NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit East Berlin, 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
24 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of East Berlin, Pennsylvania since 1851, 2 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Isaias in 2020. Since 1950, 78 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 3 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 2
- Tropical storms
- 22
- Tornadoes
- 78
- EF3 or stronger
- 3
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
no recorded deaths
What the records show for East Berlin
The strongest storm to pass near East Berlin was an unnamed storm in 1878, a Category 1 hurricane with 89 mph winds when its centre passed 23 miles away. The closest pass by a hurricane was Hazel in 1954, whose centre came within 13 miles. The record near East Berlin begins with an unnamed storm in 1876; the most recent system was Isaias in 2020, a tropical storm 69 miles away. The 1890s and the 1950s were the busiest decades, with 4 systems each. Of the 24 systems, 3 have come since 2000. East Berlin has more hurricanes within 75 miles than 54% of the 794 Pennsylvania cities on this site. The highest rating among the 78 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3, reached 3 times; the most recent, on May 22, 1983, came within 20 miles. Of the 78, 4 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 30 have come since 2000. August has had the most tornadoes, 15. The most recent tornado was on August 9, 2024. East Berlin has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 81% of the 794 Pennsylvania cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 42 times since 1962, with stones up to 1.75 inches (golf ball size). Of the 794 Pennsylvania cities, 59% have more hail reports within 10 miles than East Berlin.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near East Berlin
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | IsaiasAug 4 | 69 mi | Tropical storm (66 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2012 | SandyOct 30 | 2 mi | Tropical storm (60 mph) | Category 3 |
| 2006 | ErnestoSep 3 | 15 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1992 | DanielleSep 26 | 64 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1979 | DavidSep 6 | 32 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1955 | DianeAug 18 | 24 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1955 | ConnieAug 13 | 4 mi | Tropical storm (54 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1954 | HazelOct 15 | 13 mi | Category 1 (81 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1952 | AbleSep 1 | 22 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1949 | Unnamed 1949 stormAug 29 | 9 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1943 | Unnamed 1943 stormOct 1 | 34 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1934 | Unnamed 1934 stormJun 19 | 44 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1933 | Unnamed 1933 stormAug 24 | 3 mi | Tropical storm (55 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1929 | Unnamed 1929 stormOct 2 | 37 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1928 | Unnamed 1928 stormSep 20 | 56 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormAug 4 | 38 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1899 | Unnamed 1899 stormNov 1 | 53 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormOct 23 | 35 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormOct 14 | 49 mi | Tropical storm (72 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormAug 29 | 28 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormAug 21 | 32 mi | Tropical storm (47 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1885 | Unnamed 1885 stormOct 13 | 34 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1878 | Unnamed 1878 stormOct 23 | 23 mi | Category 1 (89 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1876 | Unnamed 1876 stormSep 18 | 43 mi | Tropical storm (62 mph) | Category 3 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in East Berlin: 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 East Berlin
By decade
- 2020s9
- 2010s9
- 2000s12
- 1990s22
- 1980s6(2 EF3+)
- 1970s9
- 1960s5
- 1950s6(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 22, 1983 | F3 | 20 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 7, 1980 | F3 | 3 mi | 1.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 5, 1952 | F3 | 10 mi | 17.5 mi | 0 / 4 |
| Apr 28, 2011 | EF2 | 11 mi | 2.62 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 24, 2001 | F2 | 12 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 9, 1992 | F2 | 11 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 6, 1991 | F2 | 20 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Jun 8, 1990 | F2 | 12 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jun 15, 1989 | F2 | 18 mi | 16 mi | 0 / 6 |
| Jul 31, 1985 | F2 | 15 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Jun 7, 1980 | F2 | 4 mi | 5.6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 28, 1978 | F2 | 11 mi | 20 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 78, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in East Berlin
The Storm Prediction Center has 42 hail reports within 10 miles of East Berlin since 1962, made on 31 separate days. Of these, 24 were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest size, 1.75 inches (golf ball size), was reported on 8 days, most recently July 18, 2012. The most recent report is from August 3, 2024. May has the most reports, 16.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in East Berlin
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is York Airport, PA, 8 miles southeast of East Berlin at 486 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 85°F and low of 63°F; January is the coolest, at 39°F and 21°F. September is the wettest at 4.8 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.5 inches; the year adds up to 42.3 inches over 75 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 54% of the year's precipitation (22.8 of 42.3 inches); the other six months are drier. Highs reach 90°F on about 16 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 125 nights a year. That 42.3 inches is more than at 42 of the 148 Pennsylvania stations used on this site (28%). York Springs, 6 miles northwest, has its own station (Biglerville, PA): 45.2 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" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 39 | 21 | 2.6 | 5 |
| Feb | 42 | 22 | 2.5 | 6 |
| Mar | 51 | 29 | 3.7 | 6 |
| Apr | 63 | 39 | 3.4 | 7 |
| May | 73 | 50 | 4.2 | 8 |
| Jun | 81 | 59 | 3.2 | 7 |
| Jul | 85 | 63 | 4.3 | 7 |
| Aug | 84 | 61 | 3.8 | 6 |
| Sep | 77 | 54 | 4.8 | 6 |
| Oct | 66 | 42 | 3.6 | 6 |
| Nov | 54 | 33 | 3.1 | 5 |
| Dec | 44 | 25 | 3.1 | 6 |
| Year | 63 | 41 | 42.3 | 75 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at York Airport, PA (486 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 East Berlin
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 150 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of East Berlin: 119 thunderstorm wind reports, 17 flash floods, 12 floods and 2 lightning strikes. They killed 1 person and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $894,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 100 mph, on August 6, 2020. July has had the most flash floods, 7 of 17. Of the 788 Pennsylvania cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 301 have had fewer than East Berlin.
July 22, 2018: flood 9 miles from the centre of East Berlin — 1 killed.
June 4, 2011: lightning strike 6 miles from the centre of East Berlin — 1 injured, $5,000 damage.
June 10, 2009: flash flood 10 miles from the centre of East Berlin — $200,000 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 East Berlin's ZIP code 17316 have filed 205 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 Flooding in 1996: 39 claims (19% of all) and $304,000, then Tropical Storm Lee in 2011 with 25 and Hurricane Sandy in 2012 with 17. The year with the most claims was 2011, with 71. 49% 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, 471 have fewer than East Berlin.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1996 | 39 | $304,000 |
| Tropical Storm Lee2011 | 25 | $266,000 |
| Hurricane Sandy2012 | 17 | $311,000 |
| Hurricane Ida2021 | 11 | $282,000 |
Adams County, which includes East Berlin, 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 Adams County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for hurricanes, inland flooding and strong wind; Relatively Low for tornadoes, lightning and heat waves; Very Low for hail. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $27.2 million a year, the 33rd highest of 67 Pennsylvania counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $17.3 million (63%), 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 East Berlin
- Abbottstown, PA5 mi
- York Springs, PA6 mi
- Thomasville, PA6 mi
- New Oxford, PA7 mi
- Wellsville, PA7 mi
- Dover, PA8 mi
- Dillsburg, PA9 mi
- Spring Grove, PA11 mi
- Mcsherrystown, PA11 mi
- Aspers, PA11 mi
- Hanover, PA12 mi
- Gardners, PA12 mi
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