Puerto Rico severe thunderstorm wind

Are severe thunderstorm wind events common in Puerto Rico?

Puerto Rico averages about 12 severe thunderstorm wind events a year since 2000, 48th of 52 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2025 (69). Per 10,000 square miles of land, Puerto Rico records 1078 severe thunderstorm wind events since 1955, 36th of 51 states and territories by that measure.

1. 1. Maryland 8719
2. 2. New Jersey 8233
3. 3. Massachusetts 5865
4. 4. Delaware 5691
5. 5. South Carolina 5494
6. 6. Ohio 5373
7. 7. Pennsylvania 5299
8. 8. Virginia 5237
9. 9. Connecticut 5070
10. 10. Kentucky 4969
11. 36. Puerto Rico 1078

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1955, 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 Puerto Rico have the most severe thunderstorm wind events?

Per square mile, Ponce Municipio leads Puerto Rico: 8 days with a severe thunderstorm wind event since 1955, 69.6 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Arecibo Municipio has the most thunderstorm wind records (9 since 1955); 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).

1. Ponce Municipio 69.6 (8)
2. Arecibo Municipio 63.5 (9)
3. Utuado Municipio 61.7 (9)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, days with a record in the county since 1955 per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer); in brackets, the count of records.

When is the severe thunderstorm season in Puerto Rico?

Puerto Rico's severe thunderstorm wind events by month. The busiest month is September (66 records).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1955.

What were the deadliest severe thunderstorm wind events in Puerto Rico?

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 severe thunderstorm wind events in Puerto Rico

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

Are severe thunderstorm wind events becoming more frequent in Puerto Rico?

Puerto Rico'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.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.

The most recent severe thunderstorm wind events in Puerto Rico

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 severe thunderstorm wind events in Puerto Rico

FEMA files hail and wind disasters under the incident type Severe Storm: 11 declarations in Puerto Rico, 9 of them major disasters; the latest on August 13, 2024.

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

Next

• Ponce Municipio: the county's whole recordThe Puerto Rico county with the most severe thunderstorm wind events per square mile
• Severe thunderstorm wind across the United StatesEvery state ranked, by year and month
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