No active hurricanes threatening Long Beach right now

Could the next one hit soon? 111 hurricanes have impacted the Long Beach area since 1851 — set up free alerts so you'll have time to prepare when one's on the way.

111
Hurricanes affecting Long Beach area
2021
Most recent
140 kt
Strongest peak winds
7 mi
Closest approach
Local note: As a low-lying barrier island on Long Island’s south shore, Long Beach is most threatened by storm surge and coastal flooding — recent powerful storms such as Hurricane Ida (2021) and Zeta (2020) produced damaging surge and beach erosion that define its hurricane risk.

Coverage on this page applies broadly to the Long Beach area — including Island Park, Atlantic Beach, Oceanside, East Rockaway, Hewlett, Point Lookout, Woodmere, Lawrence. Tropical storms rarely respect city limits.

When do hurricanes typically threaten the Long Beach area?

Distribution of 111 hurricanes that have come within 150 mi of Long Beach, by month of closest approach.

J
F
M
A
3 M
10 J
8 J
30 A
39 S
19 O
2 N
D

Recent notable storms affecting the Long Beach area

Year Name Peak Cat Peak Winds Closest Approach
2021 ELSA Cat 1 75 kt 36 mi
2021 IDA Cat 4 130 kt 45 mi
2021 HENRI Cat 1 65 kt 64 mi
2020 ISAIAS Cat 1 80 kt 78 mi
2020 ZETA Cat 3 100 kt 128 mi
2018 FLORENCE Cat 4 130 kt 113 mi
2018 MICHAEL Cat 5 140 kt 192 mi
2016 HERMINE Cat 1 70 kt 104 mi
2014 ARTHUR Cat 2 85 kt 165 mi
2012 SANDY Cat 3 100 kt 87 mi
2011 IRENE Cat 3 105 kt 18 mi
2010 EARL Cat 4 125 kt 192 mi
2008 HANNA Cat 1 75 kt 60 mi
2006 ERNESTO Cat 1 65 kt 167 mi
Hurricane-strength storms (Cat 1+) since 2006 that came within 200 miles of Long Beach. Includes storms whose center stayed offshore or hit nearby cities — wind, surge, and rainfall impacts extend far beyond the storm's path.

All-time closest approaches to Long Beach

Year Name Peak Cat Peak Winds Closest Approach Date of Closest
1872 UNNAMED Cat 1 70 kt 7 mi Oct 26, 1872
1999 FLOYD Cat 4 135 kt 8 mi Sep 17, 1999
1960 BRENDA TS 60 kt 10 mi Jul 30, 1960
1893 UNNAMED Cat 3 100 kt 15 mi Aug 24, 1893
2011 IRENE Cat 3 105 kt 18 mi Aug 28, 2011
1934 UNNAMED Cat 2 85 kt 18 mi Jun 19, 1934
1888 UNNAMED TS 50 kt 19 mi Sep 12, 1888
1968 UNNAMED TS 55 kt 19 mi Sep 11, 1968
1985 GLORIA Cat 4 125 kt 19 mi Sep 27, 1985
1900 UNNAMED TS 40 kt 20 mi Oct 14, 1900
Showing the 10 closest of 111 total storms within 150 mi of Long Beach since 1851.

If a hurricane threatens Long Beach

  1. Know your evacuation zone. Look up yours by address via your state or county emergency management office (Nassau County and surrounding areas).
  2. Set up alerts ahead of time. During an active storm, watches and warnings change every six hours. Email or text alerts from TropicalInfo give you the official NHC update the moment it's posted, with a plain-language summary.
  3. Prep your supplies before the storm is named. Stores empty out within hours of a watch. The 72-hour rule: water, food, batteries, fuel, medications, important documents. Our alerts can notify you of a storm long before it makes the news — giving you more time to get what you need before the panic-buying starts.
  4. Follow the cone, not the line. The forecast track is a best estimate — the cone shows where the center is likely to go. Impacts extend hundreds of miles from the center.

Set up free location-based alerts for Long Beach

Historical data: NOAA HURDAT2 Atlantic and Eastern North Pacific hurricane databases. Closest-approach calculated using great-circle distance between Long Beach (40.5877°N, 73.6595°W) and each 6-hourly observation. Storms are included if their center passed within 150 mi of Long Beach — impacts (wind, surge, rainfall) routinely extend much further.