NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Northern Cambria, 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
14 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Northern Cambria, Pennsylvania since 1851, 1 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Sandy in 2012. Since 1950, 37 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 1
- Tropical storms
- 13
- Tornadoes
- 37
- EF3 or stronger
- 0
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
1 deaths in all
What the records show for Northern Cambria
The strongest storm to pass near Northern Cambria was Hazel in 1954, a Category 1 hurricane with 79 mph winds when its centre passed 72 miles away. The record near Northern Cambria begins with an unnamed storm in 1876; the most recent system was Sandy in 2012, a tropical storm 19 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1890s, with 3 systems. Of the 14 systems, 2 have come since 2000. Of the 794 Pennsylvania cities on this site, 45% have more hurricanes within 75 miles than Northern Cambria. The highest rating among the 37 tornadoes within 25 miles is F2, reached 9 times; the most recent, on April 28, 2002, came within 19 miles. The deadliest, an F2 on July 11, 1976, killed 1 person. Of the 37, one had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 12 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 12. The most recent tornado was on March 16, 2025. Of the 794 Pennsylvania cities, 85% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Northern Cambria. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 17 times since 1983, with stones up to 1.5 inches (ping pong ball size). Of the 794 Pennsylvania cities, 89% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Northern Cambria.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Northern Cambria
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | SandyOct 30 | 19 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 2003 | IsabelSep 19 | 65 mi | Tropical storm (45 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1979 | DavidSep 6 | 72 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1955 | ConnieAug 13 | 43 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1954 | HazelOct 16 | 72 mi | Category 1 (79 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1928 | Unnamed 1928 stormSep 20 | 13 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormOct 1 | 62 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1896 | Unnamed 1896 stormSep 30 | 3 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormOct 23 | 62 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormOct 14 | 49 mi | Tropical storm (72 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormAug 21 | 44 mi | Tropical storm (48 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1885 | Unnamed 1885 stormOct 13 | 68 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1878 | Unnamed 1878 stormSep 13 | 18 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1876 | Unnamed 1876 stormSep 18 | 38 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 3 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Northern Cambria: 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 Northern Cambria
By decade
- 2020s5
- 2010s5
- 2000s2
- 1990s10
- 1980s8
- 1970s4
- 1950s3
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 11, 1976 | F2 | 22 mi | 28.7 mi | 1 / 7 |
| Apr 28, 2002 | F2 | 19 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jul 19, 1996 | F2 | 8 mi | 6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 19, 1996 | F2 | 10 mi | 27.4 mi | 0 / 6 |
| Sep 26, 1994 | F2 | 9 mi | 3.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 22, 1983 | F2 | 23 mi | 38 mi | 0 / 10 |
| Jul 26, 1981 | F2 | 24 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 9, 1980 | F2 | 8 mi | 7.4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 27, 1951 | F2 | 23 mi | 19.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 16, 2025 | EF1 | 23 mi | 1.08 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 12, 2023 | EF1 | 8 mi | 0.32 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 16, 2019 | EF1 | 8 mi | 0.27 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 37, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Northern Cambria
The Storm Prediction Center has 17 hail reports within 10 miles of Northern Cambria since 1983, made on 13 separate days. Of these, 10 were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest size, 1.5 inches (ping pong ball size), was reported on 2 days, most recently May 28, 2019. The most recent report is from June 3, 2023. May and August have the most reports, 5 each.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Northern Cambria
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Prince Gallitzin Sp, PA, 13 miles east of Northern Cambria at 1,520 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 82°F and low of 58°F; January is the coolest, at 34°F and 16°F. September is the wettest at 4.1 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.5 inches; the year adds up to 40.8 inches over 90 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 54% of the year's precipitation (21.9 of 40.8 inches); the other six months are drier. Highs reach 90°F on about 7 days a year, almost all from July to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 154 nights a year. Snowfall averages 49.9 inches a year, most of it in January. That 40.8 inches is more than at 18 of the 148 Pennsylvania stations used on this site (12%). Carrolltown, 6 miles southeast, has its own station (Ebensburg Sewage Plt, PA): 48.7 inches a year, 7.9 more than here, and a July average high of 79°F against 82°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 34 | 16 | 2.8 | 8 | 15.4 |
| Feb | 37 | 17 | 2.5 | 6 | 14.6 |
| Mar | 46 | 24 | 3.3 | 7 | 7.6 |
| Apr | 60 | 34 | 3.7 | 8 | 1.6 |
| May | 70 | 45 | 3.7 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 78 | 54 | 3.9 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 82 | 58 | 3.9 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 81 | 56 | 3.9 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 74 | 49 | 4.1 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 62 | 38 | 3.2 | 7 | 0.4 |
| Nov | 49 | 29 | 2.9 | 6 | 1.8 |
| Dec | 38 | 22 | 2.9 | 7 | 8.5 |
| Year | 59 | 37 | 40.8 | 90 | 49.9 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Prince Gallitzin Sp, PA (1,520 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 Northern Cambria
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 101 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Northern Cambria: 92 thunderstorm wind reports, 5 floods and 4 flash floods. They killed 1 person and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $869,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 120 mph, on April 29, 2025.
August 13, 1999: thunderstorm wind 8 miles from the centre of Northern Cambria — 1 killed, 1 injured, $50,000 damage.
April 29, 2025: thunderstorm wind 6 miles from the centre of Northern Cambria — $250,000 damage.
September 2, 2013: flash flood 1 mile from the centre of Northern Cambria — $200,000 damage.
NWS: “Intense heavy rainfall between 4-5 inches in less than an hour produced flash flooding in Northern Cambria. The bulk of the flooding was confined in Northern Cambria Borough and Susquehanna and Barr Townships.”
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 Northern Cambria's ZIP code 15714 have filed 34 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $204,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 38% 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, 205 have fewer than Northern Cambria.
Cambria County, which includes Northern Cambria, has been named in 18 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1972, 11 of them major disasters (by incident: 5 floods, 4 snowstorms, 3 hurricanes, 3 severe storms). The latest major disaster declaration was Tropical Storm Debby, on September 11, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Cambria County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for lightning; Relatively Moderate for inland flooding and strong wind; Relatively Low for hurricanes, tornadoes and hail; Very Low for heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $31.6 million a year, the 31st highest of 67 Pennsylvania counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $23.9 million (76%), 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 Northern Cambria
- Hastings, PA4 mi
- Cherry Tree, PA5 mi
- Carrolltown, PA6 mi
- Patton, PA8 mi
- Clymer, PA10 mi
- Ebensburg, PA12 mi
- Nanty Glo, PA13 mi
- Loretto, PA14 mi
- Marion Center, PA15 mi
- Coalport, PA16 mi
- Gallitzin, PA17 mi
- Cresson, PA17 mi
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