NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Gouldsboro, 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
15 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Gouldsboro, Pennsylvania since 1851, 1 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Isaias in 2020. Since 1950, 43 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 2 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 1
- Tropical storms
- 14
- Tornadoes
- 43
- 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 Gouldsboro
The strongest storm to pass near Gouldsboro was an unnamed storm in 1878, a Category 1 hurricane with 82 mph winds when its centre passed 4 miles away. The record near Gouldsboro begins with an unnamed storm in 1863; the most recent system was Isaias in 2020, a tropical storm 29 miles away. Of the 15 systems, one has come since 2000. Of the 794 Pennsylvania cities on this site, 45% have more hurricanes within 75 miles than Gouldsboro. The highest rating among the 43 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3, reached 2 times; the most recent, on May 31, 1998, came within 21 miles. Of the 43, none had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 19 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 12. The most recent tornado was on July 2, 2023. Of the 794 Pennsylvania cities, 74% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Gouldsboro. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 23 times since 1961, with stones up to 1.75 inches (golf ball size). Of the 794 Pennsylvania cities, 81% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Gouldsboro.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Gouldsboro
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | IsaiasAug 4 | 29 mi | Tropical storm (62 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1979 | DavidSep 6 | 41 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1972 | AgnesJun 23 | 63 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1955 | DianeAug 19 | 65 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1952 | AbleSep 1 | 40 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1949 | Unnamed 1949 stormAug 29 | 18 mi | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1933 | Unnamed 1933 stormAug 24 | 63 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1929 | Unnamed 1929 stormOct 3 | 7 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormAug 4 | 56 mi | Tropical storm (55 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1903 | Unnamed 1903 stormSep 17 | 7 mi | Tropical storm (62 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1899 | Unnamed 1899 stormNov 1 | 31 mi | Tropical storm (55 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormAug 29 | 31 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormAug 22 | 24 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1878 | Unnamed 1878 stormOct 23 | 4 mi | Category 1 (82 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1863 | Unnamed 1863 stormSep 19 | 73 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Tropical storm |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Gouldsboro: 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 Gouldsboro
By decade
- 2020s1
- 2010s14
- 2000s4
- 1990s16(1 EF3+)
- 1980s3
- 1970s3(1 EF3+)
- 1960s1
- 1950s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 31, 1998 | F3 | 21 mi | 20 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Mar 21, 1976 | F3 | 25 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 13, 2018 | EF2 | 16 mi | 2.9 mi | 0 / 6 |
| Feb 25, 2017 | EF2 | 12 mi | 12.52 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 29, 2009 | EF2 | 25 mi | 4.58 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Dec 1, 2006 | F2 | 15 mi | 20 mi | 0 / 5 |
| May 31, 1998 | F2 | 19 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 31, 1998 | F2 | 16 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 13, 1972 | F2 | 8 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 4, 1960 | F2 | 14 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 28, 2019 | EF1 | 20 mi | 0.79 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 2, 2018 | EF1 | 17 mi | 1.41 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 43, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Gouldsboro
The Storm Prediction Center has 23 hail reports within 10 miles of Gouldsboro since 1961, made on 19 separate days. Of these, 13 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 August 19, 2011. The most recent report is from June 3, 2023. June has the most reports, 9.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Gouldsboro
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Mt Pocono Mountains Airport, PA, 10 miles southeast of Gouldsboro at 1,916 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 78°F and low of 58°F; January is the coolest, at 30°F and 15°F. September is the wettest at 5.6 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.5 inches; the year adds up to 50.3 inches over 84 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 57% of the year's precipitation (28.9 of 50.3 inches); the other six months are drier. August has brought the most of the 15 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (7); a normal August there has highs of 76°F and 4.6 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 1 days a year. Lows fall below freezing on about 147 nights a year. That 50.3 inches is more than at 130 of the 148 Pennsylvania stations used on this site (88%). Moscow, 7 miles north, has its own station (Wilkes-Barre International Airport, PA): 39.0 inches a year, 11.3 less than here, and a July average high of 85°F against 78°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 30 | 15 | 3.0 | 5 |
| Feb | 33 | 17 | 2.5 | 5 |
| Mar | 41 | 24 | 3.8 | 7 |
| Apr | 55 | 34 | 4.2 | 7 |
| May | 65 | 45 | 4.1 | 9 |
| Jun | 73 | 53 | 4.7 | 9 |
| Jul | 78 | 58 | 4.7 | 8 |
| Aug | 76 | 56 | 4.6 | 8 |
| Sep | 69 | 50 | 5.6 | 6 |
| Oct | 57 | 39 | 5.2 | 7 |
| Nov | 46 | 30 | 4.1 | 6 |
| Dec | 35 | 21 | 3.8 | 7 |
| Year | 55 | 37 | 50.3 | 84 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Mt Pocono Mountains Airport, PA (1,916 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 Gouldsboro
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 95 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Gouldsboro: 78 thunderstorm wind reports, 12 flash floods, 3 lightning strikes and 2 heavy rain events. They killed 1 person and injured 3, and the NWS estimated $393,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 81 mph, on May 28, 2019. Of the 788 Pennsylvania cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 211 have had fewer than Gouldsboro.
June 14, 2008: lightning strike 3 miles from the centre of Gouldsboro — 1 killed, 3 injured.
NWS: “Lightning struck a group of swimmers and killed a 17-year-old male in the water at Gouldsboro State Park in Coolbaugh Township. The 17-year-old male and a 24-year-old male were in the water when lightning struck.”
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 Gouldsboro's ZIP code 18424 have filed 13 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1985, and were paid $67,000 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 Gouldsboro.
Lackawanna County, which includes Gouldsboro, has been named in 22 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1972, 17 of them major disasters (by incident: 7 floods, 7 severe storms, 4 hurricanes, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 30, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Lackawanna 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 $72.4 million a year, the 15th highest of 67 Pennsylvania counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $57.2 million (79%), 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 Gouldsboro
- Moscow, PA7 mi
- Newfoundland, PA7 mi
- Tobyhanna, PA8 mi
- Pocono Lake, PA8 mi
- Pocono Summit, PA10 mi
- Mount Pocono, PA12 mi
- Long Pond, PA13 mi
- Greentown, PA13 mi
- Cresco, PA13 mi
- Lake Ariel, PA13 mi
- Canadensis, PA13 mi
- Blakeslee, PA14 mi
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