Vermont tornadoes
Every recorded tornado since 1950 · 12 counties with a record
Vermont has recorded 50 tornadoes from 1950 through 2025, about 1.5 a year since 2000, with 1 rated F3/EF3 or stronger (NOAA Storm Prediction Center). The costliest was the May 31, 1998 tornado ($1.1 million in 2025 dollars). Vermont ranks 47th of 52 states and territories by count and 41st of 51 per square mile.
Tornadoes in Vermont, 1950 to 2025
Tornadoes per year (SPC; a tornado that crossed a state line counts in each state it touched).
- 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
- 1996: tornado reports rose with NEXRAD Doppler radar, mid-1990s (SPC)
- Tornadoes
- 501950 to 2025
- A year since 2000
- 1.5average
- Deaths
- 012 injuries
- F3/EF3 or stronger
- 12% of tornadoes
- Busiest year
- 19625 tornadoes
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025 (state segments). SPC severe weather database.
Are tornadoes common in Vermont?
Vermont averages about 1.5 tornadoes a year since 2000, 47th of 52 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 1962 (5). Per 10,000 square miles of land, Vermont records 54 tornadoes since 1950, 41st of 51 states and territories by that measure.
Source: NOAA SPC, tornadoes 1950-2025, 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 Vermont have the most tornadoes?
Per square mile, Franklin County leads Vermont: 8 days with a tornado record since 1950, 12.7 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Franklin County has the most tornado records (8 since 1950); 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 1950 per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer); in brackets, the count of records.
When is tornado season in Vermont?
56% of its tornadoes since 1950 fell in June and July. The busiest month is July (17 tornadoes).
The values, month by month
Jan 0 · Feb 0 · Mar 2 · Apr 0 · May 9 · Jun 11 · Jul 17 · Aug 9 · Sep 1 · Oct 1 · Nov 0 · Dec 0 (records).
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, state segments by the month they began, 1950-2025.
Where have the strongest tornadoes tracked in Vermont?
- F2/EF2
- F3/EF3
- F4/EF4
- F5/EF5
- no end point filed
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, start and end points of each track; county lines: Census Bureau cartographic boundaries (2017), via us-atlas. SPC severe weather database. Census cartographic boundary files.
The strongest tornadoes in Vermont
| Date | Counties | Rating | Path in state | Width | Killed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998-05-31 | Stillwater to Hoosick Falls · Bennington | F3 | 5.5 mi | 970 yd | 0 |
| 1961-06-13 | Swanton · Franklin | F2 | 7.9 mi | 300 yd | 0 |
| 1962-07-09 | North Springfield · Windsor | F2 | 7.6 mi | 10 yd | 0 |
| 1963-07-04 | Swanton · Franklin | F2 | 5.9 mi | 500 yd | 0 |
| 1962-07-09 | Springfield · Windsor | F2 | 4.7 mi | 10 yd | 0 |
| 1970-08-03 | St. Albans · Franklin | F2 | 4.5 mi | 150 yd | 0 |
| 1957-06-18 | Franklin | F2 | 3 mi | 500 yd | 0 |
| 1960-06-24 | Cambridge · Lamoille | F2 | 2 mi | 100 yd | 0 |
| 1962-05-20 | Franklin | F2 | 1.8 mi | 100 yd | 0 |
| 1955-10-24 | Windsor | F2 | 1 mi | 10 yd | 0 |
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database; F scale before February 1, 2007, EF scale after.
The longest tornado paths in Vermont
| Date | Tornado and counties | Rating | Path in state | Width | Killed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003-07-21 | Bennington | F1 | 25 mi | 150 yd | 0 |
| 2023-07-13 | Rutland | EF0 | 11.85 mi | 20 yd | 0 |
| 1962-05-20 | Orleans | F1 | 9.4 mi | 100 yd | 0 |
| 1961-06-13 | Swanton · Franklin | F2 | 7.9 mi | 300 yd | 0 |
| 1962-07-09 | North Springfield · Windsor | F2 | 7.6 mi | 10 yd | 0 |
| 1963-07-04 | Swanton · Franklin | F2 | 5.9 mi | 500 yd | 0 |
| 1998-05-31 | Stillwater to Hoosick Falls · Bennington | F3 | 5.5 mi | 970 yd | 0 |
| 1962-07-09 | Springfield · Windsor | F2 | 4.7 mi | 10 yd | 0 |
| 1970-08-03 | St. Albans · Franklin | F2 | 4.5 mi | 150 yd | 0 |
| 1993-09-03 | Orleans, Essex | F1 | 4 mi | 500 yd | 0 |
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, state segments: path length and width inside the state. SPC severe weather database.
Tornadoes in every Vermont county
All 12 counties: tornadoes whose track touched each, and the strongest
| County | Tornadoes | Strongest |
|---|---|---|
| Franklin County | 8 | F/EF2 |
| Bennington County | 6 | F/EF3 |
| Chittenden County | 6 | F/EF2 |
| Orleans County | 6 | F/EF1 |
| Windham County | 5 | F/EF2 |
| Addison County | 4 | F/EF1 |
| Essex County | 4 | F/EF1 |
| Windsor County | 4 | F/EF2 |
| Lamoille County | 3 | F/EF2 |
| Orange County | 3 | F/EF1 |
| Rutland County | 2 | F/EF0 |
| Caledonia County | 1 | F/EF0 |
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database: whole tornadoes whose track touched the county (any state segment listing it). SPC severe weather database.
The costliest tornadoes in Vermont
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998-05-31 | TornadoNorth Bennington, Bennington County During the morning hours of May 31, a strong low pressure system over the upper Great Lakes pushed a warm front across eastern New York and western New England. This set the stage for a major severe weather outbreak in southern Vermont. In this highly sheared environment several lines of severe thunderstorms formed ... | F2 5.5 mi x 400 yd | 0 | 0 | $1.1M |
| 1993-09-03 | TornadoOrleans County Rte. 105 and the County Line to 1 NW Island Pond,The first tornado to touch down in the state in several years hit the northeast corner of the state during the evening of September 3rd. The tornado first touched down near the top of Hinton Ridge in Westmore where it leveled the kitchen section of a house and did ... | F1 4 mi x 500 yd | 0 | 0 | $1.1M |
| 2003-07-21 | TornadoNorth Pownal, Bennington County A large upper air trough dug across the western Great Lakes on Monday, July 21. At the surface, a deep low pressure area moved across the eastern Great Lakes, driving a warm front across New England during the evening hours. The air became very unstable in the warm air mass behind the front. A supercell, that ... | F1 25 mi x 150 yd | 0 | 0 | $241K |
| 2009-05-09 | TornadoWashington, Orange County A brief EF1 tornado touched down in the town of Washington that snapped and uprooted trees, partially ripped off roof from apartment building, damaged school awning and destroyed steel truss and fabric cow barn. | EF1 0.55 mi x 75 yd | 0 | 0 | $172K |
| 2026-04-16 | TornadoWilliamstown, Orange County An NWS Storm Survey found EF1 tornado damage 2 SSE of the town of Williamstown. Maximum winds 90 MPH. A roof of a small farm building and a house were damaged as well as an old, small sugarhouse collapsed with numerous sheered tree tops and uprooted trees in saturated soils. | EF1 0.53 mi x 200 yd | 0 | 0 | $150K |
| 2008-07-18 | TornadoNorth Cambridge, Lamoille County Another brief tornado touchdown occurred at a farmstead along Route 108 in North Cambridge. Winds were estimated between 80 and 100 mph. Hundreds of trees damaged or destroyed along with significant structural damage to house and barn. | EF1 0.31 mi x 100 yd | 0 | 0 | $137K |
| 2002-06-05 | TornadoWindham County Thunderstorms, that initially developed in New York, and produced a macroburst in extreme eastern New York, moved into southern Vermont during the evening of the 5th. The storms spawned two tornados, one in Woodford Hollow, Bennington County and the other one near Wilmington, Windham County. The first touchdown, one ... | F2 0.1 mi x 150 yd | 0 | 0 | $123K |
| 2009-07-16 | TornadoWilliamstown, Orange County A tornado produced a broken path of damage. The most significant damage occurred to a blown barn roof near the beginning of the track along South Hill Road near Lighthouse Road In Williamstown. The tornado moved southeast and lifted near the intersection of Stellar and Williamstown Roads in Chelsea. The majority of ... | EF0 2.71 mi x 425 yd | 0 | 0 | $103K |
Before 1993 NOAA filed damage by category, not amount, so the list above starts in 1993. The highest category filed here before then (entered as $2.5M, in the dollars of the day) holds: August 8, 1983 (tornado, Chittenden County).
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, in 2025 dollars.
Are tornadoes becoming more frequent in Vermont?
Vermont's count per decade against the whole country's, and its share. The Storm Prediction Center notes that tornado reports rose especially around the installation of the NEXRAD Doppler radar network in the mid-1990s, so a rising count is partly better detection; the share of the national total is the fairer comparison across decades.
| Decade | Vermont | United States | Vermont's share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 5 | 4,837 | 0.10% |
| 1960s | 14 | 6,863 | 0.20% |
| 1970s | 5 | 8,633 | 0.06% |
| 1980s | 7 | 8,250 | 0.08% |
| 1990s | 2 | 12,205 | 0.02% |
| 2000s | 8 | 12,892 | 0.06% |
| 2010s | 5 | 12,232 | 0.04% |
| 2020-25 | 4 | 8,234 | 0.05% |
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, state segments.
The most recent tornadoes in Vermont
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-06-18 | TornadoBridgewater, Windsor County | EF1 1.27 mi x 550 yd | 0 | 0 | $100K |
| 2026-06-18 | TornadoLincoln, Addison County | EF1 0.31 mi x 200 yd | 0 | 0 | $50K |
| 2026-04-16 | TornadoWilliamstown, Orange County | EF1 0.53 mi x 200 yd | 0 | 0 | $150K |
| 2023-07-13 | TornadoBenson Lndg, Rutland County | EF0 11.85 mi x 20 yd | 0 | 0 | $48K |
| 2022-07-18 | TornadoVergennes, Addison County | EF0 0.68 mi x 25 yd | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2022-07-18 | TornadoAddison County | EF1 0.92 mi x 50 yd | 0 | 0 | $10K |
| 2021-03-26 | TornadoMiddlebury, Addison County | EF1 0.65 mi x 75 yd | 0 | 2 | $82K |
| 2019-08-21 | TornadoWindham County | EF1 0.75 mi x 350 yd | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2012-05-29 | TornadoSouth Albany, Orleans County | EF0 0.27 mi x 100 yd | 0 | 0 | $13K |
| 2011-07-26 | TornadoCanaan Bunnell Airport, Essex County | EF0 0.48 mi x 75 yd | 0 | 0 | $13K |
| 2010-08-03 | TornadoPeacham, Caledonia County | EF0 0.14 mi x 50 yd | 0 | 0 | $34K |
| 2010-06-05 | TornadoCraftsbury Common, Orleans County | EF1 2.09 mi x 83 yd | 0 | 0 | $34K |
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 tornadoes in Vermont
FEMA has declared 2 disasters in Vermont for tornadoes, counting its incident type and declarations that name tornado in the title (FEMA files most storm disasters under Severe Storm); 2 were major disasters, the latest on June 22, 2012.
| Declared | Number | Title | Areas named |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012-06-22 | DR-4066 | Severe Storm, Tornado, and Flooding | 3 |
| 2008-08-15 | DR-1784 | Severe Storms, A Tornado, and Flooding | 3 |
Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.
Next
- Franklin County: the county's whole recordThe Vermont county with the most tornadoes per square mile
- Tornadoes across the United StatesEvery state ranked, by year and month
- Every natural hazard in VermontTornadoes, floods, storms, heat and the federal declarations
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