NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Danville, 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
19 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Danville, Pennsylvania since 1851, 2 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Sandy in 2012. Since 1950, 59 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 2 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 2
- Tropical storms
- 17
- Tornadoes
- 59
- EF3 or stronger
- 2
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
6 deaths in all
What the records show for Danville
The strongest storm to pass near Danville was an unnamed storm in 1878, a Category 1 hurricane with 84 mph winds when its centre passed 40 miles away. The record near Danville begins with an unnamed storm in 1876; the most recent system was Sandy in 2012, a tropical storm 70 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1950s, with 4 systems, one of them at hurricane strength. Of the 19 systems, 2 have come since 2000. Danville has more hurricanes within 75 miles than 54% of the 794 Pennsylvania cities on this site. The highest rating among the 59 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3, reached 2 times; the most recent, on May 31, 1985, came within 14 miles. Of the 59, 2 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 25 have come since 2000. July has had the most tornadoes, 16. The most recent tornado was on August 12, 2023. Of the 794 Pennsylvania cities, 50% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Danville. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 36 times since 1980, with stones up to 2.5 inches (tennis ball size). Of the 794 Pennsylvania cities, 64% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Danville.
Compare Danville's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Danville
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | SandyOct 30 | 70 mi | Tropical storm (61 mph) | Category 3 |
| 2006 | ErnestoSep 3 | 75 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1979 | DavidSep 6 | 7 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1955 | DianeAug 18 | 72 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1955 | ConnieAug 13 | 52 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1954 | HazelOct 16 | 43 mi | Category 1 (79 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1952 | AbleSep 1 | 64 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1949 | Unnamed 1949 stormAug 29 | 10 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1933 | Unnamed 1933 stormAug 24 | 11 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1929 | Unnamed 1929 stormOct 3 | 43 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormAug 4 | 75 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1903 | Unnamed 1903 stormSep 17 | 52 mi | Tropical storm (59 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1899 | Unnamed 1899 stormNov 1 | 70 mi | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormOct 14 | 61 mi | Tropical storm (71 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormAug 29 | 61 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormAug 22 | 27 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1885 | Unnamed 1885 stormOct 14 | 36 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1878 | Unnamed 1878 stormOct 23 | 40 mi | Category 1 (84 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1876 | Unnamed 1876 stormSep 18 | 71 mi | Tropical storm (54 mph) | Category 3 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Danville: 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 Danville
By decade
- 2020s8
- 2010s9
- 2000s8
- 1990s17
- 1980s6(1 EF3+)
- 1970s5(1 EF3+)
- 1960s2
- 1950s4
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 31, 1985 | F3 | 14 mi | 19 mi | 6 / 60 |
| Jul 29, 1976 | F3 | 19 mi | 25 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 14, 2019 | EF2 | 18 mi | 3.69 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 17, 1982 | F2 | 19 mi | 4 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jul 26, 1981 | F2 | 22 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 28, 1978 | F2 | 11 mi | 3.3 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Sep 12, 1953 | F2 | 22 mi | 4.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 12, 2023 | EF1 | 24 mi | 3.25 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 2, 2023 | EF1 | 11 mi | 2.37 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 2, 2023 | EF1 | 21 mi | 2.12 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 31, 2022 | EF1 | 13 mi | 9.14 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Sep 8, 2021 | EF1 | 25 mi | 0.73 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 59, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Danville
The Storm Prediction Center has 36 hail reports within 10 miles of Danville since 1980, made on 17 separate days. Of these, 26 were 1 inch across or larger, and 5 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.5 inches (tennis ball size), fell on May 22, 2014. The most recent report is from June 26, 2024. May has the most reports, 20.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Danville
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Sunbury, PA, 12 miles southwest of Danville at 575 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 84°F and low of 60°F; January is the coolest, at 35°F and 19°F. September is the wettest at 4.5 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.3 inches; the year adds up to 43.6 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 (24.2 of 43.6 inches); the other six months are drier. August has brought the most of the 19 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (7); a normal August there has highs of 82°F and 3.9 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 16 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 134 nights a year. Snowfall averages 28.6 inches a year, most of it in February. That 43.6 inches is more than at 59 of the 148 Pennsylvania stations used on this site (40%). Turbotville, 10 miles northwest, has its own station (Lewisburg, PA): 43.9 inches a year, 0.3 more than here, and the same July average high, 84°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 35 | 19 | 3.0 | 6 | 7.6 |
| Feb | 39 | 21 | 2.3 | 5 | 8.6 |
| Mar | 48 | 27 | 3.3 | 6 | 5.2 |
| Apr | 61 | 37 | 3.7 | 8 | 0.6 |
| May | 72 | 47 | 3.8 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 80 | 57 | 4.4 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 84 | 60 | 4.3 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 82 | 59 | 3.9 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 75 | 51 | 4.5 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 64 | 40 | 3.9 | 7 | 0.2 |
| Nov | 51 | 32 | 3.2 | 6 | 1.5 |
| Dec | 40 | 25 | 3.3 | 7 | 4.9 |
| Year | 61 | 40 | 43.6 | 82 | 28.6 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Sunbury, PA (575 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 Danville
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 183 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Danville: 160 thunderstorm wind reports, 17 flash floods and 6 floods. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $16.9 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 105 mph, on April 14, 2019. July has had the most flash floods, 5 of 17. Of the 788 Pennsylvania cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 301 have had fewer than Danville.
September 7, 2011: flood 9 miles from the centre of Danville — $15.5 million damage.
June 20, 2001: thunderstorm wind 5 miles from the centre of Danville — $500,000 damage.
April 14, 2019: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Danville — $300,000 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
Flood insurance policyholders in Danville's ZIP code 17821 have filed 140 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $2.7 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Tropical Storm Lee in 2011: 49 claims (35% of all) and $2.2 million, then Flooding in 1996 with 18. 56% 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, 426 have fewer than Danville.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Tropical Storm Lee2011 | 49 | $2.2 million |
| Flooding1996 | 18 | $120,000 |
Montour County, which includes Danville, has been named in 17 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1972, 11 of them major disasters (by incident: 5 floods, 5 severe storms, 3 hurricanes, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 30, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Montour County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Low for hurricanes, inland flooding, strong wind and lightning; Very Low for tornadoes, hail and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $5.5 million a year, the 63rd highest of 67 Pennsylvania counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $4.2 million (77%), 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 Danville
- Turbotville, PA10 mi
- Northumberland, PA10 mi
- Paxinos, PA10 mi
- Bloomsburg, PA10 mi
- Milton, PA11 mi
- Elysburg, PA11 mi
- Catawissa, PA11 mi
- Sunbury, PA11 mi
- Millville, PA12 mi
- Watsontown, PA14 mi
- Coal Township, PA14 mi
- Shamokin, PA14 mi
All Pennsylvania cities →All hurricanes since 1851 →Compare Danville with another place →