Maine hurricanes and tropical storms

Every recorded hurricane or tropical storm record since 1996 · 16 counties with a record

NOAA's Storm Events Database records 121 hurricane and tropical storm records in Maine from 1996 through June 30, 2026, about 9.3 a year since 2000. The deadliest was Hurricane Lee (September 16, 2023): 1 death and 1 injury across 2 records. Maine ranks 16th of 34 states and territories by count and 19th of 33 per square mile.

Hurricanes and tropical storms in Maine, 1996 to 2026

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

recorded, no damage figure
under $1 million
$1 million or more
$10 million or more
$100 million or more, or 10 deaths
$1 billion or more, or 100 deaths
a year's colour: its recorded damage or deaths
a year with a death

Records: 1211996 to June 30, 2026
A year since 2000: 9.3average
Deaths: 13 injuries
Damage, 2025 dollars: $4.8Mas filed
Busiest year: 201132 records

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

Are hurricane and tropical storm records common in Maine?

Maine averages about 9.3 hurricane and tropical storm records a year since 2000, 16th of 34 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2011 (32). Per 10,000 square miles of land, Maine records 39 hurricane and tropical storm records since 1996, 19th of 33 states and territories by that measure.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1996, per 10,000 square miles of land area (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer; places under 1,000 square miles not ranked). Damage colours: Storm Events damage, 2025 dollars.

Which counties in Maine have the most hurricane and tropical storm records?

Per square mile, Sagadahoc County leads Maine: 7 days with a hurricane or tropical storm record since 1996, 27.6 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Cumberland County has the most tropical records (22 since 1996); large counties collect more records simply by covering more ground, so the ranking counts days with a record per unit of area (a storm filed for several forecast zones adds several records but one day).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, days with a record in the county since 1996 per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer); in brackets, the count of records.

When is hurricane season in Maine?

64% of its hurricane and tropical storm records since 1996 fell in August and September. The busiest month is August (46 records).

The values, month by month

Jan 12 · Feb 4 · Mar 13 · Apr 1 · May 7 · Jun 0 · Jul 0 · Aug 46 · Sep 32 · Oct 5 · Nov 0 · Dec 1 (records).

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

What were the deadliest hurricane and tropical storm records in Maine?

Maine: the storms with the most deaths since 1996
Date	Record	Character	Killed	Injured	Damage
2023-09-16	Hurricane Lee · Tropical StormWaldo County · forecast zone Coastal Waldo One named storm filed by several offices: 2 records in 2 episodes; the totals are the storm's. Hurricane Lee was a category 1 hurricane as it traveled north through the eastern Gulf of Maine early on Saturday, September 16th, before it was reclassified as Post-Tropical Cyclone Lee during the morning hours. The storm center eventually made landfall near Long Island, Nova Scotia on the evening of September 16th ...		1	1	–

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths direct and indirect, as filed by the National Weather Service, summed over each storm (one episode, or one named storm filed by several offices). Storm names from the titles of FEMA declarations that name the storm's counties.

The costliest hurricane and tropical storm records in Maine

Maine: the most damaging storms since 1993, 2025 dollars
Date	Record	Damage
2005-05-23	Storm Surge/TideYork County · forecast zone Coastal York	$1.5M
1996-10-20	Storm Surge/TideKittery, York County	$659K
2005-04-03	Storm Surge/TideYork County · forecast zone Coastal York	$302K
1996-10-20	Storm Surge/TideScarborough, Cumberland County	$282K

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

Are hurricane and tropical storm records becoming more frequent in Maine?

Maine's count per decade against the whole country's, and its share. NOAA recorded every event type only from 1996, so earlier decades are not comparable; the share of the national total is the fairer comparison across decades.

Hurricanes and tropical storms: Maine and the United States by decade (2020s to June 30, 2026)
Decade	Maine	United States	Maine's share
1996-99	28	1,123	2.5%
2000s	25	4,928	0.5%
2010s	37	2,761	1.3%
2020-26	31	2,697	1.1%

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.

The most recent hurricane and tropical storm records in Maine

The 7 most recent records, to June 30, 2026
Date	Record	Killed	Injured	Damage
2023-09-16	Tropical StormWaldo County · forecast zone Coastal Waldo	1	0	–
2023-09-16	Tropical StormAroostook County · forecast zone Southeast Aroostook	0	1	–
2005-05-23	Storm Surge/TideYork County · forecast zone Coastal York	0	0	$1.5M
2005-04-03	Storm Surge/TideYork County · forecast zone Coastal York	0	0	$302K
1996-10-20	Storm Surge/TideScarborough, Cumberland County	0	0	$282K
1996-10-20	Storm Surge/TideKittery, York County	0	0	$659K
1996-09-02	Hurricane (Typhoon)Hancock County · forecast zone Coastal Hancock	0	2	–

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; the newest months are revised by NCEI as reports arrive. Search the record at NCEI.

Federal disaster declarations for hurricane and tropical storm records in Maine

FEMA has declared 9 disasters in Maine for hurricane and tropical storm, counting its incident type and declarations that name hurricane or tropical storm or typhoon in the title (FEMA files most storm disasters under Severe Storm); 7 were major disasters, the latest on September 14, 2023.

The 12 most recent
Declared	Number	Title	Areas named
2023-09-14	EM-3598	Hurricane Lee	16
2022-03-15	DR-4647	Severe Storm and Flooding	3
2018-05-30	DR-4367	Severe Storm and Flooding	1
2011-09-13	DR-4032	Tropical Storm Irene	4
2005-09-19	EM-3256	Hurricane Katrina Evacuation	15
1999-11-18	DR-1308	Hurricane Floyd Major Disaster Declarations	5
1991-11-07	DR-921	Coastal Storm	5
1991-08-28	DR-915	Hurricane Bob & Flooding	9
1954-09-13	DR-24	Hurricanes	1

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.