Boston, Cambridge, Quincy Metro Area Natural Disasters and Weather Extremes
The chance of earthquake damage in Boston, Cambridge, Quincy Area is lower than the national average. The risk of tornado damage in Boston, Cambridge, Quincy Area is lower than the national average.
Earthquake Index, #96
| Boston, Cambridge, Quincy Area | 1.09 |
| U.S. | 1.81 |
The earthquake index value is calculated based on historical earthquake events data using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the earthquake level in a region. A higher earthquake index value means a higher chance of an earthquake.
Volcano Index, #129
| Boston, Cambridge, Quincy Area | 0.0000 |
| U.S. | 0.0023 |
The volcano index value is calculated based on the currently known volcanoes using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the possibility of a region being affected by a possible volcano eruption. A higher volcano index value means a higher chance of being affected.
Tornado Index, #642
| Boston, Cambridge, Quincy Area | 81.54 |
| U.S. | 136.45 |
The tornado index value is calculated based on historical tornado events data using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the tornado level in a region. A higher tornado index value means a higher chance of tornado events.
Other Weather Extremes Events
A total of 7,936 other weather extremes events from 1950 to 2010 were recorded in Boston, Cambridge, Quincy Area. The following is a break down of these events:
| Type | Count | Type | Count | Type | Count | Type | Count | Type | Count |
| Avalanche: | 0 | Blizzard: | 6 | Cold: | 49 | Dense Fog: | 2 | Drought: | 10 |
| Dust Storm: | 0 | Flood: | 835 | Hail: | 1,615 | Heat: | 41 | Heavy Snow: | 280 |
| High Surf: | 0 | Hurricane: | 0 | Ice Storm: | 15 | Landslide: | 0 | Strong Wind: | 473 |
| Thunderstorm Winds: | 3,219 | Tropical Storm: | 2 | Wildfire: | 0 | Winter Storm: | 147 | Winter Weather: | 46 |
| Other: | 1,196 | ||||||||
Volcanos Nearby
No volcano is found in or near Boston, Cambridge, Quincy Area.
Historical Earthquake Events
A total of 1 historical earthquake event that had a recorded magnitude of 3.5 or above found in or near Boston, Cambridge, Quincy Area.
| Distance (miles) | Date | Magnitude | Depth (km) | Latitude | Longitude |
| 11.4 | 1963-10-16 | 4.5 | 20 | 42.5 | -70.8 |
Historical Tornado Events
A total of 29 historical tornado events that had recorded magnitude of 2 or above found in or near Boston, Cambridge, Quincy Area.
| Distance (miles) | Date | Magnitude | Start Lat/Log | End Lat/Log | Length | Width | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage | Crop Damage | Affected County |
| 1.6 | 1958-08-25 | 2 | 42°32'N / 71°00'W | 1.00 Mile | 50 Yards | 0 | 0 | 3K | 0 | Middlesex | |
| 11.7 | 1974-09-29 | 3 | 42°36'N / 71°14'W | 42°37'N / 71°12'W | 0 | 1 | 250K | 0 | Middlesex | ||
| 14.1 | 1958-07-11 | 2 | 42°30'N / 71°18'W | 1.50 Miles | 17 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Middlesex | |
| 15.0 | 1951-08-21 | 2 | 42°42'N / 71°08'W | 42°46'N / 70°58'W | 9.30 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 0 | 3K | 0 | Essex |
| 19.5 | 1956-11-21 | 2 | 42°48'N / 71°00'W | 0.80 Mile | 17 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Essex | |
| 19.6 | 1972-07-21 | 2 | 42°41'N / 71°25'W | 42°35'N / 71°20'W | 7.60 Miles | 37 Yards | 0 | 4 | 2.5M | 0 | Middlesex |
| 20.2 | 1965-08-28 | 2 | 42°42'N / 71°20'W | 2.00 Miles | 33 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Middlesex | |
| 22.2 | 1961-07-02 | 2 | 42°50'N / 71°16'W | 42°46'N / 71°12'W | 5.10 Miles | 400 Yards | 0 | 1 | 250K | 0 | Rockingham |
| 24.4 | 1951-08-21 | 2 | 42°50'N / 71°08'W | 42°54'N / 71°04'W | 4.90 Miles | 67 Yards | 0 | 0 | 3K | 0 | Rockingham |
| 25.3 | 1956-11-21 | 2 | 42°10'N / 71°10'W | 0.10 Mile | 17 Yards | 0 | 0 | 3K | 0 | Norfolk | |
| 25.7 | 1970-10-03 | 3 | 42°33'N / 71°32'W | 42°34'N / 71°31'W | 1 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Middlesex | ||
| 28.9 | 2006-05-21 | 2 | 42°55'N / 70°51'W | 42°55'N / 70°51'W | 0.10 Mile | 20 Yards | 0 | 2 | 3K | 0 | Rockingham |
| Brief Description: A small, but rather intense, tornado touched down on Interstate 95 about two miles south of the Hampton Toll Booths in the town of Hampton Falls. While several funnel clouds were observed over southeastern New Hampshire that Sunday evening, the actual tornado touched down just as one of the funnel clouds approached I-95. The tornado then lifted off the ground about 100 yards after crossing I-95. The most significant damage was to a truck parked along the side of the highway. The trucked was lifted off the ground briefly by the tornado, thrown about 10 feet, landed on the passenger side, and then rolled 1 1/4 times ending up on its roof. Two men were in the truck at the time and were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. After interviews with the occupants and eyewitness reports which indicated that the vehicle was lifted into the air, the tornado intensity was classified as F2 on the Fujita scale. These reports were consistent with the ground-based assessment. | |||||||||||
| 30.5 | 1963-05-20 | 2 | 42°24'N / 71°36'W | 0.30 Mile | 50 Yards | 0 | 0 | 3K | 0 | Worcester | |
| 31.1 | 1953-06-09 | 3 | 42°58'N / 70°58'W | 1.50 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 5 | 25K | 0 | Rockingham | |
| 33.8 | 1953-06-09 | 3 | 42°03'N / 71°14'W | 42°03'N / 71°12'W | 0 | 1 | 2.5M | 0 | Bristol | ||
| 35.0 | 1953-06-09 | 3 | 42°06'N / 71°29'W | 42°03'N / 71°14'W | 13.10 Miles | 667 Yards | 0 | 15 | 2.5M | 0 | Norfolk |
| 35.4 | 1956-11-21 | 2 | 42°24'N / 71°42'W | 0.10 Mile | 17 Yards | 0 | 0 | 2.5M | 0 | Worcester | |
| 35.4 | 1963-05-20 | 2 | 42°24'N / 71°42'W | 1.50 Miles | 33 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Worcester | |
| 36.0 | 1963-06-09 | 2 | 43°00'N / 71°30'W | 42°52'N / 71°24'W | 10.00 Miles | 77 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Hillsborough |
| 37.0 | 1957-07-05 | 2 | 42°32'N / 71°45'W | 0.50 Mile | 20 Yards | 0 | 0 | 3K | 0 | Worcester | |
| 38.5 | 1967-11-18 | 2 | 41°58'N / 70°54'W | 0.10 Mile | 17 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Plymouth | |
| 40.6 | 1953-06-09 | 3 | 42°10'N / 71°46'W | 42°06'N / 71°29'W | 14.90 Miles | 667 Yards | 0 | 1 | 2.5M | 0 | Worcester |
| 41.8 | 1957-06-19 | 2 | 43°06'N / 70°48'W | 0.20 Mile | 77 Yards | 0 | 1 | 25K | 0 | Rockingham | |
| 42.4 | 1966-08-31 | 2 | 42°18'N / 71°48'W | 1.00 Mile | 67 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Worcester | |
| 42.4 | 1970-10-03 | 3 | 42°20'N / 72°10'W | 42°33'N / 71°32'W | 35.40 Miles | 60 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Worcester |
| 42.7 | 1953-06-09 | 4 | 42°28'N / 72°10'W | 42°18'N / 71°31'W | 34.90 Miles | 900 Yards | 90 | 1228 | 250.0M | 0 | Worcester |
| 43.4 | 1976-05-03 | 2 | 43°08'N / 70°51'W | 1.00 Mile | 33 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Strafford | |
| 45.1 | 1968-07-17 | 2 | 42°50'N / 71°48'W | 0.10 Mile | 17 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Hillsborough | |
| 47.8 | 2008-07-24 | 2 | 43°09'N / 71°18'W | 43°13'N / 71°16'W | 5.00 Miles | 880 Yards | 1 | 2 | 0K | 0K | Rockingham |
| Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: An E-F2 tornado touched down about 5 miles southwest of Northwood Narrows and moved north northeast for a little over 5 miles before crossing into Merrimack County. Numerous trees were downed and many homes were damaged or destroyed. A woman was killed when the house she was in collapsed. EPISODE NARRATIVE: On July 24th a closed 500 mb low was digging over NY/PA and waves of surface low pressure were riding north along the associated surface front to the west of the forecast area. A strong 50kt low level jet was also riding northward ahead of the front. This resulted in extremely high helicity values across southern and central New Hampshire. A surface dew point boundary was in place across south central New Hampshire with readings in the lower 70s to the east of this boundary and in the mid 60s to the west. Sunshine began breaking out to the east of this boundary by mid morning and convection began developing by late morning. Storms grew rapidly and quickly began rotating. A tornado rated as strong as F2 cut a 50 mile path through 5 counties in southeast New Hampshire resulting in 1 fatality and damage to over 100 structures some of which were completely destroyed. | |||||||||||
* The information on this page is based on the global volcano database, the U.S. earthquake database of 1638-1985, and the U.S. Tornado and Weather Extremes database of 1950-2010.