NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Oakdale, 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
7 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Oakdale, Pennsylvania since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Sandy in 2012. Since 1950, 66 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 2 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 7
- Tornadoes
- 66
- EF3 or stronger
- 2
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
11 deaths in all
What the records show for Oakdale
None of the 7 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Oakdale; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1878, a tropical storm with 52 mph winds when its centre passed 53 miles away. The record near Oakdale begins with an unnamed storm in 1878; the most recent system was Sandy in 2012, a tropical storm 28 miles away. Of the 7 systems, 2 have come since 2000. Of the 794 Pennsylvania cities on this site, 98% have more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than Oakdale. The highest rating among the 66 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3, reached 2 times; the most recent, on May 31, 1985, came within 25 miles. Of the 66, 4 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 31 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 20. The most recent tornado was on May 21, 2025. Oakdale has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 57% of the 794 Pennsylvania cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 176 times since 1962, with stones up to 2 inches (hen egg size). Oakdale has more hail reports within 10 miles than 96% of the 794 Pennsylvania cities.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Oakdale
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | SandyOct 31 | 28 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 3 |
| 2003 | IsabelSep 19 | 9 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1989 | HugoSep 22 | 39 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1979 | FredericSep 14 | 23 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormOct 1 | 25 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormAug 21 | 53 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1878 | Unnamed 1878 stormSep 13 | 53 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 2 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Oakdale: 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 Oakdale
By decade
- 2020s22
- 2010s7
- 2000s2
- 1990s10
- 1980s8(1 EF3+)
- 1970s10
- 1960s2(1 EF3+)
- 1950s5
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 31, 1985 | F3 | 25 mi | 39 mi | 9 / 120 |
| Aug 3, 1963 | F3 | 18 mi | 0.1 mi | 2 / 70 |
| May 11, 2024 | EF2 | 12 mi | 5.84 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 7, 2024 | EF2 | 20 mi | 15.32 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Oct 21, 2021 | EF2 | 12 mi | 15.67 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 30, 1990 | F2 | 21 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 22, 1983 | F2 | 19 mi | 38 mi | 0 / 10 |
| Jun 4, 1975 | F2 | 8 mi | 45.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 13, 1956 | F2 | 17 mi | 0.7 mi | 0 / 5 |
| May 12, 1956 | F2 | 15 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 10, 1954 | F2 | 23 mi | 7.3 mi | 0 / 3 |
| May 21, 2025 | EF1 | 12 mi | 13.89 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 66, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Oakdale
The Storm Prediction Center has 176 hail reports within 10 miles of Oakdale since 1962, made on 69 separate days. Of these, 108 were 1 inch across or larger, and 3 reached 2 inches. The largest size, 2 inches (hen egg size), was reported on 2 days, most recently May 25, 2024. The most recent report is from April 2, 2025. April has the most reports, 40.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Oakdale
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Pittsburgh International Airport, PA, 5 miles north of Oakdale at 1,203 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 83°F and low of 63°F; January is the coolest, at 36°F and 21°F. July is the wettest at 4.3 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.6 inches; the year adds up to 39.6 inches over 86 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 10 days a year, almost all from June to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 114 nights a year. Snowfall averages 44.1 inches a year, most of it in January. That 39.6 inches is more than at 11 of the 148 Pennsylvania stations used on this site (7%). Carnegie, 5 miles east, has its own station (Emsworth L/D Ohio Rvr, PA): 38.3 inches a year, 1.3 less than here, and a July average high of 85°F against 83°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 36 | 21 | 3.0 | 7 | 13.3 |
| Feb | 40 | 23 | 2.6 | 7 | 11.7 |
| Mar | 49 | 30 | 3.2 | 8 | 7.6 |
| Apr | 62 | 41 | 3.3 | 9 | 1.0 |
| May | 72 | 51 | 3.8 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 79 | 59 | 4.1 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 83 | 63 | 4.3 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 82 | 62 | 3.5 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 75 | 55 | 3.3 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 63 | 44 | 2.8 | 7 | 0.4 |
| Nov | 51 | 34 | 2.9 | 7 | 2.4 |
| Dec | 41 | 27 | 2.8 | 7 | 7.7 |
| Year | 61 | 43 | 39.6 | 86 | 44.1 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Pittsburgh International Airport, PA (1,203 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 Oakdale
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 596 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Oakdale: 424 thunderstorm wind reports, 123 flash floods, 32 floods, 16 heavy rain events and 1 lightning strike. They killed 0 people and injured 17, and the NWS estimated $57.1 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 90 mph, on June 8, 2003. July has had the most flash floods, 46 of 123. Of the 788 Pennsylvania cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 690 have had fewer than Oakdale.
June 30, 1998: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Oakdale — 10 injured, $41.0 million damage.
May 30, 2015: thunderstorm wind 10 miles from the centre of Oakdale — 3 injured, $15,000 damage.
June 20, 2018: flash flood 9 miles from the centre of Oakdale — 1 injured, $10.1 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 Oakdale's ZIP code 15071 have filed 135 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $3.5 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Tropical Storm Ivan in 2004: 26 claims (19% of all) and $2.3 million, then Hurricane Ida in 2021 with 15. 32% 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, 420 have fewer than Oakdale.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Tropical Storm Ivan2004 | 26 | $2.3 million |
| Hurricane Ida2021 | 15 | $163,000 |
Allegheny County, which includes Oakdale, has been named in 18 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1972, 13 of them major disasters (by incident: 5 floods, 4 severe storms, 3 hurricanes, 3 snowstorms). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 30, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Allegheny County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for inland flooding; Relatively High for tornadoes, strong wind and lightning; Relatively Moderate for heat waves; Relatively Low for hurricanes; Very Low for hail. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $354.2 million a year, the 2nd highest of 67 Pennsylvania counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $295.0 million (83%), 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 Oakdale
- Imperial, PA5 mi
- Mc Donald, PA5 mi
- Carnegie, PA5 mi
- Coraopolis, PA6 mi
- Bridgeville, PA6 mi
- Mc Kees Rocks, PA7 mi
- Crescent, PA10 mi
- Sewickley, PA10 mi
- Bethel Park, PA10 mi
- Mc Murray, PA11 mi
- Clinton, PA11 mi
- Pittsburgh, PA11 mi
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