NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Philipsburg, 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 Philipsburg, Pennsylvania since 1851, 1 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Sandy in 2012. Since 1950, 12 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 1 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 1
- Tropical storms
- 13
- Tornadoes
- 12
- EF3 or stronger
- 1
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
no recorded deaths
What the records show for Philipsburg
The strongest storm to pass near Philipsburg was Hazel in 1954, a Category 1 hurricane with 79 mph winds when its centre passed 39 miles away. The record near Philipsburg begins with an unnamed storm in 1876; the most recent system was Sandy in 2012, a tropical storm 44 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1890s, with 3 systems. Of the 14 systems, one has come since 2000. Of the 794 Pennsylvania cities on this site, 45% have more hurricanes within 75 miles than Philipsburg. The strongest of the 12 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F4 on May 31, 1985; its path came within 21 miles. Of the 12, one had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and none has come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 4. The most recent tornado was on June 2, 1998. Of the 794 Pennsylvania cities, 100% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Philipsburg. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 11 times since 1962, with stones up to 1.5 inches (ping pong ball size). Of the 794 Pennsylvania cities, 95% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Philipsburg.
Compare Philipsburg's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Philipsburg
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | SandyOct 30 | 44 mi | Tropical storm (51 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1979 | DavidSep 6 | 57 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1955 | ConnieAug 13 | 10 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1954 | HazelOct 16 | 39 mi | Category 1 (79 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1933 | Unnamed 1933 stormAug 24 | 67 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1928 | Unnamed 1928 stormSep 20 | 21 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormJun 29 | 66 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1896 | Unnamed 1896 stormSep 30 | 29 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormOct 23 | 63 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormOct 14 | 20 mi | Tropical storm (71 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormAug 21 | 49 mi | Tropical storm (47 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1885 | Unnamed 1885 stormOct 14 | 43 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1878 | Unnamed 1878 stormSep 13 | 46 mi | Tropical storm (48 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1876 | Unnamed 1876 stormSep 18 | 8 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 Philipsburg: 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 Philipsburg
By decade
- 1990s9
- 1980s1(1 EF3+)
- 1970s2
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 31, 1985 | F4 | 21 mi | 69 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 19, 1996 | F2 | 21 mi | 27.4 mi | 0 / 6 |
| Sep 26, 1994 | F2 | 23 mi | 3.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 5, 1975 | F2 | 18 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 2, 1998 | F1 | 15 mi | 4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 19, 1996 | F1 | 23 mi | 1.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 16, 1990 | F1 | 23 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 29, 1976 | F1 | 17 mi | 0.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 2, 1998 | F0 | in town | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 2, 1998 | F0 | 20 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 29, 1998 | F0 | 23 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 9, 1991 | F0 | 19 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 12, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Philipsburg
The Storm Prediction Center has 11 hail reports within 10 miles of Philipsburg since 1962, made on 8 separate days. Of these, 5 were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest, 1.5 inches (ping pong ball size), fell on June 1, 2007. The most recent report is from April 27, 2011. June and August have the most reports, 3 each.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Philipsburg
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Philipsburg 2 S, PA, 1 mile south of Philipsburg at 1,720 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 80°F and low of 57°F; January is the coolest, at 32°F and 16°F. June and September are the wettest at 4.1 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.5 inches; the year adds up to 42.0 inches over 89 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 53% of the year's precipitation (22.3 of 42.0 inches); the other six months are drier. Highs reach 90°F on about 4 days a year, almost all from July to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 145 nights a year. Snowfall averages 50.0 inches a year, most of it in January. That 42.0 inches is more than at 38 of the 148 Pennsylvania stations used on this site (26%). Woodland, 10 miles northwest, has its own station (Clearfield Lawrence Airport, PA): 40.4 inches a year, 1.6 less than here, and a July average high of 82°F against 80°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 32 | 16 | 3.0 | 7 | 13.1 |
| Feb | 35 | 17 | 2.5 | 7 | 12.7 |
| Mar | 44 | 23 | 3.6 | 7 | 9.1 |
| Apr | 57 | 34 | 3.7 | 9 | 2.0 |
| May | 68 | 45 | 3.8 | 9 | 0.1 |
| Jun | 76 | 53 | 4.1 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 80 | 57 | 3.9 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 78 | 55 | 3.5 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 72 | 48 | 4.1 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 59 | 38 | 3.5 | 7 | 0.8 |
| Nov | 47 | 29 | 3.2 | 6 | 2.6 |
| Dec | 36 | 21 | 3.1 | 7 | 9.6 |
| Year | 57 | 36 | 42.0 | 89 | 50.0 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Philipsburg 2 S, PA (1,720 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 Philipsburg
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 81 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Philipsburg: 76 thunderstorm wind reports, 3 floods and 2 flash floods. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $476,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 75 mph, on April 29, 2025.
December 1, 2010: flood 7 miles from the centre of Philipsburg — $200,000 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 Philipsburg's ZIP code 16866 have filed 64 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $880,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 1978, with 20. 20% 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, 306 have fewer than Philipsburg.
Centre County, which includes Philipsburg, has been named in 15 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1972, 10 of them major disasters (by incident: 5 floods, 3 hurricanes, 3 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 30, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Centre 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 heat waves; Very Low for hail. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $24.9 million a year, the 35th highest of 67 Pennsylvania counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $19.4 million (78%), 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 Philipsburg
- Osceola Mills, PA4 mi
- Morrisdale, PA8 mi
- Houtzdale, PA9 mi
- Woodland, PA10 mi
- Port Matilda, PA11 mi
- Clearfield, PA15 mi
- Tyrone, PA16 mi
- Julian, PA16 mi
- Curwensville, PA18 mi
- Coalport, PA19 mi
- University Park, PA19 mi
- State College, PA19 mi
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