PlainHazard

High wind and dust storms in the United States, by state

The national record since 1996 · High Wind, Strong Wind, Dust Storm, Dust Devil

NOAA's Storm Events Database records 129,328 high wind and dust records in the United States from 1996 through June 30, 2026, about 4,314 a year since 2000. California records the most (9,795), Rhode Island the most per square mile. The deadliest storm in NOAA's record since 1996 is the October 29, 2012 high wind in New York: 29 deaths, 4 injuries and $2.7 million in damage in 2025 dollars.

High wind and dust storms, 1996 to 2026

Records per year (NOAA Storm Events); 2026 to June 30, 2026.

  • recorded, no damage figure
  • under $10 million
  • $10 million or more
  • $100 million or more
  • $1 billion or more, or 100 deaths
  • $10 billion or more, or 1,000 deaths
  • a year's colour: its recorded damage or deaths
  • a year with a death
Records
129,3281996 to June 30, 2026
A year since 2000
4,314average
Deaths
974recorded
Damage, 2025 dollars
$20.9BStorm Events, as filed

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; damage in 2025 dollars. Search the record at NCEI.

Which states have the most high wind and dust records?

By count California (9,795), Wyoming (8,737), Montana (7,814) lead. Per 10,000 square miles Rhode Island (7061), New Jersey (4882), Massachusetts (4776) lead; large states collect more records by covering more ground.

By count since 1996

  1. California 9,795
  2. Wyoming 8,737
  3. Montana 7,814
  4. Texas 6,566
  5. South Dakota 5,265
  6. New York 4,845
  7. Colorado 4,370
  8. New Mexico 4,278
  9. Alaska 3,842
  10. Nebraska 3,739
  11. Massachusetts 3,726
  12. Kansas 3,686
  13. New Jersey 3,591
  14. Nevada 3,232
  15. Oregon 3,172

Per 10,000 square miles

  1. Rhode Island 7061
  2. New Jersey 4882
  3. Massachusetts 4776
  4. Delaware 3705
  5. Maryland 1330
  6. Connecticut 1301
  7. Vermont 1178
  8. Hawaii 1067
  9. New York 1028
  10. Wyoming 900
  11. West Virginia 755
  12. New Hampshire 748
  13. South Dakota 695
  14. Pennsylvania 646
  15. Kentucky 643

Source: Land area: Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer; places under 1,000 square miles are not ranked per square mile.

Alabama: 144 per 10,000 sq miAlaska: 67 per 10,000 sq miArizona: 166 per 10,000 sq miArkansas: 101 per 10,000 sq miCalifornia: 628 per 10,000 sq miColorado: 422 per 10,000 sq miConnecticut: 1,301 per 10,000 sq miDelaware: 3,705 per 10,000 sq miFlorida: 59 per 10,000 sq miGeorgia: 208 per 10,000 sq miHawaii: 1,067 per 10,000 sq miIdaho: 113 per 10,000 sq miIllinois: 516 per 10,000 sq miIndiana: 401 per 10,000 sq miIowa: 514 per 10,000 sq miKansas: 451 per 10,000 sq miKentucky: 643 per 10,000 sq miLouisiana: 49 per 10,000 sq miMaine: 571 per 10,000 sq miMaryland: 1,330 per 10,000 sq miMassachusetts: 4,776 per 10,000 sq miMichigan: 269 per 10,000 sq miMinnesota: 194 per 10,000 sq miMississippi: 143 per 10,000 sq miMissouri: 213 per 10,000 sq miMontana: 537 per 10,000 sq miNebraska: 487 per 10,000 sq miNevada: 294 per 10,000 sq miNew Hampshire: 748 per 10,000 sq miNew Jersey: 4,882 per 10,000 sq miNew Mexico: 353 per 10,000 sq miNew York: 1,028 per 10,000 sq miNorth Carolina: 512 per 10,000 sq miNorth Dakota: 385 per 10,000 sq miOhio: 616 per 10,000 sq miOklahoma: 322 per 10,000 sq miOregon: 330 per 10,000 sq miPennsylvania: 646 per 10,000 sq miRhode Island: 7,061 per 10,000 sq miSouth Carolina: 333 per 10,000 sq miSouth Dakota: 695 per 10,000 sq miTennessee: 302 per 10,000 sq miTexas: 251 per 10,000 sq miUtah: 145 per 10,000 sq miVermont: 1,178 per 10,000 sq miVirginia: 560 per 10,000 sq miWashington: 333 per 10,000 sq miWest Virginia: 755 per 10,000 sq miWisconsin: 321 per 10,000 sq miWyoming: 900 per 10,000 sq mi
  • 49-194
  • 194-333
  • 333-516
  • 516-755
  • 755+
High wind and dust storms per 10,000 square miles by state since 1996. Each class holds about a fifth of the states; Alaska and Hawaii are drawn as insets, not to scale.

Every state

High wind risk by state: FEMA's model

The record above counts what happened. FEMA's National Risk Index estimates what each state can expect to lose to high wind and dust storms in an average year, from history, exposure and vulnerability: New Jersey carries the largest expected annual loss ($252M), then Texas and Michigan.

  1. New Jersey $252M
  2. Texas $190M
  3. Michigan $164M
  4. Florida $163M
  5. Minnesota $154M
  6. Illinois $154M
  7. Iowa $124M
  8. Missouri $123M
  9. Nebraska $123M
  10. Indiana $119M
  11. Kentucky $113M
  12. Oklahoma $110M
  13. New York $104M
  14. Ohio $100M
  15. Pennsylvania $97M

Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), county expected annual loss summed by state; a model, not a count. FEMA's National Risk Index map.

When is the windy season?

High wind and dust storms by month, nationally. The busiest month is March.

The values, month by month

Jan 16,246 · Feb 17,792 · Mar 18,858 · Apr 16,050 · May 6,343 · Jun 3,528 · Jul 1,291 · Aug 1,471 · Sep 4,450 · Oct 10,870 · Nov 13,794 · Dec 18,635 (records).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1996.

The deadliest high wind and dust records on record

The 10 storms with the most deaths since 1996, by state
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2012-10-29 High WindNassau County, NY · forecast zone Southern Nassau One storm episode: 15 records in 9 places; the totals are the episode's. Post Tropical Storm Sandy was the costliest natural disaster in Southeast New York. Tropical Storm Sandy formed in the Caribbean Sea on October 22. After drifting slowly southwest on October 23, Sandy turned to the north and intensified to a hurricane on October 24, just before making landfall in Jamaica. Hurricane ... 70 kt wind 29 4 $2.7M
2012-10-29 Hurricane Sandy · High WindMiddlesex County, NJ · forecast zone Middlesex One storm episode: 21 records in 16 places; the totals are the episode's. Post Tropical Storm Sandy was the costliest natural disaster by far in the state of New Jersey. Record breaking high tides and wave action combined with sustained winds as high as 60 to 70 mph with wind gusts as high as around 90 mph to batter the state. Statewide, Sandy caused an estimated 29.4 billion dollars in ... 61 kt wind 22 3 $3.9B
2012-10-29 High WindEssex County, NJ · forecast zone Eastern Essex One storm episode: 8 records in 5 places; the totals are the episode's. Post Tropical Storm Sandy was the costliest natural disaster in Northeast New Jersey. Tropical Storm Sandy formed in the Caribbean Sea on October 22. After drifting slowly southwest on October 23, Sandy turned to the north and intensified to a hurricane on October 24, just before making landfall in Jamaica. Hurricane ... 68 kt wind 15 0 $1.2M
2006-12-14 High WindKing County and Kitsap County, WA · forecast zone Seattle/Bremerton Area One storm episode: 15 records in 14 places; the totals are the episode's. A strong Pacific Ocean rain and wind storm struck Washington on the night of Dec 14th through the morning of the 15th. The storm initially brought one to two inches of heavy rainfall to parts of western Washington on the 14th, producing areas of urban and small stream flooding and overwhelming drainage systems. ... 64 kt wind 14 311 $77M
2012-10-29 High WindLehigh County, PA · forecast zone Lehigh One storm episode: 10 records in 10 places; the totals are the episode's. Post Tropical Storm Sandy caused an initial estimate of $20 million dollars in damage in Pennsylvania and directly or indirectly caused 15 deaths across the state. Most of the damage in the eastern part of the state was wind related as wind gusts reached as high as 81 mph. Some moderate creek flooding occurred in the ... 70 kt wind 11 6 $14M
2025-03-14 Dust StormSherman County, KS · forecast zone Sherman One storm episode: 14 records in 8 places; the totals are the episode's. A strong cold front moved east through Northwest Kansas during the afternoon. As the cold front moved into Kansas, a wall of dust formed along the front, with the blowing dust continuing for hours afterward. As the front moved through, visibility fell immediately to near zero or lower. East ahead of the front ... 8 45 –
2023-05-01 Dust StormMontgomery County, IL · forecast zone Montgomery Northwest winds gusting from 35-40 mph lofted dust from newly plowed farm fields resulting in near zero visibility across portions of northern Montgomery County in Illinois. The blowing dust significantly reduced visibility across portions of I-55 from Zanesville (Exit 63) north to Glenarm (Exit 83 – Sangamon County ... 8 37 –
1999-09-25 High WindFoothills Of The Blue Mountains, OR · forecast zone Foothills Of The Blue Mountains One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. A strong Pacific cold front associated with a deep low pressure system north of Washington State brought strong winds over Oregon and Washington during the morning and early afternoon. These high winds raised clouds of dust over the Columbia basin, reducing visibilities to less than a quarter mile over Umatilla and ... 8 33 $1.8M
2021-07-25 Dust StormJuab County and Millard County, UT · forecast zone Eastern Juab/Millard Counties Thunderstorm outflow winds generated blowing dust with near zero visibility along Interstate 15 near milepost 152 south of Fillmore. This resulted in a multi vehicle pileup with at least 22 vehicles involved, 8 fatalities, and 10 injuries. The nearest mesonet site located 7 miles south of the crash site recorded a ... 8 10 $327K
1999-05-01 High WindChaves County, NM · forecast zone Guadalupe Mountains Of Chaves County / X Sw Chaves High winds were blamed in a fatal travel trailer-church bus accident in southwest Chaves County that claimed 7 lives. State Police concluded that winds of 50-55 mph swept a truck pulling a travel trailer into the opposing lane and slicing into an on-coming bus filled with teenagers returning from a church retreat. One ... 7 0 –

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths direct and indirect, as filed, summed over each storm in each state (one episode, or a named storm filed by several offices); names from FEMA declaration titles.

The costliest high wind and dust records since 1993

The 8 most damaging storms since 1993, 2025 dollars
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2012-10-29 Hurricane Sandy · High WindMiddlesex County, NJ · forecast zone Middlesex One storm episode: 21 records in 16 places; the totals are the episode's. 61 kt wind 22 3 $3.9B
2020-09-07 High WindClackamas County and 2 more, OR · forecast zone North Oregon Cascades Foothills One storm episode: 8 records in 6 places, 2020-09-07 to 2020-09-08; the totals are the episode's. 61 kt wind 5 0 $3.9B
2004-08-13 High WindOrange County, FL · forecast zone Orange One storm episode: 3 records in 3 places; the totals are the episode's. 91 kt wind 4 0 $2.0B
2004-08-13 High WindPolk County, FL · forecast zone Polk One storm episode: 3 records in 3 places; the totals are the episode's. 68 kt wind 1 12 $1.7B
2020-09-08 High WindCowlitz County and Skamania County, WA · forecast zone South Washington Cascades One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. 58 kt wind 0 0 $1.2B
2004-09-25 High WindHighlands County, FL · forecast zone Highlands One storm episode: 4 records in 4 places; the totals are the episode's. 61 kt wind 0 0 $1.1B
2008-09-14 High WindPreble County, OH · forecast zone Preble One storm episode: 32 records in 32 places; the totals are the episode's. 58 kt wind 5 2 $741M
2021-01-18 High WindFresno County and 3 more, CA · forecast zone Central Sierra 87 kt wind 0 0 $218M

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, in 2025 dollars.

What the record files under high wind and dust storms

NOAA event types in this group
Event typeRecordsYearsKilledDamage
High Wind98,4031996-2026494$20.0B
Strong Wind28,5491996-2026382$877M
Dust Storm2,1171996-202692$32M
Dust Devil2591996-20266$2.6M

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, event types as defined in NWS Instruction 10-1605.

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