Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in Pennsylvania, July 23, 1978

Name: Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in Pennsylvania, July 23, 1978
Start: 1978-07-23T14:10
End: 1978-07-23T17:15
Location: Pennsylvania

July 23, 1978 · NWS ATA · 20 events in 7 counties and zones

18 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 1
Injuries: 26
Property damage: $500,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 20

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

Event by event

18 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Lawrence

When: July 23, 2:10 PM CST
Where: Lawrence County
Coordinates: 40.870, -80.280

Thunderstorm Wind, Butler

When: July 23, 2:15 PM CST
Where: Butler County
Coordinates: 41.070, -80.050

Thunderstorm Wind, Bradford

When: July 23, 2:20 PM CST
Where: Bradford County
Coordinates: 40.880, -76.250

Thunderstorm Wind, Butler

When: July 23, 2:30 PM CST
Where: Butler County
Coordinates: 41.020, -79.730

Thunderstorm Wind, Butler

When: July 23, 2:30 PM CST
Where: Butler County
Coordinates: 40.850, -79.880

Thunderstorm Wind, Clarion

When: July 23, 3:00 PM CST
Where: Clarion County
Coordinates: 41.100, -79.700

Tornado, Clarion

When: July 23, 3:05 PM CST
Where: Clarion County
Path width: 33 yd
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries: 24 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 40.980, -79.600

Thunderstorm Wind, Lawrence

When: July 23, 3:05 PM CST
Where: Lawrence County
Coordinates: 40.880, -80.150

Thunderstorm Wind, Butler

When: July 23, 3:05 PM CST
Where: Butler County
Coordinates: 41.020, -79.730

Tornado, Armstrong

When: July 23, 3:10 PM CST
Where: Armstrong County
Path width: 33 yd
Injuries: 2 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 40.880, -79.580

Thunderstorm Wind, Clarion

When: July 23, 3:10 PM CST
Where: Clarion County
Coordinates: 41.230, -79.550

Thunderstorm Wind, Clarion

When: July 23, 3:14 PM CST
Where: Clarion County
Coordinates: 41.230, -79.550

Thunderstorm Wind, Clarion

When: July 23, 3:25 PM CST
Where: Clarion County
Measured: 71 kt (82 mph)
Coordinates: 41.220, -79.450

Thunderstorm Wind, Jefferson

When: July 23, 3:45 PM CST
Where: Jefferson County
Coordinates: 41.180, -79.200

Thunderstorm Wind, Clarion

When: July 23, 3:45 PM CST
Where: Clarion County
Coordinates: 41.220, -79.400

Thunderstorm Wind, Jefferson

When: July 23, 3:55 PM CST
Where: Jefferson County
Coordinates: 41.180, -79.150

Thunderstorm Wind, Jefferson

When: July 23, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Jefferson County
Coordinates: 40.950, -78.970

Thunderstorm Wind, Jefferson

When: July 23, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Jefferson County
Coordinates: 41.170, -79.080

Thunderstorm Wind, Centre

When: July 23, 4:40 PM CST
Where: Centre County
Coordinates: 40.850, -77.670

Thunderstorm Wind, Centre

When: July 23, 5:15 PM CST
Where: Centre County
Coordinates: 40.780, -77.850

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Tornado, Clarion	1978-07-23				Direct

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
Tornado: A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Pennsylvania in 1978 Every state in 1978 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Pennsylvania, 1978

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 10118039, 10118040, 10118041, 10118042, 10118043, 10118044, 10118045, 10118046, 10118047, 10118048, 10118049, 10118050, 10118051, 10118052, 10118053, 10118054, 10118055, 10118056, 10118057, 10118058.