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NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Garnet Valley, 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

37 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Garnet Valley, Pennsylvania since 1851, 2 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Ida in 2021. Since 1950, 92 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 4 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
2

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
35

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
92

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
4

4 deaths in all

What the records show for Garnet Valley

The strongest storm to pass near Garnet Valley was an unnamed storm in 1878, a Category 1 hurricane with 86 mph winds when its centre passed 51 miles away. The record near Garnet Valley begins with an unnamed storm in 1861; the most recent system was Ida in 2021, a tropical storm directly overhead. The 1870s and the 2020s were the busiest decades, with 4 systems each. Of the 37 systems, 8 have come since 2000. Garnet Valley has more hurricanes within 75 miles than 54% of the 794 Pennsylvania cities on this site. The highest rating among the 92 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3 or EF3, reached 4 times; the most recent, on September 1, 2021, came within 17 miles. The deadliest, an EF2 on September 1, 2021, killed 1 person. Of the 92, 4 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 25 have come since 2000. July has had the most tornadoes, 18. The most recent tornado was on August 8, 2024. Garnet Valley has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 94% of the 794 Pennsylvania cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 67 times since 1970, with stones up to 2.5 inches (tennis ball size). Garnet Valley has more hail reports within 10 miles than 62% of the 794 Pennsylvania cities.

Compare Garnet Valley's storm record with another city →

Tropical storms and hurricanes near Garnet Valley

Tropical systems that passed within 75 miles of Garnet Valley, Pennsylvania, newest first
YearStormClosestStrength when closestPeak
2021IdaSep 2overheadTropical storm (40 mph)Category 4
2021ElsaJul 969 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 1
2020IsaiasAug 49 miTropical storm (66 mph)Category 1
2020FayJul 1060 miTropical storm (47 mph)Tropical storm
2012SandyOct 307 miTropical storm (70 mph)Category 3
2011IreneAug 2864 miTropical storm (68 mph)Category 3
2008HannaSep 635 miTropical storm (52 mph)Category 1
2006ErnestoSep 264 miTropical storm (40 mph)Category 1
1999FloydSep 1669 miTropical storm (63 mph)Category 4
1996BerthaJul 1331 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 3
1992DanielleSep 2627 miTropical storm (39 mph)Tropical storm
1971DoriaAug 2847 miTropical storm (66 mph)Tropical storm
1961Unnamed 1961 stormSep 1568 miTropical storm (60 mph)Tropical storm
1960BrendaJul 3051 miTropical storm (58 mph)Tropical storm
1955DianeAug 1827 miTropical storm (40 mph)Category 2
1955ConnieAug 1374 miTropical storm (56 mph)Category 4
1952AbleSep 135 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 2
1944Unnamed 1944 stormAug 364 miTropical storm (40 mph)Category 1
1943Unnamed 1943 stormOct 172 miTropical storm (39 mph)Tropical storm
1934Unnamed 1934 stormJun 194 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 2
1929Unnamed 1929 stormOct 342 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 4
1924Unnamed 1924 stormSep 3049 miTropical storm (71 mph)Category 1
1915Unnamed 1915 stormAug 424 miTropical storm (52 mph)Category 1
1904Unnamed 1904 stormSep 1556 miCategory 1 (75 mph)Category 1
1903Unnamed 1903 stormSep 1632 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 2
1899Unnamed 1899 stormNov 123 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 2
1893Unnamed 1893 stormAug 2937 miTropical storm (63 mph)Category 3
1888Unnamed 1888 stormSep 1147 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1888Unnamed 1888 stormAug 2268 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 3
1882Unnamed 1882 stormSep 2361 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
1878Unnamed 1878 stormOct 2351 miCategory 1 (86 mph)Category 2
1877Unnamed 1877 stormOct 549 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 3
1874Unnamed 1874 stormSep 2938 miTropical storm (61 mph)Category 1
1872Unnamed 1872 stormOct 2636 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 1
1866Unnamed 1866 stormOct 3068 miTropical storm (64 mph)Tropical storm
1863Unnamed 1863 stormSep 1933 miTropical storm (54 mph)Tropical storm
1861Unnamed 1861 stormSep 2849 miTropical storm (67 mph)Category 1

Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Garnet Valley: 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 Garnet Valley

By decade

  • 2020s13(1 EF3+)
  • 2010s8
  • 2000s4
  • 1990s27(1 EF3+)
  • 1980s14
  • 1970s13
  • 1960s9(1 EF3+)
  • 1950s4(1 EF3+)
Strongest tornadoes near Garnet Valley, Pennsylvania
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
Mar 22, 1955F311 mi9.6 mi1 / 0
Sep 1, 2021EF317 mi12.37 mi0 / 2
Jul 27, 1994F314 mi4 mi0 / 11
Apr 28, 1961F313 mi0.3 mi0 / 0
Sep 1, 2021EF223 mi8.28 mi1 / 2
Sep 5, 1979F214 mi4.1 mi1 / 4
Sep 1, 2021EF223 mi5.92 mi0 / 0
Aug 4, 2020EF223 mi35.78 mi0 / 0
Oct 31, 2019EF25 mi0.47 mi0 / 2
Sep 28, 2004F29 mi5 mi0 / 0
Sep 27, 1993F219 mi10 mi0 / 0
Jul 17, 1992F213 mi4 mi0 / 0

The strongest 12 of 92, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

Hail in Garnet Valley

The Storm Prediction Center has 67 hail reports within 10 miles of Garnet Valley since 1970, made on 36 separate days. Of these, 40 were 1 inch across or larger, and one reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.5 inches (tennis ball size), fell on May 22, 2014. The most recent report is from April 4, 2025. May has the most reports, 24.

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.

Weather by month in Garnet Valley

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Marcus Hook, PA, 3 miles east of Garnet Valley at 10 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 89°F and low of 70°F; January is the coolest, at 43°F and 27°F. July is the wettest at 4.8 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.2 inches; the year adds up to 41.8 inches over 66 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 54% of the year's precipitation (22.5 of 41.8 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 37 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (15); a normal September there has highs of 80°F and 4.4 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 27 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 64 nights a year. That 41.8 inches is more than at 32 of the 148 Pennsylvania stations used on this site (22%). Thornton, 5 miles northwest, has its own station (W Chester 2 NW, PA): 51.0 inches a year, 9.2 more than here, and a July average high of 86°F against 89°F.

Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Marcus Hook, PA, 5 miles southeast, averaged 82°F in July and 39°F in January over 2021–2025. It averaged 80°F or warmer from July to August. Sea level at the Philadelphia tide gauge, 20 miles from Garnet Valley, has risen 1.24 ± 0.04 inches per decade from 1900 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 12.4 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 73 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.

Monthly climate normals 1991–2020 at Marcus Hook, PA
MonthHigh °FLow °FPrecip. inDays ≥ 0.1"Water °F
Jan43273.2539
Feb46282.2439
Mar53353.9646
Apr66453.5655
May75553.2664
Jun84653.3674
Jul89704.8682
Aug87693.7581
Sep80614.4675
Oct68503.7566
Nov57402.6655
Dec48323.3643
Year664841.86660

Averages for 1991–2020 at Marcus Hook, PA (10 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals; water temperature: average of hourly readings 2021–2025 at the NOAA tide station Marcus Hook, PA, from NOAA Tides & Currents. Normals describe the station; the farther a place is from it, and the bigger the difference in height, the more its weather can differ.

Pennsylvania weather by month, station by station →

Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Garnet Valley

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 599 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Garnet Valley: 386 thunderstorm wind reports, 123 flash floods, 61 floods, 16 lightning strikes and 13 heavy rain events. They killed 2 people and injured 17, and the NWS estimated $51.3 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 105 mph, on April 4, 2025. July has had the most flash floods, 47 of 123. Of the 788 Pennsylvania cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 690 have had fewer than Garnet Valley.

  • June 30, 2025: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Garnet Valley — 1 killed, 1 injured.

  • June 3, 2020: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Garnet Valley — 1 killed.

  • June 24, 2010: thunderstorm wind 10 miles from the centre of Garnet Valley — 2 injured, $1.0 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 Garnet Valley's ZIP code 19060 have filed 13 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $109,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 46% 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, 42 have fewer than Garnet Valley.

Delaware County, which includes Garnet Valley, has been named in 24 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 16 of them major disasters (by incident: 7 hurricanes, 6 floods, 4 severe storms, 3 snowstorms). The latest major disaster declaration was Remnants of Hurricane Ida, on September 10, 2021. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Delaware County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for tornadoes, inland flooding, strong wind, lightning and heat waves; Relatively Moderate for hurricanes and coastal flooding; Very Low for hail. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $134.9 million a year, the 7th highest of 67 Pennsylvania counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $73.9 million (55%), 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 Garnet Valley