Rhode Island tornado and storm history
Tornadoes, hurricanes, hail, and severe storms recorded in Rhode Island between 1956 and 2026, from NOAA's Storm Events Database. Search an address to see the storms that came closest to it.
20
Tornado reports
2,495
Storm events
20
Deaths, all storms
Every tornado track in Rhode Island
20 county track segments since 1950, coloured by rating. Zoom in and each path widens to its surveyed width. Tap one for the storm.
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated
Tornadoes by decade in Rhode Island
Not shown for Rhode Island. Only 13 tornadoes have been recorded here since 1950, which is too few to break into decades and read a trend from — the strong-tornado count for most decades would be zero or one. That thinness is itself a fact about Rhode Island. Compare with states that have a longer record.
Significant recent events in Rhode Island
Events with deaths, several injuries, $1M+ property damage, or tornadoes rated EF3 and up.
At the Newport Airport ASOS (KUUU) blizzard conditions occurred from 450 AM EST to 405 PM EST. Newport RI (UUU) wind observations ceased after 150pm, so end time estimated based on visibility since nearby observations indicated winds remained above 35 mph. The highest gust was 67…
Winds generally gusted 45-50 mph. In Scituate a tree was down blocking the road. A 63 year old Massachusetts man was killed by a falling tree branch while on a hike in Burrilville on the Nipmuc Trail.
Fifteen year old Jaimer Ico Gregorio from New London, Connecticut, was with his family at Dunes Park Beach in Westerly, Rhode Island, Thursday night when he went under the water and never resurfaced. There were no lifeguards on duty at the time. A search was launched on the eveni…
Strong rip currents off of Conimicut Point in Warwick, RI (Narragansett Bay) caused the drowning death of a 10 year old girl and of the 45 year old man who went in to attempt to rescue her. Time approximate.
High surf, on the order of 6 to 8 foot waves, knocked a 51 year old woman off the rocks, where she was fishing. She ended up drowning. Her 52 year old husband went into the water to save her but he ended up drowning as well. Very sad story.
At 1:52 PM EST the Automated Surface Observing System platform at Newport State Airport in Middletown measured a wind gust to 67 mph. At 2:24 PM EST an amateur radio operator in Newport reported a wind gust to 62 mph. At 3:20 PM EST, a tree fell on the front yard of a property ne…
A 58 year old Massachusetts man was swept away by high surf while fishing on rocks at Beavertail State Park in Jamestown, RI. His body was recovered from the surf along the rocky shoreline. Tropical Storm Bertha was spinning off the coast of North Carolina, churning up seas and s…
Heavy rain over the same part of Rhode Island for the second day in a row resulted in widespread flash flooding across much of Kent County and Cranston. Information on flooding in Kent County can be found in a separate event entry for Kent County. In Cranston, a car became stuck …
A 90 year old woman died at the Charlesgate Nursing Center in Providence. The woman was not in poor health but lived in a room without air conditioning. Despite air conditioned rooms being available to the woman, she remained in her room. The Rhode Island Medical Examiner's Offic…
Seventeen to twenty-one inches of snow fell across southeastern Providence County. A Rhode Island man died from a heart attack while shoveling snow from the blizzard. No further details were available, including what city or town the man was from.
The Rhode Island coastline in Washington County, stretching from Westerly to Narragansett was devastated by coastal flooding associated with Superstorm Sandy. Much of the coastline is composed of barrier beaches, very shallow strips of land with the Atlantic Ocean on the south si…
While Newport County's beaches didn't experience the same devastation as Washington County's, Superstorm Sandy affected the coastline there as well. The Point section of Newport flooded with six to twelve inches of ocean water during the morning high tide cycle. The Bowen's Wharf…
Several roads sustained major damage in New Shoreham after high surf pounded the shore during Superstorm Sandy. These roads were impassable. Corn Neck Road and Spring Street were the hardest hit. Other roads were blanketed with sand that washed inland. The Old Harbor Dock was dam…
Seven to eight inches of rain fell in Bristol County, resulting in many basements and roads flooding in Bristol and Warren. One house near Silver Creek was flooded and evacuated. The Bristol County Medical Center was forced to shut down for two days because of flooding in the ele…
Five to eight inches of rain fell acros Newport County. Many basements were flooded in Jamestown, and Portsmouth. Several roads were flooded in Jamestown, Tiverton, and Portsmouth, including Route 24 at Main Street in Portsmouth, which was closed.
Counties and zones
Each county’s full storm history, with its event count. Some entries are National Weather Service forecast zones rather than civil counties.
Block Island (65)
Bristol (241)
Eastern Kent (243)
Kent (184)
Newport (286)
Northwest Providence (253)
Providence (451)
Southeast Providence (219)
Washington (376)
Western Kent (175)
Search your address
See every tornado that passed within 25 miles of a place in Rhode Island, measured to its path.
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