NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Elysburg, 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 Elysburg, Pennsylvania since 1851, 2 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Isaias in 2020. Since 1950, 52 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 1 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 2
- Tropical storms
- 17
- Tornadoes
- 52
- EF3 or stronger
- 1
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
6 deaths in all
What the records show for Elysburg
The strongest storm to pass near Elysburg was an unnamed storm in 1878, a Category 1 hurricane with 84 mph winds when its centre passed 31 miles away. The record near Elysburg begins with an unnamed storm in 1878; the most recent system was Isaias in 2020, a tropical storm 68 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1950s, with 4 systems, one of them at hurricane strength. Of the 19 systems, 3 have come since 2000. Elysburg has more hurricanes within 75 miles than 54% of the 794 Pennsylvania cities on this site. The strongest of the 52 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F3 on May 31, 1985; its path came within 24 miles, and it killed 6 people. Of the 52, 2 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 20 have come since 2000. July has had the most tornadoes, 12. The most recent tornado was on May 27, 2024. Of the 794 Pennsylvania cities, 60% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Elysburg. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 31 times since 1963, with stones up to 2.5 inches (tennis ball size). Of the 794 Pennsylvania cities, 70% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Elysburg.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Elysburg
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | IsaiasAug 4 | 68 mi | Tropical storm (64 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2012 | SandyOct 30 | 62 mi | Tropical storm (61 mph) | Category 3 |
| 2006 | ErnestoSep 3 | 66 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1979 | DavidSep 6 | 16 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1955 | DianeAug 18 | 61 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1955 | ConnieAug 13 | 51 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1954 | HazelOct 16 | 45 mi | Category 1 (79 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1952 | AbleSep 1 | 53 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1949 | Unnamed 1949 stormAug 29 | overhead | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1933 | Unnamed 1933 stormAug 24 | 18 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1929 | Unnamed 1929 stormOct 3 | 35 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormAug 4 | 64 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1903 | Unnamed 1903 stormSep 17 | 54 mi | Tropical storm (60 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1899 | Unnamed 1899 stormNov 1 | 61 mi | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormOct 14 | 67 mi | Tropical storm (71 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormAug 29 | 51 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormAug 22 | 17 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1885 | Unnamed 1885 stormOct 14 | 43 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1878 | Unnamed 1878 stormOct 23 | 31 mi | Category 1 (84 mph) | Category 2 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Elysburg: 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 Elysburg
By decade
- 2020s8
- 2010s8
- 2000s4
- 1990s13
- 1980s4(1 EF3+)
- 1970s6
- 1960s2
- 1950s7
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 31, 1985 | F3 | 24 mi | 19 mi | 6 / 60 |
| Apr 14, 2019 | EF2 | 24 mi | 3.69 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 26, 1981 | F2 | 15 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 28, 1978 | F2 | 12 mi | 3.3 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Sep 12, 1953 | F2 | 14 mi | 4.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 5, 1950 | F2 | 21 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 27, 2024 | EF1 | 20 mi | 1.53 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 12, 2023 | EF1 | 22 mi | 3.25 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 2, 2023 | EF1 | 20 mi | 2.37 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 31, 2022 | EF1 | 24 mi | 9.14 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Sep 8, 2021 | EF1 | 25 mi | 0.73 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 14, 2019 | EF1 | 23 mi | 1.45 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 52, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Elysburg
The Storm Prediction Center has 31 hail reports within 10 miles of Elysburg since 1963, made on 15 separate days. Of these, 21 were 1 inch across or larger, and 3 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.5 inches (tennis ball size), fell on May 22, 2014. The most recent report is from May 28, 2019. May has the most reports, 21.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Elysburg
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Bear Gap, PA, 3 miles southeast of Elysburg at 1,015 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 84°F and low of 61°F; January is the coolest, at 35°F and 19°F. September is the wettest at 5.2 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.5 inches; the year adds up to 48.2 inches over 89 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 55% of the year's precipitation (26.3 of 48.2 inches); the other six months are drier. August has brought the most of the 19 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (8); a normal August there has highs of 80°F and 4.1 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 10 days a year, almost all from June to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 127 nights a year. Snowfall averages 33.5 inches a year, most of it in January. That 48.2 inches is more than at 112 of the 148 Pennsylvania stations used on this site (76%). Danville, 11 miles northwest, has its own station (Sunbury, PA): 43.6 inches a year, 4.6 less 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 | 3.5 | 7 | 9.3 |
| Feb | 38 | 22 | 2.5 | 6 | 8.9 |
| Mar | 48 | 29 | 3.7 | 7 | 7.7 |
| Apr | 61 | 39 | 4.3 | 8 | 0.8 |
| May | 71 | 48 | 4.2 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 79 | 57 | 4.8 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 84 | 61 | 4.4 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 80 | 60 | 4.1 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 74 | 53 | 5.2 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 62 | 42 | 4.3 | 7 | 0.4 |
| Nov | 50 | 33 | 3.5 | 7 | 1.8 |
| Dec | 40 | 25 | 3.7 | 7 | 4.6 |
| Year | 60 | 41 | 48.2 | 89 | 33.5 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Bear Gap, PA (1,015 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 Elysburg
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 151 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Elysburg: 137 thunderstorm wind reports, 12 flash floods and 2 floods. They killed 0 people and injured 4, and the NWS estimated $15.9 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 90 mph, on May 15, 2018. July has had the most flash floods, 3 of 12. Of the 788 Pennsylvania cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 211 have had fewer than Elysburg.
August 16, 2016: thunderstorm wind 3 miles from the centre of Elysburg — 4 injured, $6,000 damage.
NWS: “A severe thunderstorm producing winds estimated near 60 mph knocked down trees onto tents in Knoebels Campground. Injuries were reported.”
September 7, 2011: flood 6 miles from the centre of Elysburg — $15.5 million 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 Elysburg's ZIP code 17824 have filed 94 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1996, and were paid $2.8 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Tropical Storm Lee in 2011: 37 claims (39% of all) and $1.6 million, then Flooding in 1996 with 17. 59% 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, 365 have fewer than Elysburg.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Tropical Storm Lee2011 | 37 | $1.6 million |
| Flooding1996 | 17 | $275,000 |
Northumberland County, which includes Elysburg, has been named in 19 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1972, 13 of them major disasters (by incident: 7 floods, 4 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 Northumberland County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for strong wind; Relatively Moderate for inland flooding and lightning; Relatively Low for hurricanes, tornadoes and heat waves; Very Low for hail. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $37.3 million a year, the 25th highest of 67 Pennsylvania counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $30.2 million (81%), 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 Elysburg
- Coal Township, PA4 mi
- Shamokin, PA5 mi
- Paxinos, PA5 mi
- Kulpmont, PA5 mi
- Catawissa, PA7 mi
- Mount Carmel, PA7 mi
- Danville, PA11 mi
- Ashland, PA11 mi
- Sunbury, PA12 mi
- Bloomsburg, PA12 mi
- Hegins, PA13 mi
- Northumberland, PA14 mi
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