Tornadoes · United States · Pennsylvania

2021 tornadoes in Pennsylvania

43 tornadoes touched down in Pennsylvania in 2021, 228 percent above the average of the record for the state. They killed 2 people and injured 3.

2020 2022 The whole country in 2021

The rating scale

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

  1. EF065 to 85 mph

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. EF186 to 110 mph

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. EF2111 to 135 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.

  4. EF3136 to 165 mph

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. EF4166 to 200 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. EF5over 200 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.

  7. 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 2021

May 3 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 39:37 PM EDTEF0Lawrence0.250

May 4 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 42:51 PM EDTEF1Elk0.6125

June 21 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 212:53 PM EDTEF0Allegheny1.350

July 29 14 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 2912:40 PM EDTEF0Crawford0.675
July 2912:55 PM EDTEF0Venango0.315$15,000
July 291:54 PM EDTEF1Westmoreland4.9100$275,000
July 292:25 PM EDTEF1Somerset0.265
July 294:04 PM EDTEF1Lehigh2.990
July 294:25 PM EDTEF1Lehigh1.175
July 295:20 PM EDTEF0Indiana0.110$50,000
July 295:34 PM EDTEF0Lebanon0.760
July 295:40 PM EDTEF1Bucks2.770
July 294:59 PM CDTEF2Bucks to NJ6.3400
July 296:00 PM EDTEF1Greene2.8200$100,000
July 296:10 PM EDTEF0Cambria0.115
July 297:04 PM EDTEF3Bensalem tornado3.4530
July 297:07 PM EDTEF0Philadelphia0.440

August 18 7 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 1812:46 PM EDTEF0Schuylkill0.110$20,000
August 183:16 PM EDTEF0Adams0.675$6,000
August 184:35 PM EDTEF0Snyder0.515$4,000
August 186:31 PM EDTEF1Dauphin5.5150$20,000
August 188:35 PM EDTEF0York0.7125$20,000
August 189:15 PM EDTEF1Berks1.1125
August 1812:25 AM EDTEF1Montgomery8.8140

September 1 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 14:15 PM EDTEF2Chester5.9350$500,000
September 15:35 PM EDTEF2Montgomery8.340012$5.0 million
September 15:59 PM EDTEF1Bucks4.3300
September 16:30 PM EDTEF1Bucks1.6250

September 8 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 85:32 PM EDTEF1Snyder0.730
September 85:35 PM EDTEF0Snyder1.430$20,000

September 22 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 226:20 PM EDTEF1Mercer0.390

October 16 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
October 166:06 AM EDTEF0Beaver0.950
October 166:16 AM EDTEF1Beaver2.1200
October 168:08 AM EDTEF1Jefferson1.226011$170,000

October 21 9 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
October 216:56 PM EDTEF1Beaver1.640
October 217:11 PM EDTEF1Beaver3.2110
October 217:30 PM EDTEF2Washington15.7700$7.5 million
October 217:33 PM EDTEF0Butler8.7300
October 217:41 PM EDTEF0Allegheny0.5100$50,000
October 217:47 PM EDTEF1Allegheny4.7400$500,000
October 217:58 PM EDTEF1Washington0.550
October 217:59 PM EDTEF1Washington0.430
October 218:07 PM EDTEF1Washington1.5200$325,000

Crossed into Pennsylvania

Tornadoes that touched down in a neighboring state and ran into Pennsylvania. They are counted under the state they began in.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 15:59 PM CDTEF1Burlington, NJ to PA3.0200

Nearby

Every tornado in Pennsylvania since 1950Warnings in force in PennsylvaniaThe 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.