Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Sunbury, PA

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Sunbury, PA, 1 mile west of Sunbury at 575 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 84°F and low of 60°F; January is the coolest, at 35°F and 19°F. September is the wettest at 4.5 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.3 inches; the year adds up to 43.6 inches over 82 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 56% of the year's precipitation (24.2 of 43.6 inches); the other six months are drier. August has brought the most of the 19 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (7); a normal August there has highs of 82°F and 3.9 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 16 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 134 nights a year. Snowfall averages 28.6 inches a year, most of it in February. That 43.6 inches is more than at 59 of the 148 Pennsylvania stations used on this site (40%). Selinsgrove, 6 miles southwest, has its own station (Selinsgrove Penn Vly Airport, PA): 41.1 inches a year, 2.5 less than here, and the same July average high, 84°F.

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 203 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Sunbury: 181 thunderstorm wind reports, 12 floods and 10 flash floods. They killed 0 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $1.9 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 90 mph, on June 28, 2016. July has had the most flash floods, 4 of 10. Of the 788 Pennsylvania cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 166 have had fewer than Sunbury.

Flood insurance policyholders in Sunbury's ZIP code 17801 have filed 211 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $2.9 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Tropical Storm Lee in 2011: 50 claims (24% of all) and $1.6 million, then Flooding in 1996 with 46 and Tropical Storm Ivan in 2004 with 22. 56% 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, 473 have fewer than Sunbury.