NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Lehighton, 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
17 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Lehighton, Pennsylvania since 1851, 1 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Ida in 2021. Since 1950, 54 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 2 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 1
- Tropical storms
- 16
- Tornadoes
- 54
- 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 Lehighton
The strongest storm to pass near Lehighton was an unnamed storm in 1878, a Category 1 hurricane with 83 mph winds when its centre passed 8 miles away. The record near Lehighton begins with an unnamed storm in 1863; the most recent system was Ida in 2021, a tropical storm 68 miles away. Of the 17 systems, 3 have come since 2000. Of the 794 Pennsylvania cities on this site, 45% have more hurricanes within 75 miles than Lehighton. The highest rating among the 54 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3, reached 2 times; the most recent, on May 31, 1998, came within 24 miles. Of the 54, one had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 16 have come since 2000. July has had the most tornadoes, 17. The most recent tornado was on May 27, 2024. Of the 794 Pennsylvania cities, 57% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Lehighton. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 48 times since 1966, with stones up to 3 inches (tea cup size). Of the 794 Pennsylvania cities, 54% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Lehighton.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Lehighton
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | IdaSep 2 | 68 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Category 4 |
| 2020 | IsaiasAug 4 | 28 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2012 | SandyOct 30 | 69 mi | Tropical storm (64 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1979 | DavidSep 6 | 52 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1955 | DianeAug 19 | 41 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1952 | AbleSep 1 | 25 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1949 | Unnamed 1949 stormAug 29 | 31 mi | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1934 | Unnamed 1934 stormJun 19 | 70 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1933 | Unnamed 1933 stormAug 24 | 60 mi | Tropical storm (48 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1929 | Unnamed 1929 stormOct 3 | 6 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormAug 4 | 38 mi | Tropical storm (54 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1903 | Unnamed 1903 stormSep 16 | 18 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1899 | Unnamed 1899 stormNov 1 | 24 mi | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormAug 29 | 19 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormAug 22 | overhead | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1878 | Unnamed 1878 stormOct 23 | 8 mi | Category 1 (83 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1863 | Unnamed 1863 stormSep 19 | 72 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Tropical storm |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Lehighton: 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 Lehighton
By decade
- 2020s4
- 2010s8
- 2000s4
- 1990s7(1 EF3+)
- 1980s13(1 EF3+)
- 1970s13
- 1960s2
- 1950s3
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 31, 1998 | F3 | 24 mi | 8.3 mi | 0 / 7 |
| Jul 26, 1981 | F3 | 8 mi | 3.3 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Jul 29, 2009 | EF2 | 25 mi | 4.58 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Dec 1, 2006 | F2 | 24 mi | 20 mi | 0 / 5 |
| Nov 8, 1996 | F2 | 9 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jul 15, 1992 | F2 | 16 mi | 1.5 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Jul 5, 1984 | F2 | 23 mi | 8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 5, 1984 | F2 | 25 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 5, 1984 | F2 | 24 mi | 7 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Apr 29, 1981 | F2 | 7 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 5, 1979 | F2 | 21 mi | 0.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 10, 1968 | F2 | 17 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 54, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Lehighton
The Storm Prediction Center has 48 hail reports within 10 miles of Lehighton since 1966, made on 38 separate days. Of these, 28 were 1 inch across or larger, and 3 reached 2 inches. The largest, 3 inches (tea cup size), fell on May 26, 2011. The most recent report is from July 3, 2025. July has the most reports, 17.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Lehighton
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Allentown International Airport, PA, 18 miles southeast of Lehighton at 390 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 86°F and low of 65°F; January is the coolest, at 38°F and 22°F. July is the wettest at 5.3 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.8 inches; the year adds up to 47.4 inches over 82 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 56% of the year's precipitation (26.4 of 47.4 inches); the other six months are drier. August has brought the most of the 17 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (7); a normal August there has highs of 84°F and 4.6 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 18 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 118 nights a year. Snowfall averages 33.1 inches a year, most of it in February. That 47.4 inches is more than at 108 of the 148 Pennsylvania stations used on this site (73%). Nesquehoning, 8 miles west, has its own station (Mahanoy City 2 N, PA): 53.7 inches a year, 6.3 more than here, and a July average high of 80°F against 86°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 38 | 22 | 3.3 | 6 | 9.8 |
| Feb | 42 | 23 | 2.8 | 6 | 10.8 |
| Mar | 51 | 31 | 3.6 | 7 | 6.3 |
| Apr | 63 | 40 | 3.7 | 7 | 0.5 |
| May | 74 | 51 | 3.7 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 82 | 60 | 4.4 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 86 | 65 | 5.3 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 84 | 63 | 4.6 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 77 | 55 | 4.8 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 66 | 44 | 4.1 | 6 | 0.2 |
| Nov | 54 | 34 | 3.2 | 6 | 0.9 |
| Dec | 43 | 27 | 3.9 | 7 | 4.6 |
| Year | 63 | 43 | 47.4 | 82 | 33.1 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Allentown International Airport, PA (390 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 Lehighton
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 212 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Lehighton: 156 thunderstorm wind reports, 17 flash floods, 17 floods, 14 heavy rain events and 8 lightning strikes. They killed 1 person and injured 3, and the NWS estimated $27.6 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 74 mph, on June 25, 2000. August has had the most flash floods, 5 of 17. Of the 788 Pennsylvania cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 301 have had fewer than Lehighton.
August 13, 2016: lightning strike 6 miles from the centre of Lehighton — 1 killed, 2 injured.
April 10, 2013: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Lehighton — 1 injured.
September 1, 2021: flash flood 8 miles from the centre of Lehighton — $25.0 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 Lehighton's ZIP code 18235 have filed 20 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $117,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 15% 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, 114 have fewer than Lehighton.
Carbon County, which includes Lehighton, has been named in 18 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 11 of them major disasters (by incident: 4 floods, 4 hurricanes, 4 severe storms, 3 snowstorms). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 30, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Carbon County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for lightning; Relatively Moderate for strong wind and heat waves; Relatively Low for hurricanes, tornadoes and inland flooding; Very Low for hail. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $21.6 million a year, the 43rd highest of 67 Pennsylvania counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $12.2 million (57%), 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 Lehighton
- Jim Thorpe, PA6 mi
- Palmerton, PA6 mi
- Slatington, PA8 mi
- Nesquehoning, PA8 mi
- Walnutport, PA8 mi
- Germansville, PA8 mi
- Summit Hill, PA8 mi
- Lansford, PA9 mi
- Weatherly, PA10 mi
- Coaldale, PA11 mi
- Schnecksville, PA12 mi
- Danielsville, PA12 mi
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