NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Duncannon, 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
22 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Duncannon, 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, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 2
- Tropical storms
- 20
- Tornadoes
- 59
- EF3 or stronger
- 0
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
1 deaths in all
What the records show for Duncannon
The strongest storm to pass near Duncannon was an unnamed storm in 1878, a Category 1 hurricane with 86 mph winds when its centre passed 39 miles away. The closest pass by a hurricane was Hazel in 1954, whose centre came within 12 miles. The record near Duncannon begins with an unnamed storm in 1876; the most recent system was Sandy in 2012, a tropical storm 27 miles away. The 1890s and the 1950s were the busiest decades, with 4 systems each. Of the 22 systems, 2 have come since 2000. Duncannon 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 F2 or EF2, reached 13 times; the most recent, on May 23, 2011, came within 18 miles. The deadliest, an F1 on December 1, 2006, killed 1 person. Of the 59, one had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 32 have come since 2000. August has had the most tornadoes, 12. The most recent tornado was on August 9, 2024. Of the 794 Pennsylvania cities, 50% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Duncannon. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 39 times since 1986, with stones up to 1.75 inches (golf ball size). Of the 794 Pennsylvania cities, 61% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Duncannon.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Duncannon
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | SandyOct 30 | 27 mi | Tropical storm (60 mph) | Category 3 |
| 2006 | ErnestoSep 3 | 39 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1979 | DavidSep 6 | 14 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1955 | DianeAug 18 | 50 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1955 | ConnieAug 13 | 15 mi | Tropical storm (53 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1954 | HazelOct 16 | 12 mi | Category 1 (81 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1952 | AbleSep 1 | 46 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1949 | Unnamed 1949 stormAug 29 | 7 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1943 | Unnamed 1943 stormOct 1 | 63 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1934 | Unnamed 1934 stormJun 19 | 72 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1933 | Unnamed 1933 stormAug 24 | overhead | Tropical storm (53 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1929 | Unnamed 1929 stormOct 3 | 48 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1928 | Unnamed 1928 stormSep 20 | 66 mi | Tropical storm (45 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormAug 4 | 60 mi | Tropical storm (51 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1899 | Unnamed 1899 stormNov 1 | 67 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormOct 23 | 56 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormOct 14 | 45 mi | Tropical storm (72 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormAug 29 | 49 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormAug 21 | 4 mi | Tropical storm (47 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1885 | Unnamed 1885 stormOct 13 | 25 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1878 | Unnamed 1878 stormOct 23 | 39 mi | Category 1 (86 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1876 | Unnamed 1876 stormSep 18 | 48 mi | Tropical storm (60 mph) | Category 3 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Duncannon: 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 Duncannon
By decade
- 2020s5
- 2010s13
- 2000s14
- 1990s10
- 1980s4
- 1970s5
- 1960s3
- 1950s5
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 23, 2011 | EF2 | 18 mi | 4.71 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 28, 2011 | EF2 | 25 mi | 1.07 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 28, 2011 | EF2 | 19 mi | 2.62 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 9, 1992 | F2 | 20 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 20, 1989 | F2 | 25 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jul 31, 1985 | F2 | 17 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Apr 5, 1977 | F2 | 15 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Mar 26, 1970 | F2 | 17 mi | 2.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 18, 1967 | F2 | 20 mi | 10.2 mi | 0 / 11 |
| Sep 21, 1967 | F2 | 8 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 19, 1957 | F2 | 25 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 19, 1955 | F2 | 18 mi | 0.1 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 Duncannon
The Storm Prediction Center has 39 hail reports within 10 miles of Duncannon since 1986, made on 27 separate days. Of these, 28 were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest size, 1.75 inches (golf ball size), was reported on 6 days, most recently July 18, 2012. The most recent report is from May 16, 2025. July has the most reports, 13.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Duncannon
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Harrisburg 1 NE, PA, 12 miles southeast of Duncannon at 420 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 85°F and low of 65°F; January is the coolest, at 37°F and 22°F. July is the wettest at 4.8 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.8 inches; the year adds up to 45.3 inches over 82 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 54% of the year's precipitation (24.4 of 45.3 inches); the other six months are drier. October has brought the most of the 22 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (8); a normal October there has highs of 63°F and 3.8 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 18 days a year, almost all from June to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 111 nights a year. Snowfall averages 23.9 inches a year, most of it in February. That 45.3 inches is more than at 81 of the 148 Pennsylvania stations used on this site (55%). New Bloomfield, 8 miles west, has its own station (Carlisle Wtp, PA): 48.2 inches a year, 2.9 more than here, and a July average high of 86°F against 85°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 37 | 22 | 2.9 | 6 | 6.4 |
| Feb | 40 | 23 | 2.8 | 5 | 7.7 |
| Mar | 48 | 30 | 3.9 | 6 | 4.5 |
| Apr | 61 | 40 | 3.9 | 8 | 0.4 |
| May | 72 | 51 | 4.0 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 81 | 60 | 4.0 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 85 | 65 | 4.8 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 83 | 62 | 4.3 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 75 | 55 | 4.6 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 63 | 43 | 3.8 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 51 | 34 | 2.9 | 6 | 0.7 |
| Dec | 41 | 27 | 3.4 | 7 | 4.2 |
| Year | 61 | 43 | 45.3 | 82 | 23.9 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Harrisburg 1 NE, PA (420 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 Duncannon
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 191 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Duncannon: 181 thunderstorm wind reports, 7 floods and 3 flash floods. They killed 0 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $1.0 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 100 mph, on June 14, 2026.
July 11, 2021: thunderstorm wind 8 miles from the centre of Duncannon — 1 injured, $10,000 damage.
December 1, 2006: thunderstorm wind 5 miles from the centre of Duncannon — $200,000 damage.
June 14, 2026: thunderstorm wind 4 miles from the centre of Duncannon — $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
Flood insurance policyholders in Duncannon's ZIP code 17020 have filed 362 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $4.3 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1996: 122 claims (34% of all) and $1.1 million, then Tropical Storm Ivan in 2004 with 89 and Tropical Storm Lee in 2011 with 86. 82% 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, 510 have fewer than Duncannon.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1996 | 122 | $1.1 million |
| Tropical Storm Ivan2004 | 89 | $1.3 million |
| Tropical Storm Lee2011 | 86 | $1.8 million |
Perry County, which includes Duncannon, has been named in 20 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1972, 14 of them major disasters (by incident: 7 floods, 4 severe storms, 4 snowstorms, 3 hurricanes). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 30, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Perry County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for strong wind; Relatively Low for hurricanes, tornadoes, inland flooding, lightning and heat waves; Very Low for hail. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $18.2 million a year, the 47th highest of 67 Pennsylvania counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $13.4 million (73%), 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 Duncannon
- Marysville, PA6 mi
- Dauphin, PA6 mi
- New Bloomfield, PA8 mi
- Newport, PA8 mi
- Enola, PA9 mi
- Shermans Dale, PA9 mi
- Halifax, PA10 mi
- Millersburg, PA11 mi
- Mechanicsburg, PA12 mi
- Millerstown, PA12 mi
- Camp Hill, PA13 mi
- Lemoyne, PA13 mi
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