A strong cold front encountered a warm, moist, and unstable environment across northeastern Pennsylvania on the evening of the 30th. The end result was widespread severe thunderstorm development.
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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.
The episode as NWS BGM wrote it up.
A strong cold front encountered a warm, moist, and unstable environment across northeastern Pennsylvania on the evening of the 30th. The end result was widespread severe thunderstorm development. Strong vertical speed shear in the atmosphere led to the formation of several bow echoes that produced significant wind damage. The most substantial damage occurred in southern Luzerne county in the town of Conyngham. As the storm passed through this town around 555 pm EDT, many store front windows were blown out and some buildings sustained damage from falling trees and flying debris. Post storm surveys in this area indicate that maximum gusts likely approached 90 mph. Across northern Pike county, damage was also widespread in the form of downed trees and power lines from the Lackawaxen area all the way to the Delaware River near Matamoras. Several roads were closed in this region for up to 3 hours as crews worked to clear fallen trees and live wires. Power outages were common. Further to the north, severe thunderstorms were more of the pulse type with brief and sporadic occurrences of wind damage and large hail. By 700 pm EDT, any remaining severe storms had pushed eastward either into the Catskills of New York state or New Jersey.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
6 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
A line of thunderstorms became severe over western and central portions of the county late in the afternoon. Trees and wires were downed in Athens around 410 pm EDT and in Canton about 415 pm.
The same line of thunderstorms that produced sporadic wind damage in Bradford county continued eastward into Susquehanna county. Isolated wind damage was again caused by these storms. Trees and wires were downed in Silver Lake around 510 pm EDT and near Clifford about 530 pm.
A thunderstorm briefly pulsed to severe levels late in the afternoon over the northeastern corner of the county. Trees were blown over in the town of Nicholson around 520 pm EDT.
The same complex of thunderstorms that produced wind damage upstream in Bradford and Susquehanna counties moved eastward across Wayne county and intensified. Wind damage was fairly widespread across southern sections of the county. Numerous trees and wires were downed in and just south of Honesdale. Power outages were quite common in this area and several local roadways were blocked from fallen trees, including portions of route 191. Many trees were also knocked down with blocked roads near Bethany and Hamlin. Routes 670 and 590 were closed for a time until crews were able to clear debris.
A complex of severe thunderstorms moved across southern sections of the county and produced widespread wind damage from late in the afternoon into the early evening. Trees and wires were first knocked down in Salem township around 545 pm EDT. Two houses also sustained siding and roof damage in Salem as trees fell upon them. The swath of wind damage continued eastward as numerous trees were uprooted or otherwise toppled throughout the towns of Union, Conyngham, Nanticoke, and Glen Summit. The most severe damage occurred in Conyngham where windows were blown out of several store front areas and power was knocked out to the majority of the town. East of Glen Summit, the damage path became indiscernable as the cell apparently weakened shortly after 600 pm.
A thunderstorm briefly reached severe limits over extreme southern portions of the county. Trees were toppled by strong wind gusts along portions of Interstate 380 near exit 6 in Covington township and also just to the east near route 307. Dime sized hail was also observed in this area.
A band of severe thunderstorms produced widespread wind damage across the northern tier of the county during the early evening hours. Most of the damage was in the form of downed trees with the path of damage running almost parallel and just north of route 6. Power outages were widespread in the Shohola Falls and Milford areas as several utility poles were toppled. Portions of route 209 just south of Matamoras were also closed for a short time as fallen trees blocked the road.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Pennsylvania in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, June 1998
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: 5657467, 5657468, 5657471, 5657469, 5655945, 5657470, 5655946.