Drought in Pennsylvania

Events

807

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Damage

$521 million

• Drought in Pennsylvania, July 1 to 31, 1999$500 million · 33 eventsGovernor Ridge declared a drought emergency in 55 of the 67 counties of Pennsylvania following extended dry weather through much of the summer. Water usage was restricted.
• Drought in Pennsylvania, September 1 to 30, 1999$20 million · 7 eventsA very dry spring and summer caused major crop failures and some wells to run dry. Many streams and rivers were also brought to their lowest recorded levels. The crops most affected were corn and hay, which dealt a major blow to dairy farmers.
• Drought in Pennsylvania, August 1 to 31, 1997$1.4 million · 7 eventsA very dry summer finally culminated in major crop failures come harvest time towards the end of August. Sweet corn and tomatoes, two of the major money making crops for small farmers in northeast Pennsylvania, appeared to suffer some of the worst damage.
• Drought in Pennsylvania, October 31, 199736 eventsAs the growing season drew to a close, farmers assessed damage from an early season drought. Forty-six counties and their contiguous neighbors were declared agricultural disaster areas by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
• Drought in Pennsylvania, December 15, 199836 eventsAbnormally dry conditions through the Fall months developed into drought across all of central Pennsylvania by mid-December.
• Drought in Pennsylvania, August 1 to 31, 199933 eventsA drought emergency remained in effect for 55 of the 67 counties of Pennsylvania. In spite of the severe flash flooding in a few locations and normal or above normal precipitation in many others, water tables remained low and water usage was restricted.
• Drought in Pennsylvania, September 1 to 30, 199915 eventsAlthough rainfall across Western Pennsylvania for September again averaged between 1.5 to 2.0 inches below normal, the state-imposed drought emergency for the area, in effect since July 20, was downgraded to a drought warning on September 30.
• Drought in Pennsylvania, August 1 to 31, 199915 eventsThe dry conditions that actually began in July 1998 continued through August. The month of August started with eight Western Pennsylvania counties already under a state-declared Drought Emergency, four counties under a Drought Warning, and three counties under a Drought Watch.
• Drought in Pennsylvania, October 1 to 31, 202014 eventsSevere drought conditions were observed across a wide area of central Pennsylvania through the month of October 2020. The counties impacted were: Potter, Tioga, Cameron, McKean, Clinton, Lycoming, Clearfield, Centre, Huntingdon, Blair and Union.
• Drought in Pennsylvania, June 30, 199710 eventsJune 1997 was drier than normal throughout Eastern Pennsylvania. On a county weighted average, deficits averaged between 1 and 2 inches in all of Eastern Pennsylvania.
• Drought in Pennsylvania, October 31, 199710 eventsUnseasonably dry weather and below normal rainfall, which became worse during the summer months, forced the Delaware River Basin Commission to declare a drought warning on October 27th.
• Drought in Pennsylvania, November 30, 199810 eventsUnseasonably dry weather continued through the month of November across Eastern Pennsylvania. On a county weighted average only 1.2 to 2.2 inches of precipitation fell during the month.
• Drought in Pennsylvania, December 31, 199810 eventsDecember 1998 was another unseasonably dry month. On a county weighted average, every county in Eastern Pennsylvania had less than one inch of precipitation (.6 to .9). This was nearly 3 inches below normal and only 20 percent of the normal monthly December precipitation.
• Drought in Pennsylvania, August 31, 199810 eventsUnseasonably dry weather continued to take its toll on crops and vegetation across Eastern Pennsylvania during the month of August. On a county weighted monthly average only Berks and Delaware Counties had near normal precipitation during the month.
• Drought in Pennsylvania, December 3 to 31, 199810 eventsThe run of unseasonably dry weather that began in July started to take its toll on water supplies throughout the region.
• Drought in Pennsylvania, July 31, 199810 eventsJuly 1998 started a run of drier than normal weather across Southeastern Pennsylvania. On a county weighted average, rainfall totals for the month of July were between 1.7 and 2.8 inches and averaged about half of normal.
• Drought in Pennsylvania, September 30, 199810 eventsSeptember 1998 continued the trend of both warmer and drier than normal weather across Eastern Pennsylvania. The warmest and driest weather occurred in and around the Philadelphia Metropolitan Area.
• Drought in Pennsylvania, February 1 to 28, 199910 eventsThe combination of an extremely wet January and melting snow and ice in the headwater region permitted the Delaware River Basin Commission to lift its drought warning on February 2nd.
• Drought in Pennsylvania, January 1 to 31, 199910 eventsJanuary 1999 finally broke a string of unseasonably dry months that prevailed during the second half of 1998 across most of Eastern Pennsylvania. Conditions did not look promising at the start of the month.
• Drought in Pennsylvania, March 1 to 15, 199910 eventsMarch continued the trend of above normal precipitation during 1999 across Eastern Pennsylvania. On a county weighted average, monthly precipitation totals ranged from 3.8 inches in Berks County to 5.6 inches in Delaware County and was around 1.1 inches above normal.
• Drought in Pennsylvania, May 1 to 31, 199910 eventsUnseasonably dry weather returned to Eastern Pennsylvania during the month of May, especially in Berks, Carbon and Montgomery Counties (where only about 50 percent of normal rainfall fell). All counties received below normal precipitation.
• Drought in Pennsylvania, September 1 to 30, 199910 eventsThe drought that gripped the Middle Atlantic States throughout much of the growing season eased in mid August. Normal and in some cases heavier than normal rainfall returned.
• Drought in Pennsylvania, July 31, 199910 eventsJuly 1999 continued the trend of extremely warm and dry weather across Eastern Pennsylvania. July 1999 was the third warmest July on record at both the Lehigh Valley International Airport (mean temperature of 78.0 degrees) and Reading (mean temperature of 79.0 degrees).
• Drought in Pennsylvania, August 1 to 31, 199910 eventsThe drought continued throughout the first half of August across Eastern Pennsylvania. Crops were decimated, especially in Berks County. Crop losses were estimated at exceeding $500 million dollars throughout the state of Pennsylvania.
• Drought in Pennsylvania, July 1 to 31, 199910 eventsThe drought intensified throughout July across eastern Pennsylvania. For the fourth consecutive month, below normal precipitation continued. On a county weighted average for July, between 0.3 inches (in Lehigh County) and 2.0 inches (in Delaware County) fell.

Drought everywhereEvery kind of event in Pennsylvania

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.