	17 mi	69 mph
Danielle	1992	98 mi	40 mph
Gloria	1985	59 mi	86 mph
Henri	1985	75 mi	40 mph
Belle	1976	74 mi	69 mph
Agnes	1972	56 mi	63 mph
Doria	1971	64 mi	52 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1968	59 mi	63 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1961	66 mi	63 mph
Brenda	1960	32 mi	58 mph
Donna	1960	63 mi	98 mph
Diane	1955	6 mi	46 mph
Able	1952	40 mi	58 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1944	86 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

08846 1,095
08812 710
08882 433
07080 404
08872 310
07095 292
08854 266
07067 243
07008 239
08831 163
08857 123
08816 123
08828 110
08817 107
08879 101
08901 83
07077 76
08904 71
08820 71
07001 68
08884 59
08861 48
08850 47
08837 41
08512 40
08902 34
08830 29
07064 27
08852 22
08840 19
08810 16
08824 16
08863 10
08536 10
08903 9

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 Middlesex County, NJ?

NCEI records 62 hail events in Middlesex County since 1950, in 23 different years; that is about 0.8 recorded events a year. 6 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Middlesex County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 8 tornadoes in Middlesex County since 1950, 0 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 0.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Middlesex County?

5 Sep 2021: Remnants Of Hurricane Ida, a major disaster declaration for hurricane. The county appears in 30 declarations since 1953.

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

5,251 NFIP claims since 1978, 4,384 of them paid, for $165M in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

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

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

How does Middlesex County compare with the rest of New Jersey?

402.3 recorded events per 100 square miles against 358.7 statewide, and 6.1 NFIP claims per 1,000 residents against 21.8. 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 29 Sep 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 30 Sep 2026; see the methodology and corrections pages. Hazard hubs: Hail · Tornado · Flood · Wind · Winter.