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NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Lewisburg, 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

16 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Lewisburg, Pennsylvania since 1851, 2 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Sandy in 2012. Since 1950, 57 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 2 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
2

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
14

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
57

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
2

6 deaths in all

What the records show for Lewisburg

The strongest storm to pass near Lewisburg was an unnamed storm in 1878, a Category 1 hurricane with 85 mph winds when its centre passed 52 miles away. The closest pass by a hurricane was Hazel in 1954, whose centre came within 28 miles. The record near Lewisburg begins with an unnamed storm in 1876; the most recent system was Sandy in 2012, a tropical storm 66 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1950s, with 3 systems, one of them at hurricane strength. Of the 16 systems, 2 have come since 2000. Lewisburg has more hurricanes within 75 miles than 54% of the 794 Pennsylvania cities on this site. The highest rating among the 57 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3, reached 2 times; the most recent, on May 31, 1985, came within 11 miles. Of the 57, 7 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 25 have come since 2000. July has had the most tornadoes, 17. The most recent tornado was on July 2, 2023. Of the 794 Pennsylvania cities, 53% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Lewisburg. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 26 times since 1991, with stones up to 2.5 inches (tennis ball size). Of the 794 Pennsylvania cities, 76% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Lewisburg.

Compare Lewisburg's storm record with another city →

Tropical storms and hurricanes near Lewisburg

Tropical systems that passed within 75 miles of Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, newest first
YearStormClosestStrength when closestPeak
2012SandyOct 3066 miTropical storm (60 mph)Category 3
2006ErnestoSep 374 miTropical storm (40 mph)Category 1
1979DavidSep 64 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 5
1955ConnieAug 1341 miTropical storm (52 mph)Category 4
1954HazelOct 1628 miCategory 1 (79 mph)Category 4
1952AbleSep 172 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 2
1949Unnamed 1949 stormAug 2920 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 4
1933Unnamed 1933 stormAug 243 miTropical storm (49 mph)Category 4
1929Unnamed 1929 stormOct 356 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 4
1903Unnamed 1903 stormSep 1764 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 2
1893Unnamed 1893 stormOct 1447 miTropical storm (71 mph)Category 3
1893Unnamed 1893 stormAug 2971 miTropical storm (63 mph)Category 3
1888Unnamed 1888 stormAug 2131 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 3
1885Unnamed 1885 stormOct 1422 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
1878Unnamed 1878 stormOct 2352 miCategory 1 (85 mph)Category 2
1876Unnamed 1876 stormSep 1857 miTropical storm (55 mph)Category 3

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

By decade

  • 2020s7
  • 2010s9
  • 2000s9
  • 1990s21
  • 1980s3(1 EF3+)
  • 1970s5(1 EF3+)
  • 1960s1
  • 1950s2
Strongest tornadoes near Lewisburg, Pennsylvania
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
May 31, 1985F311 mi19 mi6 / 60
Jul 29, 1976F318 mi25 mi0 / 0
May 23, 2011EF224 mi4.71 mi0 / 0
Aug 28, 1978F26 mi3.3 mi0 / 1
Aug 16, 1966F223 mi4.5 mi0 / 1
Sep 12, 1953F224 mi4.7 mi0 / 0
Jul 2, 2023EF13 mi2.37 mi0 / 0
Jul 2, 2023EF16 mi2.12 mi0 / 0
Jul 2, 2023EF111 mi1.47 mi0 / 0
Mar 31, 2022EF117 mi9.14 mi0 / 1
Sep 8, 2021EF115 mi0.73 mi0 / 0
Apr 14, 2019EF12 mi1.45 mi0 / 0

The strongest 12 of 57, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

Hail in Lewisburg

The Storm Prediction Center has 26 hail reports within 10 miles of Lewisburg since 1991, made on 19 separate days. Of these, 15 were 1 inch across or larger, and 2 reached 2 inches. The largest size, 2.5 inches (tennis ball size), was reported on 2 days, most recently May 28, 2019. The most recent report is from April 14, 2024. May has the most reports, 8.

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

Weather by month in Lewisburg

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Lewisburg, PA, 2 miles southeast of Lewisburg at 500 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 84°F and low of 62°F; January is the coolest, at 35°F and 19°F. July is the wettest at 4.5 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.4 inches; the year adds up to 43.9 inches over 82 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 54% of the year's precipitation (23.8 of 43.9 inches); the other six months are drier. October has brought the most of the 16 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (6); a normal October there has highs of 63°F and 3.8 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 134 nights a year. Snowfall averages 28.8 inches a year, most of it in January. That 43.9 inches is more than at 64 of the 148 Pennsylvania stations used on this site (43%). Northumberland, 8 miles southeast, has its own station (Sunbury, PA): 43.6 inches a year, 0.3 less than here, and the same July average high, 84°F.

Monthly climate normals 1991–2020 at Lewisburg, PA
MonthHigh °FLow °FPrecip. inDays ≥ 0.1"Snow in
Jan35193.168.0
Feb38202.467.8
Mar48273.575.3
Apr62373.880.8
May72483.990.0
Jun80573.780.0
Jul84624.570.0
Aug83604.370.0
Sep75524.460.0
Oct63413.870.2
Nov51313.161.3
Dec40243.475.4
Year614043.98228.8

Averages for 1991–2020 at Lewisburg, PA (500 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.

Pennsylvania weather by month, station by station →

Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Lewisburg

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 202 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Lewisburg: 178 thunderstorm wind reports, 15 floods and 9 flash floods. They killed 0 people and injured 2, and the NWS estimated $2.4 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 105 mph, on April 14, 2019. July has had the most flash floods, 3 of 9. Of the 788 Pennsylvania cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 145 have had fewer than Lewisburg.

  • July 7, 2012: thunderstorm wind 8 miles from the centre of Lewisburg — 1 injured, $5,000 damage.

  • August 27, 2020: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Lewisburg — 1 injured, $1,000 damage.

  • September 7, 2011: flood 3 miles from the centre of Lewisburg — $800,000 damage.

    NWS: “91 feet. 0 feet.”

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 Lewisburg's ZIP code 17837 have filed 413 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $4.1 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1996: 90 claims (22% of all) and $507,000, then Tropical Storm Lee in 2011 with 90 and Tropical Storm Ivan in 2004 with 68. The year with the most claims was 1999, with 111. 63% 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, 519 have fewer than Lewisburg.

Flood insurance claims in Lewisburg by named event
EventClaimsPaid
Flooding199690$507,000
Tropical Storm Lee201190$957,000
Tropical Storm Ivan200468$773,000

Union County, which includes Lewisburg, has been named in 18 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1972, 12 of them major disasters (by incident: 6 floods, 3 hurricanes, 3 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Tropical Storm Debby, on September 11, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Union County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for strong wind; Relatively Low for hurricanes, tornadoes, inland flooding, lightning and heat waves; Very Low for hail. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $14.4 million a year, the 56th highest of 67 Pennsylvania counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $11.1 million (77%), 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 Lewisburg