Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Chester, PA

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Marcus Hook, PA, 3 miles southwest of Chester at 10 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 89°F and low of 70°F; January is the coolest, at 43°F and 27°F. July is the wettest at 4.8 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.2 inches; the year adds up to 41.8 inches over 66 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 54% of the year's precipitation (22.5 of 41.8 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 38 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (15); a normal September there has highs of 80°F and 4.4 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 27 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 64 nights a year. That 41.8 inches is more than at 32 of the 148 Pennsylvania stations used on this site (22%). Ridley Park, 3 miles northeast, has its own station (Philadelphia International Airport, PA): 44.2 inches a year, 2.4 more than here, and a July average high of 88°F against 89°F.

Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Marcus Hook, PA, 3 miles southwest, averaged 82°F in July and 39°F in January over 2021–2025. It averaged 80°F or warmer from July to August. Sea level at the Philadelphia tide gauge, 14 miles from Chester, has risen 1.24 ± 0.04 inches per decade from 1900 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 12.4 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 73 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 613 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Chester: 392 thunderstorm wind reports, 141 flash floods, 54 floods, 19 lightning strikes and 7 heavy rain events. They killed 5 people and injured 30, and the NWS estimated $60.1 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 105 mph, on April 4, 2025. July has had the most flash floods, 46 of 141. Of the 788 Pennsylvania cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 706 have had fewer than Chester.

Flood insurance policyholders in Chester's ZIP code 19013 have filed 193 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $3.5 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Hurricane Floyd in 1999: 42 claims (22% of all) and $1.5 million, then Hurricane Irene in 2011 with 23. 44% 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, 465 have fewer than Chester.