New Jersey high wind and dust storms
Every recorded high wind record since 1996 · 21 counties with a record
NOAA's Storm Events Database records 3,591 high wind and dust records in New Jersey from 1996 through June 30, 2026, about 120 a year since 2000. The deadliest was Hurricane Sandy (October 29, 2012): 22 deaths, 3 injuries and $3.9 billion in damage in 2025 dollars across 21 records. New Jersey ranks 13th of 52 states and territories by count and 2nd of 51 per square mile.
High wind and dust storms in New Jersey, 1996 to 2026
Wind 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
- 3,5911996 to June 30, 2026
- A year since 2000
- 120average
- Deaths
- 5789 injuries
- Damage, 2025 dollars
- $4.0Bas filed
- Busiest year
- 2012312 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 high wind and dust records common in New Jersey?
New Jersey averages about 120 high wind and dust records a year since 2000, 13th of 52 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2012 (312). Per 10,000 square miles of land, New Jersey records 4882 high wind and dust records since 1996, 2nd of 51 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 New Jersey have the most high wind and dust records?
Per square mile, Cape May County leads New Jersey: 209 days with a high wind record since 1996, 830.9 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Ocean County has the most wind records (437 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 the windy season in New Jersey?
New Jersey's high wind and dust records by month. The busiest month is February (670 records).
The values, month by month
Jan 527 · Feb 670 · Mar 572 · Apr 323 · May 77 · Jun 7 · Jul 7 · Aug 4 · Sep 141 · Oct 315 · Nov 352 · Dec 596 (records).
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1996.
What were the deadliest high wind and dust records in New Jersey?
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012-10-29 | Hurricane Sandy · High WindMiddlesex County · 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 · 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 |
| 2008-12-25 | Strong WindEssex County · forecast zone Essex A strong cold front moved across the Northeast during the early morning hours of December 25. Gusty northwest winds of 40 to 50 mph behind the front toppled a 40 foot tree onto a car traveling on the Garden State Parkway in Bloomfield, New Jersey, at approximately 0110EST. A 42-year-old man and 70-year-old woman were ... | 40 kt wind | 2 | 2 | – |
| 2002-09-11 | High WindHunterdon County · forecast zone Hunterdon One storm episode: 3 records in 3 places; the totals are the episode's. The pressure difference between a strong high pressure system in the central part of the country and Tropical Storm Gustav located well east of the Delmarva Peninsula produced strong gusty northwest winds throughout the day on the 11th. Winds frequently gusted between 35 and 45 mph throughout the day and caused ... | 2 | 2 | – | |
| 2009-02-12 | High WindMiddlesex County and Union County · forecast zone Union One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. An intense area of low pressure over the Eastern Great Lakes on the morning of February 12, tracked northeast and up into the Canadian Maritimes by evening. High winds developed near daybreak, right behind the cold front, and continued through the day. The strongest winds occurred during the morning and appeared to be ... | 50 kt wind | 2 | 0 | – |
| 2002-09-11 | High WindMiddlesex County and Union County · forecast zone Union A strong pressure gradient developed between Hurricane Gustav, which intensified as it moved offshore, and a high pressure system, which built southeast. High winds quickly developed behind a strong cold front that trailed from a low pressure system over Northeast New England around 10:00 am EDT.Wind speeds were ... | 1 | 12 | – | |
| 2014-03-12 | High WindSussex County · forecast zone Sussex The strong pressure gradient (difference) between an intensifying strong low pressure system and a high pressure system in the Ohio Valley caused high to strong northwest winds to occur across New Jersey from the evening of the 12th following a cold frontal passage through the daytime hours on the 13th. Peak wind ... | 51 kt wind | 1 | 1 | $125K |
| 1999-10-14 | Strong WindEssex County · forecast zone Essex Strong and gusty northwest winds developed behind a rapidly moving strong cold front. Most wind gusts were between 40 and 50 mph.In Essex County, gusty winds downed a 3 foot wide, 35 foot high oak tree in Glen Ridge. This tree fell on a van and crushed a 2 year old boy. His mother, who was injured, began climbing into ... | 1 | 1 | – | |
| 2018-03-02 | High WindSussex County · forecast zone Sussex One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. A cold front stalled across the region on March 1st. Meanwhile, a wave of low pressure developed along this front in the Ohio Valley and move east, deepening just southeast of Long Island on March 2nd. This large and very deep area of low pressure moved slowly east over the open waters of the North Atlantic Ocean ... | 50 kt wind | 1 | 1 | – |
| 2015-10-02 | Strong WindMonmouth County · forecast zone Western Monmouth One storm episode: 4 records in 3 places; the totals are the episode's. A persistent onshore flow caused periods of heavy rain, strong to high winds, beach erosion, and minor to moderate tidal flooding to occur along the Atlantic coast of New Jersey and into Delaware Bay from the 1st through the 4th. Strong winds and minor tidal flooding started with the daytime high tide cycle on the ... | 40 kt wind | 1 | 0 | $25M |
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 high wind and dust records in New Jersey
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012-10-29 | Hurricane Sandy · High WindMiddlesex County · forecast zone Middlesex One storm episode: 21 records in 16 places; the totals are the episode's. | 61 kt wind | 22 | 3 | $3.9B |
| 2015-10-02 | Strong WindMonmouth County · forecast zone Western Monmouth One storm episode: 4 records in 3 places; the totals are the episode's. | 40 kt wind | 1 | 0 | $25M |
| 2010-03-13 | High WindAtlantic County · forecast zone Eastern Atlantic One storm episode: 9 records in 6 places; the totals are the episode's. | 63 kt wind | 0 | 7 | $13M |
| 1999-09-16 | Hurricane Floyd · High WindMorris County · forecast zone Morris One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. | 0 | 2 | $7.1M | |
| 2006-09-01 | Strong WindMonmouth County · forecast zone Western Monmouth One storm episode: 3 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. | 48 kt wind | 0 | 2 | $6.4M |
| 2006-01-18 | High WindCamden County · forecast zone Camden One storm episode: 9 records in 9 places; the totals are the episode's. | 52 kt wind | 0 | 0 | $5.5M |
| 2008-10-28 | Strong WindMorris County · forecast zone Morris One storm episode: 4 records in 4 places; the totals are the episode's. | 40 kt wind | 0 | 0 | $3.4M |
| 2009-11-12 | Tropical Depression Ida · High WindCape May County · forecast zone Eastern Cape May One storm episode: 4 records in 3 places, 2009-11-12 to 2009-11-13; the totals are the episode's. | 50 kt wind | 0 | 0 | $2.8M |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, in 2025 dollars.
Are high wind and dust records becoming more frequent in New Jersey?
New Jersey'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 | New Jersey | United States | New Jersey's share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996-99 | 468 | 14,026 | 3.3% |
| 2000s | 1,701 | 37,254 | 4.6% |
| 2010s | 1,244 | 41,748 | 3.0% |
| 2020-26 | 178 | 36,300 | 0.5% |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.
The most recent high wind and dust records in New Jersey
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-02-07 | High WindSussex County · forecast zone Sussex | 50 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-02-07 | High WindCape May County · forecast zone Eastern Cape May | 50 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-02-07 | High WindCape May County · forecast zone Eastern Cape May | 53 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-02-07 | High WindAtlantic County · forecast zone Western Atlantic | 50 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-02-07 | High WindPassaic County · forecast zone Western Passaic | 50 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-02-07 | High WindEssex County · forecast zone Eastern Essex | 51 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2025-12-29 | High WindMonmouth County · forecast zone Western Monmouth | 52 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2025-12-29 | High WindCape May County · forecast zone Eastern Cape May | 51 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2025-12-29 | High WindCape May County · forecast zone Eastern Cape May | 52 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2025-12-19 | High WindUnion County · forecast zone Western Union | 50 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2025-12-19 | High WindHudson County · forecast zone Hudson | 50 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2025-12-19 | High WindSussex County · forecast zone Sussex | 55 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
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.
Next
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