States › New York › Westchester County

Westchester County, New York

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

FIPS 36119 · 997,895 residents (2021) · 431 sq mi · dominant hazard Wind

Hail · 81Tornado · 9Flood · 270Wind · 344Winter · 0

Westchester County within New York. 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.

Between 1950 and 2026, NCEI recorded 746 storm events in Westchester County, New York, led by damaging wind.

That is 173.2 events per 100 square miles, above the New York figure of 120.3, and 7.5 per 10,000 residents against 28.6 statewide.

30 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 10 deaths and 23 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $112M and crop damage at $250.

FEMA has designated the county in 32 federal disaster declarations since 1953; the most recent is Severe Storm And Flooding (major disaster, 30 Jan 2024).

National Flood Insurance Program policyholders in the county filed 12,259 claims since 1978, of which 9,945 were paid, totalling $273M (about $27K per paid claim). FEMA counts 6,276 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" ($210M a year across 18 hazards).

50 tropical storm or hurricane tracks in the HURDAT2 record passed within 100 miles of the county's centre at tropical-storm strength or more, 4 of them within 50 miles at hurricane strength.

30events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

746events since 195010 deaths, 23 injuries recorded

32disaster declarationslast 30 Jan 2024

12,259NFIP flood claims$273M paid

Compared with New York and the United States

Measure	Westchester County	New York	US
Recorded events since 1950	746	56,675	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	173.2	120.3	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	7.5	28.6	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	30	1,948	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	10	578	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$112M	$5.7B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	12.3	8.8	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$27K	$40K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	44.3	10.1	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: 1

Wind: 3

Tornado: 3Wind: 5

Hail: 2Tornado: 1Wind: 6

Hail: 9Tornado: 2Flood: 21Wind: 64Lightning: 7Other: 11

Hail: 33Tornado: 2Flood: 62Wind: 81Lightning: 8Other: 12

Hail: 23Tornado: 1Flood: 83Wind: 98Lightning: 2Other: 1

Hail: 14Flood: 104Wind: 86Lightning: 1

11950s31960s81970s91980s1141990s1982000s2082010s2052020s

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

Trend: 528 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 191 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

Wind344

Flood270

Hail81

Other24

Lightning18

Tornado9

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Wind	344	2	1.4%	detail
■ Flood	270	6	3.9%	detail
■ Hail	81	—	1.6%	detail
■ Other	24	—	4.3%
■ Lightning	18	1	3.1%
■ Tornado	9	1	1.6%

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
1 Sep 2021	Flash Flood	Flood	—	—	—	2	—	County
12 Jun 1991	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	0 mph	—	—	1	2	County
28 Aug 2011	Flood	Flood	—	—	—	1	1	County
12 Jun 1991	Tornado	Tornado	F0	$25K	—	1	—	County
9 Jul 1997	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	87 mph	—	—	1	—	County
25 Sep 1999	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	1	—	County
1 Sep 2021	Flash Flood	Flood	—	—	—	1	—	County
1 Sep 2021	Flash Flood	Flood	—	—	—	1	—	County
1 Sep 2021	Flash Flood	Flood	—	—	—	1	—	County
1 Sep 2021	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$93M	—	—	—	County
12 Jul 2006	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$10M	—	—	6	County
16 Aug 1997	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	58 mph	—	—	—	3	County
6 May 1997	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	—	2	County
2 Jun 2000	Tornado	Tornado	F1	—	—	—	2	County
19 Jul 2010	Lightning	Lightning	—	$15K	—	—	1	County
7 Jul 2009	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	70 mph	$4K	—	—	1	County
25 Jul 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	63 mph	$1K	—	—	1	County
12 Jun 1991	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	0 mph	—	—	—	1	County
4 Apr 1995	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	0 mph	—	—	—	1	County
8 Jul 1996	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	—	1	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
30 Jan 2024	DR-4755	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storm And Flooding	Public assistance
5 Sep 2021	DR-4615	Major disaster	Hurricane	Remnants Of Hurricane Ida	Individual assistance, Public assistance
2 Sep 2021	EM-3572	Emergency	Hurricane	Remnants Of Hurricane Ida	Public assistance
22 Aug 2021	EM-3565	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Henri	Public assistance
2 Oct 2020	DR-4567	Major disaster	Hurricane	Tropical Storm Isaias	Public assistance
20 Mar 2020	DR-4480	Major disaster	Biological	Covid-19 Pandemic	Individual assistance, Public assistance
13 Mar 2020	EM-3434	Emergency	Biological	Covid-19	Public assistance
30 Oct 2012	DR-4085	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Sandy	Individual assistance, Public assistance
28 Oct 2012	EM-3351	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Sandy	Public assistance
31 Aug 2011	DR-4020	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Irene	Individual assistance, Public assistance
26 Aug 2011	EM-3328	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Irene	Public assistance
16 Apr 2010	DR-1899	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Flooding	Public assistance
24 Apr 2007	DR-1692	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Inland And Coastal Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
1 Jul 2006	DR-1650	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Flooding	Public assistance
30 Sep 2005	EM-3262	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Katrina Evacuation	Public assistance
19 Apr 2005	DR-1589	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Flooding	Public assistance
3 Aug 2004	DR-1534	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Flooding	—
23 Aug 2003	EM-3186	Emergency	Other	Power Outage	Public assistance
27 Mar 2003	EM-3184	Emergency	Snowstorm	Snow	Public assistance
11 Sep 2001	DR-1391	Major disaster	Fire	Fires And Explosions	Individual assistance, Public assistance
11 Oct 2000	EM-3155	Emergency	Other	West Nile Virus	Public assistance
19 Sep 1999	DR-1296	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Floyd Major Disaster Declarations	Individual assistance, Public assistance
18 Sep 1999	EM-3149	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Floyd Emergency Declarations	Public assistance
19 Nov 1996	DR-1146	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Flooding, Heavy Rains, High Winds	Public assistance
12 Jan 1996	DR-1083	Major disaster	Snowstorm	Blizzard Of 96 (Severe Snow Storm)	Public assistance
17 Mar 1993	EM-3107	Emergency	Snowstorm	Severe Blizzard	Public assistance
21 Dec 1992	DR-974	Major disaster	Flood	Coastal Storm, High Tides, Heavy Rain, & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
17 Apr 1984	DR-702	Major disaster	Flood	Coastal Storms & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
2 Oct 1975	DR-487	Major disaster	Flood	Storms, Rains, Landslides & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
23 Jun 1972	DR-338	Major disaster	Flood	Tropical Storm Agnes	Individual assistance, Public assistance
13 Sep 1971	DR-311	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	Public assistance
18 Aug 1965	DR-204	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 Westchester County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 197812,259

Paid claims9,945

Total paid$273M

Average paid claim$27K

Repetitive-loss properties1,304337 severe

Residential policies in force6,2763.0% of 206,605 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2026	15	6	$76,121	$12,687
2025	69	49	$1,776,150	$36,248
2024	47	35	$626,445	$17,898
2023	588	498	$17,715,782	$35,574
2022	31	25	$384,088	$15,364
2021	1,829	1,644	$106,662,444	$64,880
2020	12	5	$258,995	$51,799
2019	22	8	$143,105	$17,888
2018	150	110	$2,936,635	$26,697
2017	18	7	$52,104	$7,443
2016	8	3	$6,721	$2,240
2015	12	6	$69,160	$11,527
2014	46	23	$147,747	$6,424
2013	30	20	$201,933	$10,097
2012	463	372	$27,002,074	$72,586
2011	1,374	1,152	$34,739,101	$30,155
2010	259	184	$1,878,081	$10,207
2009	30	17	$181,983	$10,705
2008	56	38	$414,441	$10,906
2007	1,346	1,235	$40,998,171	$33,197
2006	35	17	$197,253	$11,603
2005	81	61	$927,167	$15,199
2004	195	147	$2,184,020	$14,857
2003	17	10	$35,650	$3,565
2002	28	17	$336,278	$19,781

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 96.2 of 100

Expected annual loss$210MRelatively High

Social vulnerabilityRelatively Moderate

Community resilienceRelatively High

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Inland flooding	Relatively High	$147,914,618
Hurricane	Relatively High	$14,855,378
Earthquake	Relatively Moderate	$12,710,224
Cold wave	Relatively High	$9,344,831
Strong wind	Very High	$7,935,815
Heat wave	Relatively Moderate	$7,300,780
Tornado	Relatively Moderate	$2,623,974
Lightning	Very High	$2,605,503
Coastal flooding	Relatively Moderate	$2,128,726
Winter weather	Very High	$1,141,580
Ice storm	Relatively High	$927,333
Hail	Very Low	$126,219
Landslide	Relatively Moderate	$85,414
Wildfire	Very Low	$65,502
Drought	Very Low	$25,645
Avalanche	Very Low	$104

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 miles50

Tracks within 50 miles17

Hurricane strength within 50 miles4

Storm	Year	Closest approach	Max wind while within 100 mi
Elsa	2021	68 mi	58 mph
Henri	2021	94 mi	46 mph
Ida	2021	62 mi	46 mph
Fay	2020	72 mi	40 mph
Isaias	2020	73 mi	63 mph
Andrea	2013	87 mi	46 mph
Irene	2011	40 mi	63 mph
Hanna	2008	89 mi	52 mph
Barry	2007	91 mi	40 mph
Floyd	1999	40 mi	58 mph
Bertha	1996	77 mi	69 mph
Gloria	1985	45 mi	86 mph
Henri	1985	69 mi	40 mph
Belle	1976	30 mi	69 mph
Agnes	1972	54 mi	63 mph
Doria	1971	4 mi	52 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1968	45 mi	63 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1961	42 mi	63 mph
Brenda	1960	45 mi	58 mph
Donna	1960	54 mi	98 mph
Diane	1955	50 mi	46 mph
Carol	1954	82 mi	115 mph
Able	1952	70 mi	58 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1944	82 mi	104 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1938	45 mi	121 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

10543 2,219
10580 1,996
10538 866
10528 857
10583 714
10804 500
10523 499
10708 444
10573 398
10502 253
10703 228
10801 220
10710 170
10598 168
10805 152
10514 144
10803 144
10701 132
10607 122
10510 113
10533 110
10530 102
10603 100
10605 96
10549 91
10562 90
10594 77
10504 67
10567 66
10706 63
10570 62
10707 62
10705 55
10709 55
10532 50
10591 49
10704 46
10552 45
10566 43
10550 42
10577 40
10506 39
10595 38
10604 37
10588 35
10520 30
10536 29
10553 25
10576 24
10522 21
10560 20
10547 19
10606 19
10507 18
10589 18
10590 14
10601 14
10526 9
10548 9
10596 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 Westchester County, NY?

NCEI records 81 hail events in Westchester County since 1950, in 28 different years; that is about 1.1 recorded events a year. 10 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Westchester County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 9 tornadoes in Westchester County since 1950, 1 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 1.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Westchester County?

30 Jan 2024: Severe Storm And Flooding, a major disaster declaration for flood. The county appears in 32 declarations since 1953.

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

12,259 NFIP claims since 1978, 9,945 of them paid, for $273M in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

Is Westchester 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 High" for community resilience. These ratings are FEMA's relative comparison across all US counties.

How does Westchester County compare with the rest of New York?

173.2 recorded events per 100 square miles against 120.3 statewide, and 12.3 NFIP claims per 1,000 residents against 8.8. 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.