Tornadoes · United States · Pennsylvania

1998 tornadoes in Pennsylvania

59 tornadoes touched down in Pennsylvania in 1998, 351 percent above the average of the record for the state. They killed 3 people and injured 96. 1 were rated F4 or EF4 and above.

1997 1999 The whole country in 1998

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

F040 to 72 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
F173 to 112 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
F2113 to 157 mph
Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.
F3158 to 206 mph
Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.
F4207 to 260 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
F5261 to 318 mph
Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.
Unrated
The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Every tornado in Pennsylvania in 1998

March 9 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 9	7:33 PM EST	F1	Berks	2.0	50			$100,000

April 1 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
April 1	12:30 PM EST	F1	Adams	1.5	100
April 1	12:40 PM EST	F0	Montour	2.0	1,200
April 1	2:37 PM EST	F1	Chester	0.5	100	1	$30,000

April 9 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 9	2:30 PM EDT	F1	Beaver	0.2	50			$10,000

May 29 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 29	5:00 PM EDT	F0	Centre	2.0	440

May 31 21 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 31	5:20 PM EDT	F1	Lycoming	0.5	440
May 31	7:00 PM EDT	F0	Luzerne	0.2	40			$50,000
May 31	7:30 PM EDT	F1	Elk	3.0	100
May 31	7:30 PM EDT	F0	Elk	0.5	100
May 31	8:08 PM EDT	F2	Pike	2.0	550			$200,000
May 31	8:10 PM EDT	F1	Cameron	5.0	50
May 31	8:20 PM EDT	F3	Pike	20.0	200		2	$1.0 million
May 31	8:20 PM EDT	F2	Pike	3.0	200			$400,000
May 31	8:20 PM EDT	F0	Lackawanna	0.3	30			$70,000
May 31	8:20 PM EDT	F0	Lackawanna	0.1	100			$100,000
May 31	8:45 PM EDT	F1	Lycoming	7.0	80
May 31	8:50 PM EDT	F3	Somerset	13.0	880	1	15	$4.0 million
May 31	8:50 PM EDT	F0	Wayne	0.5	30			$50,000
May 31	9:00 PM EDT	F3	Berks	8.3	120		7	$1.4 million
May 31	9:02 PM EDT	F0	Lycoming	0.5	50
May 31	9:15 PM EDT	F0	Lycoming	0.2	40
May 31	9:15 PM EDT	F1	Wyoming	0.5	50			$70,000
May 31	9:50 PM EDT	F0	Pike	0.3	30			$40,000
May 31	12:30 AM EDT	F2	Lancaster	7.0	880
May 31	12:52 AM EDT	F1	Chester	3.0	100			$300,000
May 31	1:20 AM EDT	F2	Philadelphia	5.6	200			$1.8 million

June 1 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 1	12:43 AM EDT	F1	Chester	6.0	100			$200,000

June 2 20 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 2	5:30 PM EDT	F1	Beaver	7.0	300			$400,000
June 2	5:45 PM EDT	F1	McKean	8.0	440
June 2	5:55 PM EDT	F1	Allegheny	32.0	700		50	$13 million
June 2	6:45 PM EDT	F1	Jefferson	1.3	100			$250,000
June 2	6:50 PM EDT	F1	Westmoreland	8.0	200		1	$200,000
June 2	7:00 PM EDT	F2	Somerset	15.0	880
June 2	7:30 PM EDT	F0	Beaver	0.2	30			$10,000
June 2	7:30 PM EDT	F0	Clearfield	0.2	50
June 2	7:40 PM EDT	F0	York	4.0	30
June 2	7:50 PM EDT	F1	Blair	4.0	150
June 2	8:20 PM EDT	F0	Allegheny	1.0	50			$20,000
June 2	9:00 PM EDT	F0	Fayette	0.3	50			$10,000
June 2	8:02 PM CDT	F4	Somerset to MD	36.5	1,200		5	$5.5 million
June 2	9:05 PM EDT	F1	Susquehanna	12.0	100			$300,000
June 2	8:35 PM CDT	F2	Fayette to WV, MD	12.0	300			$9.0 million
June 2	9:35 PM EDT	F0	Centre	0.5	70
June 2	9:40 PM EDT	F1	Northumberland	15.0	440
June 2	9:45 PM EDT	F1	Bradford	6.0	400			$400,000
June 2	10:00 PM EDT	F3	Wyoming	26.0	500	2	15	$2.2 million
June 2	10:40 PM EDT	F1	Lackawanna	3.0	200			$300,000

June 16 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
June 16	5:28 PM EDT	F0	Westmoreland	0.2	50	$10,000
June 16	6:05 PM EDT	F1	Cambria	0.2	100
June 16	6:50 PM EDT	F1	Lycoming	2.0	250
June 16	7:50 PM EDT	F1	Lycoming	0.2	30

June 30 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 30	4:05 PM EDT	F0	Cambria	5.0	50
June 30	4:25 PM EDT	F1	Somerset	0.2	70

July 20 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 20	12:55 AM EDT	F1	Crawford	5.0	100			$70,000

September 7 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 7	12:45 PM EDT	F1	Monroe	3.0	30

September 27 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
September 27	6:25 PM EDT	F1	Cambria	7.0	100
September 27	6:25 PM EDT	F1	Union	2.5	400
September 27	6:40 PM EDT	F1	Northumberland	1.2	700

Nearby

Every tornado in Pennsylvania since 1950 Warnings in force in Pennsylvania The live radar over Pennsylvania

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.