Tornado in Pennsylvania
Every tornado event the National Weather Service has filed in Pennsylvania, year by year, with the most significant episodes. 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.
The most significant on the map
The most significant tornado episodes in Pennsylvania.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The record
- Events
- 1,091
- Deaths
- 83
- Injuries
- 1,309
- Damage
- $1.9 billion
Every year
The most significant
Ranked by deaths, injuries, damage and size together.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Pennsylvania, May 31, 1985
- Tornadoes and Hail in Pennsylvania, June 3, 1980
- Tornado and Damaging Winds in Pennsylvania, August 3, 1963
- Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in Pennsylvania, July 27, 1994A rare (with respect to both time of day and intensity) tornado outbreak affected eastern Chester County the evening of the 27th. Tornadic thunderstorms affected portions of the Middle Atlantic States south of Pennsylvania earlier that evening.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Pennsylvania, July 11, 1976
- Tornadoes and Hail in Pennsylvania, June 2, 1998For the second time in three days, significant severe weather including tornadoes affected northeastern Pennsylvania. The primary focusing mechanisms were a strong mid level shortwave and surface cold front that approached the region during the evening of the 2nd.
- Tornadoes and Tropical Storm in Pennsylvania, August 4, 2020Tropical Storm Isaias brought high winds, heavy rain, several tornadoes, and coastal flooding to the mid-Atlantic region, becoming the most impactful tropical cyclone to impact most of the region since Sandy in 2012.
- Tornado in Pennsylvania, May 31, 1998The tornado touched down just east of Mt. Davis and traveled east-southeast into downtown Salisbury. The storm then continued eastward for 8 miles ending east of the town of Pocahontas.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Pennsylvania, July 15, 1992
- Tornadoes in Pennsylvania, June 2, 1998An F1 tornado touched down 5 miles northwest of Carnegie in Allegheny County and moved east-southeast across the southern and eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh into Westmoreland County.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Pennsylvania, June 18, 1970
- Tornado in Pennsylvania, November 10, 2002Starting about 7:54 PM, an F2 tornado touched down near Trout Island Road, east of Sharpsville. The tornado traveled northeast at 50 mph, crossed Route 18, then ripped into Clark. It crossed Shenango River Lake and tracked to New Hamburg, where it dissipated 8:02 PM.
- Tornado in Pennsylvania, September 3, 1963
- Tornado and Hail in Pennsylvania, July 26, 2012Low pressure tracked east-northeast from the Lower Great Lakes region into the Northeast states, while a cold front trailed southwestward from the surface low through the Ohio Valley and Southern Plains states.
- Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in Pennsylvania, July 23, 1978
- Tornado and Damaging Winds in Pennsylvania, March 22, 1955
- Tornadoes and Hail in Pennsylvania, July 1 to 31, 1999A number of trees were downed.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Pennsylvania, May 6, 1991
- Tornado and Flash Flooding in Pennsylvania, November 5, 2017A cold front moved across the Ohio Valley and southern Great Lakes on the afternoon of Sunday, November 5th, 2017. Unseasonably warm and humid air was in place across the region ahead of the front.
- Tornadoes in Pennsylvania, April 5, 1952
- Tornadoes in Pennsylvania, September 1, 2021The remnants of Hurricane Ida impacted the mid-Atlantic on September 1, 2021. As it moved northward, Ida began transitioning to a strong mid-latitude cyclone with pronounced frontal features, but with continued tropical moisture.
- Tornadoes in Pennsylvania, September 5, 1979
- Tornado and Hail in Pennsylvania, May 31, 1998A violent thunderstorm produced a swath of wind damage across the northern half of Berks County and included an eight mile long strong F3 (Fujita Scale) Tornado that devastated the borough of Lyons. Seven persons were injured (five within Lyons).
- Tornado in Pennsylvania, July 14, 2004Thunderstorms spawned a strong F3 tornado in southern Lebanon County during the afternoon of July 14. The tornado first touched down in far western Lebanon County at 3:05 pm EDT, about 1 mile west of the town of Campbelltown.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Pennsylvania, May 31, 1998An intensifying storm system moved across upstate New York and into southern Quebec early in the morning on the 31st. This system dragged a warm front across northeastern Pennsylvania. Behind this front, a southerly flow of warm, moist, and unstable air quickly developed.
More
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.