NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Tamaqua, 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
19 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Tamaqua, Pennsylvania since 1851, 2 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Ida in 2021. Since 1950, 46 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 2 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 2
- Tropical storms
- 17
- Tornadoes
- 46
- EF3 or stronger
- 2
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
no recorded deaths
What the records show for Tamaqua
The strongest storm to pass near Tamaqua was an unnamed storm in 1878, a Category 1 hurricane with 84 mph winds when its centre passed 3 miles away. The record near Tamaqua begins with an unnamed storm in 1878; the most recent system was Ida in 2021, a tropical storm 71 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1950s, with 3 systems, one of them at hurricane strength. Of the 19 systems, 4 have come since 2000. Tamaqua has more hurricanes within 75 miles than 54% of the 794 Pennsylvania cities on this site. The highest rating among the 46 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3, reached 2 times; the most recent, on May 31, 1998, came within 22 miles. Of the 46, 2 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 15 have come since 2000. July has had the most tornadoes, 13. The most recent tornado was on May 4, 2025. Of the 794 Pennsylvania cities, 68% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Tamaqua. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 19 times since 1976, with stones up to 3 inches (tea cup size). Of the 794 Pennsylvania cities, 86% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Tamaqua.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Tamaqua
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | IdaSep 2 | 71 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 2020 | IsaiasAug 4 | 40 mi | Tropical storm (64 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2012 | SandyOct 30 | 63 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 3 |
| 2006 | ErnestoSep 3 | 72 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1979 | DavidSep 6 | 42 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1955 | DianeAug 19 | 43 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1954 | HazelOct 16 | 72 mi | Category 1 (79 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1952 | AbleSep 1 | 32 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1949 | Unnamed 1949 stormAug 29 | 23 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1934 | Unnamed 1934 stormJun 19 | 75 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1933 | Unnamed 1933 stormAug 24 | 48 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1929 | Unnamed 1929 stormOct 3 | 6 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormAug 4 | 44 mi | Tropical storm (53 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1903 | Unnamed 1903 stormSep 16 | 32 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1899 | Unnamed 1899 stormNov 1 | 35 mi | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormAug 29 | 28 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormAug 22 | 3 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1885 | Unnamed 1885 stormOct 14 | 72 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1878 | Unnamed 1878 stormOct 23 | 3 mi | Category 1 (84 mph) | Category 2 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Tamaqua: 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 Tamaqua
By decade
- 2020s6
- 2010s8
- 2000s1
- 1990s7(1 EF3+)
- 1980s9(1 EF3+)
- 1970s8
- 1960s4
- 1950s3
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 31, 1998 | F3 | 22 mi | 8.3 mi | 0 / 7 |
| Jul 26, 1981 | F3 | 21 mi | 3.3 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Dec 1, 2006 | F2 | 21 mi | 20 mi | 0 / 5 |
| Nov 8, 1996 | F2 | 23 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jul 15, 1992 | F2 | 6 mi | 1.5 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Jul 26, 1981 | F2 | 15 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 29, 1981 | F2 | 21 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 10, 1968 | F2 | 12 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 5, 1950 | F2 | 21 mi | 12.9 mi | 0 / 2 |
| May 27, 2024 | EF1 | 8 mi | 1.53 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 12, 2023 | EF1 | 19 mi | 3.25 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 18, 2021 | EF1 | 17 mi | 1.07 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 46, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Tamaqua
The Storm Prediction Center has 19 hail reports within 10 miles of Tamaqua since 1976, made on 11 separate days. Of these, 15 were 1 inch across or larger, and one reached 2 inches. The largest, 3 inches (tea cup size), fell on May 26, 2011. The most recent report is from July 3, 2025. May and July have the most reports, 5 each.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Tamaqua
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Mahanoy City 2 N, PA, 9 miles west of Tamaqua at 1,710 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 80°F and low of 61°F; January is the coolest, at 33°F and 18°F. July and September are the wettest at 5.2 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 3.0 inches; the year adds up to 53.7 inches over 96 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 54% of the year's precipitation (29.2 of 53.7 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 78°F and 4.7 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 2 days a year, almost all from July. Lows fall below freezing on about 139 nights a year. Snowfall averages 48.0 inches a year, most of it in February. That 53.7 inches is more than at 145 of the 148 Pennsylvania stations used on this site (98%). New Ringgold, 6 miles south, has its own station (Hamburg, PA): 49.6 inches a year, 4.1 less than here, and a July average high of 85°F against 80°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 33 | 18 | 3.9 | 8 | 12.3 |
| Feb | 35 | 18 | 3.0 | 7 | 12.7 |
| Mar | 44 | 25 | 4.2 | 8 | 9.2 |
| Apr | 57 | 37 | 4.4 | 9 | 2.1 |
| May | 67 | 47 | 4.7 | 10 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 76 | 56 | 5.1 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 80 | 61 | 5.2 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 78 | 58 | 4.7 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 72 | 52 | 5.2 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 60 | 41 | 4.9 | 8 | 0.5 |
| Nov | 48 | 31 | 4.1 | 7 | 2.2 |
| Dec | 37 | 23 | 4.3 | 8 | 9.0 |
| Year | 57 | 39 | 53.7 | 96 | 48.0 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Mahanoy City 2 N, PA (1,710 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 Tamaqua
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 79 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Tamaqua: 67 thunderstorm wind reports, 9 flash floods, 2 floods and 1 heavy rain event. They killed 0 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $4.2 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 96 mph, on May 23, 2011. Of the 788 Pennsylvania cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 145 have had fewer than Tamaqua.
September 7, 2011: flood 2 miles from the centre of Tamaqua — 1 injured, $4.0 million damage.
NWS: “Heavy rainfall from the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee caused extensive flooding across Schuylkill County. The county made a Declaration of Disaster Emergency, along with the municipalities of Pine Grove Borough, Hegins Township, Tower City Borough, Porter Township, Port Clinton Borough, and Pine Grove Township.”
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 Tamaqua's ZIP code 18252 have filed 42 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $380,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 2006, with 29. 7% 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, 247 have fewer than Tamaqua.
Schuylkill County, which includes Tamaqua, has been named in 24 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 17 of them major disasters (by incident: 7 floods, 6 severe storms, 4 hurricanes, 4 snowstorms). The latest major disaster declaration was Remnants of Hurricane Ida, on September 10, 2021. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Schuylkill County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for strong wind and lightning; Relatively Moderate for hurricanes, tornadoes and inland flooding; Relatively Low for heat waves; Very Low for hail. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $48.9 million a year, the 19th highest of 67 Pennsylvania counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $36.3 million (74%), 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 Tamaqua
- Coaldale, PA4 mi
- Barnesville, PA5 mi
- Lansford, PA6 mi
- Summit Hill, PA6 mi
- New Ringgold, PA6 mi
- Mcadoo, PA7 mi
- Nesquehoning, PA8 mi
- Mahanoy City, PA9 mi
- Orwigsburg, PA11 mi
- Hazleton, PA11 mi
- Shenandoah, PA12 mi
- Hazle Township, PA12 mi
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