NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Beach Lake, PA
Every tropical system within 75 miles since 1851 and every tornado within 25 miles since 1950.
Data: NOAA NHC HURDAT2 and NOAA SPC tornado and hail reports, through 2025 · Updated
15 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Beach Lake, Pennsylvania since 1851, 1 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Isaias in 2020. Since 1950, 27 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 1 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 1
- Tropical storms
- 14
- Tornadoes
- 27
- EF3 or stronger
- 1
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
no recorded deaths
What the records show for Beach Lake
The strongest storm to pass near Beach Lake was an unnamed storm in 1878, a Category 1 hurricane with 79 mph winds when its centre passed 5 miles away. The record near Beach Lake begins with an unnamed storm in 1863; the most recent system was Isaias in 2020, a tropical storm 21 miles away. Of the 15 systems, one has come since 2000. Of the 794 Pennsylvania cities on this site, 45% have more hurricanes within 75 miles than Beach Lake. The strongest of the 27 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F3 on May 31, 1998; its path came within 21 miles. Of the 27, one had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 16 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 9. The most recent tornado was on September 25, 2025. Of the 794 Pennsylvania cities, 93% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Beach Lake. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 35 times since 1985, with stones up to 2.5 inches (tennis ball size). Of the 794 Pennsylvania cities, 65% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Beach Lake.
Compare Beach Lake's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Beach Lake
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | IsaiasAug 4 | 21 mi | Tropical storm (61 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1979 | DavidSep 6 | 37 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1972 | AgnesJun 23 | 33 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1952 | AbleSep 1 | 45 mi | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1949 | Unnamed 1949 stormAug 29 | 15 mi | Tropical storm (55 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1933 | Unnamed 1933 stormAug 24 | 75 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1929 | Unnamed 1929 stormOct 3 | 14 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormAug 4 | 63 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1903 | Unnamed 1903 stormSep 17 | 37 mi | Tropical storm (61 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1899 | Unnamed 1899 stormNov 1 | 28 mi | Tropical storm (54 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormAug 29 | 33 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormAug 22 | 40 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1878 | Unnamed 1878 stormOct 23 | 5 mi | Category 1 (79 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1866 | Unnamed 1866 stormOct 30 | 60 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1863 | Unnamed 1863 stormSep 19 | 64 mi | Tropical storm (48 mph) | Tropical storm |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Beach Lake: a hurricane's worst winds sit within a few dozen miles of its centre, and inland cities are usually past that.
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Beach Lake
By decade
- 2020s3
- 2010s10
- 2000s3
- 1990s8(1 EF3+)
- 1980s1
- 1970s1
- 1960s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 31, 1998 | F3 | 21 mi | 20 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Apr 22, 2023 | EF2 | 17 mi | 9.95 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 23, 2010 | EF2 | 5 mi | 25.72 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 31, 1998 | F2 | 16 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 31, 1998 | F2 | 18 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 18, 1991 | F2 | 22 mi | 4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 9, 1972 | F2 | 20 mi | 0.3 mi | 0 / 2 |
| May 9, 1961 | F2 | 22 mi | 6.8 mi | 0 / 4 |
| May 27, 2024 | EF1 | 8 mi | 0.4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 15, 2018 | EF1 | 14 mi | 0.22 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 13, 2014 | EF1 | 24 mi | 0.75 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 29, 2011 | EF1 | 9 mi | 0.65 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 27, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Beach Lake
The Storm Prediction Center has 35 hail reports within 10 miles of Beach Lake since 1985, made on 24 separate days. Of these, 21 were 1 inch across or larger, and 2 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.5 inches (tennis ball size), fell on June 24, 1985. The most recent report is from August 21, 2014. June has the most reports, 17.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Beach Lake
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Hawley 1 E, PA, 9 miles south of Beach Lake at 890 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 81°F and low of 57°F; January is the coolest, at 33°F and 14°F. June is the wettest at 4.7 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.7 inches; the year adds up to 45.2 inches over 80 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 55% of the year's precipitation (24.8 of 45.2 inches); the other six months are drier. August has brought the most of the 15 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (6); a normal August there has highs of 79°F and 4.1 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 6 days a year, almost all from June to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 164 nights a year. Snowfall averages 47.1 inches a year, most of it in February. That 45.2 inches is more than at 78 of the 148 Pennsylvania stations used on this site (53%). Waymart, 15 miles west, has its own station (Pleasant Mt 1 W, PA): 51.5 inches a year, 6.3 more than here, and a July average high of 77°F against 81°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 33 | 14 | 3.2 | 7 | 13.0 |
| Feb | 36 | 14 | 2.7 | 6 | 13.2 |
| Mar | 45 | 22 | 3.6 | 7 | 9.4 |
| Apr | 58 | 32 | 3.7 | 8 | 1.1 |
| May | 69 | 43 | 3.6 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 77 | 53 | 4.7 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 81 | 57 | 4.1 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 79 | 55 | 4.1 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 73 | 48 | 4.3 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 61 | 36 | 4.4 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 49 | 27 | 3.2 | 5 | 1.3 |
| Dec | 38 | 20 | 3.6 | 7 | 9.1 |
| Year | 58 | 35 | 45.2 | 80 | 47.1 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Hawley 1 E, PA (890 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals. Normals describe the station; the farther a place is from it, and the bigger the difference in height, the more its weather can differ.
Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Beach Lake
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 103 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Beach Lake: 87 thunderstorm wind reports, 13 flash floods and 3 floods. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $4.4 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 115 mph, on May 15, 2018. Of the 788 Pennsylvania cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 224 have had fewer than Beach Lake.
April 3, 2005: flash flood 8 miles from the centre of Beach Lake — $3.0 million damage.
November 25, 2004: thunderstorm wind 2 miles from the centre of Beach Lake — $200,000 damage.
NWS: “Thunderstorm winds downed trees and wires in Beach Lake and Equinunk Thanksgiving morning. The winds also flipped a trailer in Equinunk.”
June 9, 2021: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Beach Lake — $150,000 damage.
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, events whose starting point is on record, 1996 to June 30, 2026. Damage is the NWS estimate in the dollars of the year, not insured losses, and NWS notes that some reports are unverified.
Flood insurance claims, disaster declarations and FEMA risk ratings
Wayne County, which includes Beach Lake, has been named in 25 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 19 of them major disasters (by incident: 6 floods, 6 hurricanes, 6 severe storms, 3 snowstorms). The latest major disaster declaration was Tropical Storm Debby, on September 11, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Wayne County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for strong wind; Relatively Low for hurricanes, tornadoes, inland flooding and lightning; Very Low for hail and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $17.2 million a year, the 49th highest of 67 Pennsylvania counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $12.7 million (74%), is from inland flooding.
Claims: FEMA, OpenFEMA Dataset FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims – v3, summed over ZIP codes; payments in the dollars of each year, not adjusted for inflation. Declarations: Disaster Declarations Summaries – v2, by county. Retrieved October 25, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Risk ratings: FEMA, National Risk Index county table, December 2025 (v1.20), retrieved October 26, 2026; ratings compare counties nationwide, are meant for planning and are no substitute for a local risk assessment. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
What counts as a pass, the distances and the sources: how this storm history is built.
Cities near Beach Lake
- Honesdale, PA8 mi
- Hawley, PA12 mi
- Waymart, PA15 mi
- Shohola, PA16 mi
- Forest City, PA19 mi
- Lake Ariel, PA19 mi
- Greentown, PA20 mi
- Carbondale, PA21 mi
- Monticello, NY21 mi
- Milford, PA22 mi
- Sparrow Bush, NY23 mi
- Liberty, NY23 mi
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