Essex County, Massachusetts

What hazards hit Essex County most?

The most frequent records are severe thunderstorm wind events: 346 since 1956. 68% of its severe thunderstorm wind events since 1956 fell in June and July. The rank column places the county among Massachusetts's counties by days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land over each hazard's complete period.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database (county and forecast-zone records attributed to the county; a zone record shows its own totals on each county it covers). Days: dates with at least one record of the hazard in the county. Ranks: days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer), since 1950 for tornadoes, 1955 for hail and thunderstorm wind, 1996 for the rest.

How many tornadoes has Essex County had?

NOAA records 12 tornadoes in Essex County from 1951 to 1991, the strongest rated F2, with 0 deaths and 4 injuries recorded in the county. That is 6th of 12 Massachusetts counties by days with tornadoes per 1,000 square miles since 1950. A tornado that crossed a county line is counted in each county it touched, with the length of its path inside the county.

Counted as whole tornadoes rather than county records, the Storm Prediction Center's database holds 14 tornadoes whose track touched Essex County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 12: they file a crossing tornado once per county segment, and the two databases differ on some tracks); along their whole tracks they killed 0 people.

Map of the strongest tornado tracks in Massachusetts.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, tornado records by county (path length in the county, maximum width); ratings as published: F scale before February 1, 2007, EF scale after. Whole-track figures: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database (1950-2025). SPC severe weather database.

When was the last damaging storm in Essex County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the September 6, 2025 thunderstorm wind ($10,000 in damage in 2025 dollars).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database; every record of 2025-2026 is listed, earlier ones when they caused deaths, injuries or $250,000 of damage (2025 dollars), and every tornado.

The deadliest and costliest records

A damage figure marked "step" is a record from before 1993: NOAA then filed damage by category, and the figure is the category as entered, in the dollars of that year, not an estimate of the loss.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths and injuries direct and indirect; damage is property plus crops as estimated by the National Weather Service, converted to 2025 dollars.

Is it getting more frequent?

Records per decade for Essex County's most frequent hazards. Counts rose everywhere after 1996, when NOAA began recording every event type, so compare decades within a hazard's complete period only (the shaded cells come before it).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records per calendar decade; zone records from the CZ_TYPE field (Z).

What time of year?

68% of its severe thunderstorm wind events since 1956 fell in June and July. The two busiest months are in violet.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began.

Federal disaster declarations for Essex County

FEMA's register lists 40 declarations that include Essex County: 25 major disasters, 15 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for severe storm (10) and snowstorm (8).

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), declarations through October 2, 2026; one declaration is counted once however many areas it names. OpenFEMA dataset page.

How many floods has Essex County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 189 flood or flash flood records for Essex County from 1996 to 2025, on 117 days, with 3 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Essex County ranks 90th of 2,942 U.S. counties. The 100 counties with the most claims

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $94.1 million on 5,456 claims filed in Essex County; the most in one year was 763 in 1991. Claims count insured losses only: uninsured flood damage is not in this file.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims, as of September 8, 2026; claims by year of loss, payments in the dollars of the year paid. OpenFEMA dataset page.

FEMA's modeled risk for Essex County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Essex County Relatively High overall, with an expected annual loss of $199 million. These are FEMA's model estimates of future loss from 18 hazards, not a count of what happened; they can differ from the record above.

Source: FEMA National Risk Index, county table, December 2025 release. FEMA's National Risk Index map.

Counties that share a border with Essex County

1. Middlesex County 1,940
2. Essex County 1,316
3. Rockingham County, NH 1,150
4. Hillsborough County, NH 864
5. Suffolk County 643

Source: U.S. Census Bureau county adjacency file; NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1950. The Census Bureau's adjacency file.

Next

• Tornadoes in MassachusettsEvery Massachusetts tornado since 1950 and the counties with the most per square mile
• Severe thunderstorm wind in MassachusettsThe state's severe thunderstorm wind events, by county, year and month
• The Massachusetts recordEvery hazard in the state, its deadliest events and its federal declarations
• FEMA's risk rating for each hazard in Essex CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Essex County's FEMA declarations (CSV)40 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis