NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Shippensburg, 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
22 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Shippensburg, Pennsylvania since 1851, 2 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Sandy in 2012. Since 1950, 45 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 1 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 2
- Tropical storms
- 20
- Tornadoes
- 45
- 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 Shippensburg
The strongest storm to pass near Shippensburg was an unnamed storm in 1878, a Category 1 hurricane with 89 mph winds when its centre passed 49 miles away. The closest pass by a hurricane was Hazel in 1954, whose centre came within 14 miles. The record near Shippensburg begins with an unnamed storm in 1876; the most recent system was Sandy in 2012, a tropical storm directly overhead. The 1890s and the 1950s were the busiest decades, with 4 systems each. Of the 22 systems, 2 have come since 2000. Shippensburg has more hurricanes within 75 miles than 54% of the 794 Pennsylvania cities on this site. The strongest of the 45 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F3 on April 16, 1961; its path passed within a mile of the city centre. Of the 45, 2 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 18 have come since 2000. April has had the most tornadoes, 10. The most recent tornado was on May 27, 2022. Of the 794 Pennsylvania cities, 71% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Shippensburg. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 26 times since 1981, with stones up to 1.75 inches (golf ball size). Of the 794 Pennsylvania cities, 76% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Shippensburg.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Shippensburg
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | SandyOct 30 | overhead | Tropical storm (59 mph) | Category 3 |
| 2006 | ErnestoSep 3 | 44 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1979 | DavidSep 6 | 8 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1955 | DianeAug 18 | 45 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1955 | ConnieAug 13 | 18 mi | Tropical storm (53 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1954 | HazelOct 15 | 14 mi | Category 1 (81 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1952 | AbleSep 1 | 43 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1949 | Unnamed 1949 stormAug 29 | 17 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1943 | Unnamed 1943 stormOct 1 | 53 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1934 | Unnamed 1934 stormJun 19 | 60 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1933 | Unnamed 1933 stormAug 24 | 24 mi | Tropical storm (55 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1929 | Unnamed 1929 stormOct 2 | 64 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1928 | Unnamed 1928 stormSep 20 | 34 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormAug 4 | 60 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1896 | Unnamed 1896 stormSep 30 | 58 mi | Tropical storm (67 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormOct 23 | 21 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormOct 14 | 22 mi | Tropical storm (72 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormAug 29 | 51 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormAug 21 | 18 mi | Tropical storm (47 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1885 | Unnamed 1885 stormOct 13 | 7 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1878 | Unnamed 1878 stormOct 23 | 49 mi | Category 1 (89 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1876 | Unnamed 1876 stormSep 18 | 19 mi | Tropical storm (61 mph) | Category 3 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Shippensburg: 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 Shippensburg
By decade
- 2020s3
- 2010s7
- 2000s8
- 1990s12
- 1980s3
- 1970s6
- 1960s3(1 EF3+)
- 1950s3
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 16, 1961 | F3 | in town | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 19, 2019 | EF2 | 18 mi | 2.89 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 30, 1994 | F2 | 13 mi | 6 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Jun 20, 1989 | F2 | 22 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jun 7, 1980 | F2 | 23 mi | 5.6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 21, 1976 | F2 | 16 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 19, 1955 | F2 | 25 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 25, 1954 | F2 | 21 mi | 13.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 19, 2019 | EF1 | 21 mi | 5.37 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 19, 2019 | EF1 | 25 mi | 1.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 27, 2013 | EF1 | 16 mi | 3.02 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 26, 2011 | EF1 | 14 mi | 0.12 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 45, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Shippensburg
The Storm Prediction Center has 26 hail reports within 10 miles of Shippensburg since 1981, made on 20 separate days. Of these, 13 were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest size, 1.75 inches (golf ball size), was reported on 2 days, most recently August 2, 2008. The most recent report is from August 4, 2023. August has the most reports, 9.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Shippensburg
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Shippensburg, PA, in Shippensburg at 680 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 87°F and low of 64°F; January is the coolest, at 38°F and 22°F. September is the wettest at 4.3 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.7 inches; the year adds up to 42.5 inches over 79 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 52% of the year's precipitation (21.9 of 42.5 inches); the other six months are drier. October has brought the most of the 22 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (8); a normal October there has highs of 66°F and 3.3 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 30 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 111 nights a year. Snowfall averages 33.6 inches a year, most of it in February. That 42.5 inches is more than at 45 of the 148 Pennsylvania stations used on this site (30%). Newville, 10 miles northeast, has its own station (Bloserville 1 N, PA): 43.8 inches a year, 1.3 more than here, and a July average high of 84°F against 87°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 38 | 22 | 3.2 | 6 | 9.8 |
| Feb | 42 | 24 | 2.7 | 6 | 10.3 |
| Mar | 51 | 31 | 3.7 | 7 | 6.7 |
| Apr | 64 | 41 | 3.6 | 7 | 0.4 |
| May | 74 | 51 | 4.0 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 83 | 60 | 4.0 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 87 | 64 | 4.0 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 85 | 62 | 3.3 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 78 | 55 | 4.3 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 66 | 44 | 3.3 | 6 | 0.2 |
| Nov | 53 | 34 | 3.0 | 6 | 0.8 |
| Dec | 42 | 27 | 3.4 | 7 | 5.4 |
| Year | 64 | 43 | 42.5 | 79 | 33.6 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Shippensburg, PA (680 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 Shippensburg
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 86 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Shippensburg: 66 thunderstorm wind reports, 10 floods, 9 flash floods and 1 lightning strike. They killed 0 people and injured 3, and the NWS estimated $780,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 96 mph, on July 21, 2020. May 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 Shippensburg.
July 21, 2020: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Shippensburg — 1 injured, $90,000 damage.
May 26, 2011: thunderstorm wind 4 miles from the centre of Shippensburg — 1 injured, $5,000 damage.
NWS: “Thunderstorm winds estimated near 60 mph knocked down trees just east of Shippensburg Airport. A falling tree injured a man at the intersection of Strohm and Sand Bank Roads.”
July 21, 2020: thunderstorm wind 8 miles from the centre of Shippensburg — 1 injured, $1,000 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 Shippensburg's ZIP code 17257 have filed 38 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $195,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1984: 11 claims (29% of all) and $67,000. 37% 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, 225 have fewer than Shippensburg.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1984 | 11 | $67,000 |
Cumberland County, which includes Shippensburg, has been named in 19 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1972, 13 of them major disasters (by incident: 7 floods, 4 snowstorms, 3 hurricanes, 3 severe storms). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 30, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Cumberland County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for strong wind; Relatively Moderate 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 $68.7 million a year, the 16th highest of 67 Pennsylvania counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $49.7 million (72%), 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 Shippensburg
- Newburg, PA7 mi
- Orrstown, PA8 mi
- Newville, PA10 mi
- Fayetteville, PA11 mi
- Chambersburg, PA13 mi
- Orrtanna, PA14 mi
- Biglerville, PA14 mi
- Gardners, PA15 mi
- Aspers, PA16 mi
- Mount Holly Springs, PA17 mi
- Saint Thomas, PA19 mi
- Waynesboro, PA20 mi
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