NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Easton, 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
27 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Easton, Pennsylvania since 1851, 2 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Ida in 2021. Since 1950, 60 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 2 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 2
- Tropical storms
- 25
- Tornadoes
- 60
- EF3 or stronger
- 2
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
no recorded deaths
What the records show for Easton
The strongest storm to pass near Easton was an unnamed storm in 1893, a Category 1 hurricane with 86 mph winds when its centre passed 70 miles away. The closest pass by a hurricane was an unnamed storm in 1878, whose centre came within 34 miles. The record near Easton begins with an unnamed storm in 1861; the most recent system was Ida in 2021, a tropical storm 51 miles away. Of the 27 systems, 6 have come since 2000. Easton has more hurricanes within 75 miles than 54% of the 794 Pennsylvania cities on this site. The highest rating among the 60 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3, reached 2 times; the most recent, on July 26, 1981, came within 17 miles. Of the 60, none had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 18 have come since 2000. July has had the most tornadoes, 17. The most recent tornado was on May 6, 2025. Easton has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 50% of the 794 Pennsylvania cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 66 times since 1985, with stones up to 2 inches (hen egg size). Easton has more hail reports within 10 miles than 61% of the 794 Pennsylvania cities.
Compare Easton's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Easton
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | IdaSep 2 | 51 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Category 4 |
| 2020 | IsaiasAug 4 | 1 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2020 | FayJul 11 | 60 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2012 | SandyOct 30 | 67 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 3 |
| 2011 | IreneAug 28 | 64 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 3 |
| 2008 | HannaSep 7 | 61 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1996 | BerthaJul 13 | 51 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1971 | DoriaAug 28 | 59 mi | Tropical storm (61 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1960 | BrendaJul 30 | 71 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1955 | DianeAug 19 | 25 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1952 | AbleSep 1 | 2 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1949 | Unnamed 1949 stormAug 29 | 55 mi | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1934 | Unnamed 1934 stormJun 19 | 50 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1929 | Unnamed 1929 stormOct 3 | 33 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1924 | Unnamed 1924 stormSep 30 | 59 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormAug 4 | 16 mi | Tropical storm (54 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1903 | Unnamed 1903 stormSep 16 | overhead | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1899 | Unnamed 1899 stormNov 1 | 1 mi | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormAug 29 | 5 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormAug 24 | 70 mi | Category 1 (86 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormAug 22 | 17 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1878 | Unnamed 1878 stormOct 23 | 34 mi | Category 1 (83 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1874 | Unnamed 1874 stormSep 29 | 61 mi | Tropical storm (64 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1872 | Unnamed 1872 stormOct 26 | 62 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1866 | Unnamed 1866 stormOct 30 | 60 mi | Tropical storm (61 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1863 | Unnamed 1863 stormSep 19 | 45 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1861 | Unnamed 1861 stormSep 28 | 68 mi | Tropical storm (64 mph) | Category 1 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Easton: 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 Easton
By decade
- 2020s9
- 2010s5
- 2000s4
- 1990s13
- 1980s14(1 EF3+)
- 1970s11(1 EF3+)
- 1960s1
- 1950s3
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 26, 1981 | F3 | 17 mi | 3.3 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Mar 21, 1976 | F3 | 20 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 4, 2020 | EF2 | 25 mi | 20.77 mi | 0 / 18 |
| Jul 29, 2009 | EF2 | 17 mi | 4.58 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Nov 8, 1996 | F2 | 17 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jul 5, 1984 | F2 | 21 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 5, 1984 | F2 | 19 mi | 8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 26, 1981 | F2 | 22 mi | 0.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 20, 1981 | F2 | 12 mi | 4.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 29, 1981 | F2 | 20 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 5, 1979 | F2 | 15 mi | 0.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 14, 1974 | F2 | 23 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 60, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Easton
The Storm Prediction Center has 66 hail reports within 10 miles of Easton since 1985, made on 42 separate days. Of these, 38 were 1 inch across or larger, and one reached 2 inches. The largest, 2 inches (hen egg size), fell on August 17, 2007. The most recent report is from July 3, 2025. July has the most reports, 19.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Easton
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Springtown 1 NNE, PA, 9 miles south of Easton at 860 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 83°F and low of 62°F; January is the coolest, at 37°F and 19°F. July is the wettest at 5.6 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 3.2 inches; the year adds up to 53.3 inches over 85 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 54% of the year's precipitation (28.6 of 53.3 inches); the other six months are drier. August has brought the most of the 27 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (9); a normal August there has highs of 81°F and 4.8 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 13 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 121 nights a year. Snowfall averages 41.1 inches a year, most of it in February. That 53.3 inches is more than at 143 of the 148 Pennsylvania stations used on this site (97%). Nazareth, 6 miles northwest, has its own station (Allentown International Airport, PA): 47.4 inches a year, 5.9 less than here, and a July average high of 86°F against 83°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 37 | 19 | 3.8 | 7 | 10.5 |
| Feb | 40 | 20 | 3.2 | 6 | 12.1 |
| Mar | 48 | 28 | 4.4 | 7 | 8.5 |
| Apr | 61 | 38 | 4.2 | 7 | 1.3 |
| May | 70 | 49 | 4.5 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 78 | 58 | 4.6 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 83 | 62 | 5.6 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 81 | 61 | 4.8 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 75 | 54 | 5.1 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 64 | 43 | 4.9 | 7 | 0.6 |
| Nov | 53 | 33 | 3.6 | 6 | 1.7 |
| Dec | 42 | 25 | 4.6 | 7 | 6.4 |
| Year | 61 | 41 | 53.3 | 85 | 41.1 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Springtown 1 NNE, PA (860 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 Easton
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 440 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Easton: 302 thunderstorm wind reports, 74 flash floods, 34 floods, 21 lightning strikes and 9 heavy rain events. They killed 7 people and injured 10, and the NWS estimated $77.9 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 100 mph, on May 13, 2000. July has had the most flash floods, 25 of 74. Of the 788 Pennsylvania cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 610 have had fewer than Easton.
September 1, 2021: flash flood 8 miles from the centre of Easton — 6 killed, $6.0 million damage.
August 5, 2009: lightning strike 3 miles from the centre of Easton — 1 killed.
NWS: “A 53-year-old man collapsed and died while doing yard work in his backyard in Bethlehem Township. He was holding an electric trimmer when he was struck by lightning.”
June 14, 2008: lightning strike 3 miles from the centre of Easton — 4 injured.
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 Easton's 3 ZIP codes have filed 690 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $24.6 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Tropical Storm Ivan in 2004: 121 claims (18% of all) and $5.1 million, then Flooding in 1996 with 60 and Tropical Storm Lee in 2011 with 27. The year with the most claims was 2006, with 178. 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, 541 have fewer than Easton.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Tropical Storm Ivan2004 | 121 | $5.1 million |
| Flooding1996 | 60 | $743,000 |
| Tropical Storm Lee2011 | 27 | $286,000 |
| Torrential rain2005 | 24 | $784,000 |
| Not a named storm1979 | 21 | $39,000 |
| Hurricane Isaias2020 | 20 | $490,000 |
Northampton County, which includes Easton, has been named in 24 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 17 of them major disasters (by incident: 7 hurricanes, 6 severe storms, 5 floods, 3 snowstorms). The latest major disaster declaration was Remnants of Hurricane Ida, on September 10, 2021. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Northampton County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for inland flooding and lightning; Relatively Moderate for hurricanes, tornadoes, strong wind and heat waves; Very Low for hail. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $90.4 million a year, the 12th highest of 67 Pennsylvania counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $63.0 million (70%), 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.