Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Allentown, PA

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Allentown International Airport, PA, 4 miles northeast of Allentown at 390 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 86°F and low of 65°F; January is the coolest, at 38°F and 22°F. July is the wettest at 5.3 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.8 inches; the year adds up to 47.4 inches over 82 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 56% of the year's precipitation (26.4 of 47.4 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 25 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (9); a normal September there has highs of 77°F and 4.8 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 18 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 118 nights a year. Snowfall averages 33.1 inches a year, most of it in February. That 47.4 inches is more than at 108 of the 148 Pennsylvania stations used on this site (73%). Center Valley, 6 miles southeast, has its own station (Springtown 1 NNE, PA): 53.3 inches a year, 5.9 more than here, and a July average high of 83°F against 86°F.

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 523 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Allentown: 382 thunderstorm wind reports, 85 flash floods, 22 floods, 21 lightning strikes and 13 heavy rain events. They killed 1 person and injured 5, and the NWS estimated $5.0 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 100 mph, on May 13, 2000. August has had the most flash floods, 33 of 85. Of the 788 Pennsylvania cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 646 have had fewer than Allentown.

Flood insurance policyholders in Allentown's 6 ZIP codes have filed 461 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $6.1 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1987: 69 claims (15% of all) and $849,000, then Not a named storm in 1979 with 68 and Tropical Storm Ivan in 2004 with 28. The year with the most claims was 1979, with 77. 47% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 553 Pennsylvania cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 523 have fewer than Allentown.