NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Thornton, 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
37 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Thornton, Pennsylvania since 1851, 2 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Ida in 2021. Since 1950, 93 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 5 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 2
- Tropical storms
- 35
- Tornadoes
- 93
- EF3 or stronger
- 5
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
7 deaths in all
What the records show for Thornton
The strongest storm to pass near Thornton was an unnamed storm in 1878, a Category 1 hurricane with 86 mph winds when its centre passed 47 miles away. The record near Thornton begins with an unnamed storm in 1861; the most recent system was Ida in 2021, a tropical storm 5 miles away. The 1870s and the 2020s were the busiest decades, with 4 systems each. Of the 37 systems, 8 have come since 2000. Thornton has more hurricanes within 75 miles than 54% of the 794 Pennsylvania cities on this site. The highest rating among the 93 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3 or EF3, reached 5 times; the most recent, on September 1, 2021, came within 21 miles. The deadliest, an F3 on July 27, 1994, killed 3 people. Of the 93, 3 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 23 have come since 2000. July has had the most tornadoes, 17. The most recent tornado was on August 8, 2024. Thornton has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 96% of the 794 Pennsylvania cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 69 times since 1967, with stones up to 2.5 inches (tennis ball size). Thornton has more hail reports within 10 miles than 65% of the 794 Pennsylvania cities.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Thornton
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | IdaSep 2 | 5 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 2021 | ElsaJul 9 | 73 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2020 | IsaiasAug 4 | 5 mi | Tropical storm (66 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2020 | FayJul 10 | 63 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2012 | SandyOct 30 | 10 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 3 |
| 2011 | IreneAug 28 | 67 mi | Tropical storm (68 mph) | Category 3 |
| 2008 | HannaSep 6 | 39 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2006 | ErnestoSep 2 | 62 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1999 | FloydSep 16 | 72 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1996 | BerthaJul 13 | 35 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1992 | DanielleSep 26 | 27 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1971 | DoriaAug 28 | 51 mi | Tropical storm (64 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1961 | Unnamed 1961 stormSep 15 | 72 mi | Tropical storm (60 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1960 | BrendaJul 30 | 55 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1955 | DianeAug 18 | 22 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1955 | ConnieAug 13 | 74 mi | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1952 | AbleSep 1 | 31 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1944 | Unnamed 1944 stormAug 3 | 68 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1943 | Unnamed 1943 stormOct 1 | 71 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1934 | Unnamed 1934 stormJun 19 | 9 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1929 | Unnamed 1929 stormOct 3 | 38 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1924 | Unnamed 1924 stormSep 30 | 53 mi | Tropical storm (70 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormAug 4 | 20 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1904 | Unnamed 1904 stormSep 15 | 61 mi | Category 1 (75 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1903 | Unnamed 1903 stormSep 16 | 34 mi | Tropical storm (68 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1899 | Unnamed 1899 stormNov 1 | 19 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormAug 29 | 32 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormSep 11 | 51 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormAug 22 | 63 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1882 | Unnamed 1882 stormSep 23 | 65 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1878 | Unnamed 1878 stormOct 23 | 47 mi | Category 1 (86 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1877 | Unnamed 1877 stormOct 5 | 53 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1874 | Unnamed 1874 stormSep 29 | 42 mi | Tropical storm (61 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1872 | Unnamed 1872 stormOct 26 | 40 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1866 | Unnamed 1866 stormOct 30 | 70 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1863 | Unnamed 1863 stormSep 19 | 37 mi | Tropical storm (54 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1861 | Unnamed 1861 stormSep 28 | 53 mi | Tropical storm (67 mph) | Category 1 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Thornton: 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 Thornton
By decade
- 2020s9(1 EF3+)
- 2010s10
- 2000s4
- 1990s30(2 EF3+)
- 1980s14
- 1970s12
- 1960s10(1 EF3+)
- 1950s4(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 27, 1994 | F3 | 23 mi | 2 mi | 3 / 25 |
| Mar 22, 1955 | F3 | 7 mi | 9.6 mi | 1 / 0 |
| Sep 1, 2021 | EF3 | 21 mi | 12.37 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Jul 27, 1994 | F3 | 13 mi | 4 mi | 0 / 11 |
| Apr 28, 1961 | F3 | 16 mi | 0.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 1, 2021 | EF2 | 21 mi | 8.28 mi | 1 / 2 |
| Sep 5, 1979 | F2 | 14 mi | 4.1 mi | 1 / 4 |
| Sep 1, 2021 | EF2 | 21 mi | 5.92 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 31, 2019 | EF2 | 1 mi | 0.47 mi | 0 / 2 |
| May 28, 2019 | EF2 | 25 mi | 3.08 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 28, 2004 | F2 | 12 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 27, 1993 | F2 | 23 mi | 10 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 93, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Thornton
The Storm Prediction Center has 69 hail reports within 10 miles of Thornton since 1967, made on 40 separate days. Of these, 41 were 1 inch across or larger, and 2 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.5 inches (tennis ball size), fell on May 22, 2014. The most recent report is from April 4, 2025. May has the most reports, 23.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Thornton
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is W Chester 2 NW, PA, 7 miles northwest of Thornton at 375 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 86°F and low of 64°F; January is the coolest, at 40°F and 20°F. September is the wettest at 5.7 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 3.1 inches; the year adds up to 51.0 inches over 79 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 54% of the year's precipitation (27.3 of 51.0 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 37 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (15); a normal September there has highs of 78°F and 5.7 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 27 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 131 nights a year. Snowfall averages 30.5 inches a year, most of it in February. That 51.0 inches is more than at 138 of the 148 Pennsylvania stations used on this site (93%). Glen Mills, 2 miles east, has its own station (Marcus Hook, PA): 41.8 inches a year, 9.2 less than here, and a July average high of 89°F against 86°F.
Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Marcus Hook, PA, 9 miles southeast, averaged 82°F in July and 39°F in January over 2021–2025. It averaged 80°F or warmer from July to August. Sea level at the Philadelphia tide gauge, 21 miles from Thornton, has risen 1.24 ± 0.04 inches per decade from 1900 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 12.4 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 73 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in | Water °F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 40 | 20 | 3.7 | 6 | 7.9 | 39 |
| Feb | 43 | 21 | 3.1 | 6 | 13.2 | 39 |
| Mar | 51 | 29 | 4.6 | 7 | 4.1 | 46 |
| Apr | 63 | 38 | 3.8 | 7 | 0.4 | 55 |
| May | 73 | 49 | 3.8 | 7 | 0.0 | 64 |
| Jun | 82 | 59 | 4.0 | 8 | 0.0 | 74 |
| Jul | 86 | 64 | 4.4 | 7 | 0.0 | 82 |
| Aug | 84 | 62 | 4.8 | 6 | 0.0 | 81 |
| Sep | 78 | 54 | 5.7 | 6 | 0.0 | 75 |
| Oct | 66 | 41 | 4.8 | 7 | 0.0 | 66 |
| Nov | 55 | 32 | 3.6 | 6 | 0.5 | 55 |
| Dec | 44 | 25 | 4.7 | 7 | 4.4 | 43 |
| Year | 64 | 41 | 51.0 | 79 | 30.5 | 60 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at W Chester 2 NW, PA (375 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals; water temperature: average of hourly readings 2021–2025 at the NOAA tide station Marcus Hook, PA, from NOAA Tides & Currents. 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 Thornton
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 635 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Thornton: 434 thunderstorm wind reports, 118 flash floods, 59 floods, 13 heavy rain events and 11 lightning strikes. They killed 1 person and injured 15, and the NWS estimated $50.7 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 105 mph, on April 4, 2025. Of the 788 Pennsylvania cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 687 have had fewer than Thornton.
June 3, 2020: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Thornton — 1 killed.
June 24, 2010: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Thornton — 2 injured, $1.0 million damage.
July 23, 2008: lightning strike 5 miles from the centre of Thornton — 2 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
Delaware County, which includes Thornton, has been named in 24 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 16 of them major disasters (by incident: 7 hurricanes, 6 floods, 4 severe storms, 3 snowstorms). The latest major disaster declaration was Remnants of Hurricane Ida, on September 10, 2021. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Delaware County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for tornadoes, inland flooding, strong wind, lightning and heat waves; Relatively Moderate for hurricanes and coastal flooding; Very Low for hail. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $134.9 million a year, the 7th highest of 67 Pennsylvania counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $73.9 million (55%), 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 Thornton
- Glen Mills, PA2 mi
- Garnet Valley, PA5 mi
- Chadds Ford, PA5 mi
- West Chester, PA5 mi
- Aston, PA6 mi
- Upper Chichester, PA7 mi
- Media, PA7 mi
- Claymont, DE8 mi
- Brookhaven, PA8 mi
- Wallingford, PA9 mi
- Newtown Square, PA9 mi
- Chester, PA9 mi
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