Maryland hurricanes and tropical storms
Every recorded hurricane or tropical storm record since 1996 · 21 counties with a record
NOAA's Storm Events Database records 143 hurricane and tropical storm records in Maryland from 1996 through June 30, 2026, about 9.4 a year since 2000. The deadliest was Hurricane Isabel (September 18, 2003): 1 death, 200 injuries and $912 million in damage in 2025 dollars across 17 records. Maryland ranks 13th of 34 states and territories by count and 11th of 33 per square mile.
Hurricanes and tropical storms in Maryland, 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
- 1431996 to June 30, 2026
- A year since 2000
- 9.4average
- Deaths
- 3201 injuries
- Damage, 2025 dollars
- $949Mas filed
- Busiest year
- 200322 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 Maryland?
Maryland averages about 9.4 hurricane and tropical storm records a year since 2000, 13th of 34 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2003 (22). Per 10,000 square miles of land, Maryland records 147 hurricane and tropical storm records since 1996, 11th 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 Maryland have the most hurricane and tropical storm records?
Per square mile, Calvert County leads Maryland: 7 days with a hurricane or tropical storm record since 1996, 32.8 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Worcester County has the most tropical records (24 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 Maryland?
87% of its hurricane and tropical storm records since 1996 fell in August and September. The busiest month is September (83 records).
The values, month by month
Jan 1 · Feb 0 · Mar 0 · Apr 2 · May 0 · Jun 0 · Jul 10 · Aug 42 · Sep 83 · Oct 5 · Nov 0 · Dec 0 (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 Maryland?
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003-09-18 | Hurricane Isabel · Tropical StormBaltimore (city) · forecast zone Northern Baltimore One named storm filed by several offices: 17 records in 3 episodes, 2003-09-18 to 2003-09-19; the totals are the storm's. On September 18, 2003, Hurricane Isabel made landfall on the North Carolina Coast. Its huge wind field was already piling water up into the southern Chesapeake Bay. By the time Isabel moved into central Virginia, it had weakened and was downgraded to a tropical storm. Isabel's eye tracked well west of the bay, but the ... | 1 | 200 | $912M | |
| 2020-08-04 | Tropical Storm Isaias · Tropical StormSt. Mary's County · forecast zone St. Mary's One named storm filed by several offices: 8 records in 2 episodes; the totals are the storm's. Tropical Storm Isaias moved up the east coast, passing through southern Maryland on the morning of Tuesday, August 4th, 2020, spawning several tornadoes as well as flooding rain and tropical storm force winds. Storm total rainfall ranged from 2 to 4 inches near Interstate 95 to as much as 9 inches in Calvert County ... | 1 | 1 | $3.2M | |
| 2011-08-27 | Hurricane Irene · Tropical StormQueen Anne's County · forecast zone Queen Annes One named storm filed by several offices: 17 records in 3 episodes; the totals are the storm's. Hurricane Irene produced heavy flooding rain, tropical storm force wind gusts and caused one wind related death across the Eastern Shore. Preliminary damage estimates were around three million dollars and approximately 85,000 homes and businesses lost power. Power was not fully restored until September 1st. The ... | 1 | 0 | $20M |
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 Maryland
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003-09-18 | Hurricane Isabel · Tropical StormBaltimore (city) · forecast zone Northern Baltimore One named storm filed by several offices: 17 records in 3 episodes, 2003-09-18 to 2003-09-19; the totals are the storm's. | 1 | 200 | $912M | |
| 2011-08-27 | Hurricane Irene · Tropical StormQueen Anne's County · forecast zone Queen Annes One named storm filed by several offices: 17 records in 3 episodes; the totals are the storm's. | 1 | 0 | $20M | |
| 2020-08-04 | Tropical Storm Isaias · Tropical StormSt. Mary's County · forecast zone St. Mary's One named storm filed by several offices: 8 records in 2 episodes; the totals are the storm's. | 1 | 1 | $3.2M | |
| 1996-09-06 | Storm Surge/TideAlong The Potomac, Charles County | 0 | 0 | $3.0M | |
| 1996-09-06 | Storm Surge/TideAlong The Chesapeake, Anne Arundel County | 0 | 0 | $2.6M | |
| 1999-09-15 | Hurricane Floyd · Hurricane (Typhoon)Somerset County · forecast zone Somerset One named storm filed by several offices: 3 records in 2 episodes, 1999-09-15 to 1999-09-16; the totals are the storm's. | 0 | 0 | $2.3M | |
| 1996-09-06 | Hurricane (Typhoon)Worcester County · forecast zone Maryland Beaches | 0 | 0 | $1.9M | |
| 1996-09-06 | Storm Surge/TideAlong The Chesapeake, Calvert County | 0 | 0 | $1.4M |
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 Maryland?
Maryland'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.
| Decade | Maryland | United States | Maryland's share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996-99 | 40 | 1,123 | 3.6% |
| 2000s | 46 | 4,928 | 0.9% |
| 2010s | 29 | 2,761 | 1.1% |
| 2020-26 | 28 | 2,697 | 1.0% |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.
The most recent hurricane and tropical storm records in Maryland
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-08-21 | Tropical StormWorcester County · forecast zone Maryland Beaches | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2020-08-04 | Tropical StormMontgomery County · forecast zone Central And Southeast Montgomery | 0 | 1 | $114K | |
| 2020-08-04 | Tropical StormCalvert County · forecast zone Calvert | 0 | 0 | $855K | |
| 2020-08-04 | Tropical StormSt. Mary's County · forecast zone St. Mary's | 1 | 0 | $855K | |
| 2020-08-04 | Tropical StormWicomico County · forecast zone Wicomico | 0 | 0 | $285K | |
| 2020-08-04 | Tropical StormSomerset County · forecast zone Somerset | 0 | 0 | $285K | |
| 2020-08-04 | Tropical StormWorcester County · forecast zone Maryland Beaches | 0 | 0 | $285K | |
| 2020-08-04 | Tropical StormWorcester County · forecast zone Inland Worcester | 0 | 0 | $285K | |
| 2020-08-04 | Tropical StormDorchester County · forecast zone Dorchester | 0 | 0 | $285K | |
| 2011-08-27 | Tropical StormWicomico County · forecast zone Wicomico | 0 | 0 | $1.4M | |
| 2011-08-27 | Tropical StormSomerset County · forecast zone Somerset | 0 | 0 | $1.4M | |
| 2011-08-27 | Tropical StormWorcester County · forecast zone Inland Worcester | 0 | 0 | $1.4M |
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 Maryland
FEMA has declared 11 disasters in Maryland 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); 8 were major disasters, the latest on February 4, 2021.
| Declared | Number | Title | Areas named |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-02-04 | DR-4583 | Tropical Storm Isaias | 3 |
| 2012-11-20 | DR-4091 | Hurricane Sandy | 24 |
| 2012-10-28 | EM-3349 | Hurricane Sandy | 24 |
| 2011-10-05 | DR-4038 | Remnants of Tropical Storm Lee | 7 |
| 2011-09-16 | DR-4034 | Hurricane Irene | 15 |
| 2011-08-27 | EM-3335 | Hurricane Irene | 23 |
| 2005-09-13 | EM-3251 | Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | 24 |
| 2003-09-19 | DR-1492 | Hurricane Isabel | 24 |
| 1999-09-24 | DR-1303 | Hurricane Floyd Major Disaster Declarations | 11 |
| 1996-09-17 | DR-1139 | Severe Storms and Flooding Assoc With Tropical Storm Fran | 3 |
| 1972-06-23 | DR-341 | Tropical Storm Agnes | 21 |
Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.
Next
- Calvert County: the county's whole recordThe Maryland county with the most hurricane and tropical storm records per square mile
- Hurricanes and tropical storms across the United StatesEvery state ranked, by year and month
- Every natural hazard in MarylandTornadoes, floods, storms, heat and the federal declarations
- Severe thunderstorm wind in Maryland8,467 records
- Winter storms in Maryland4,573 records
- Floods in Maryland3,545 records