NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Whitehall, 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
25 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Whitehall, Pennsylvania since 1851, 1 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Ida in 2021. Since 1950, 54 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 2 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 1
- Tropical storms
- 24
- Tornadoes
- 54
- 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 Whitehall
The strongest storm to pass near Whitehall was an unnamed storm in 1878, a Category 1 hurricane with 84 mph winds when its centre passed 24 miles away. The record near Whitehall begins with an unnamed storm in 1863; the most recent system was Ida in 2021, a tropical storm 53 miles away. The 1870s and the 2020s were the busiest decades, with 3 systems each. Of the 25 systems, 5 have come since 2000. Of the 794 Pennsylvania cities on this site, 45% have more hurricanes within 75 miles than Whitehall. The highest rating among the 54 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3, reached 2 times; the most recent, on May 31, 1998, came within 17 miles. Of the 54, 8 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 18 have come since 2000. July has had the most tornadoes, 19. The most recent tornado was on May 6, 2025. Of the 794 Pennsylvania cities, 57% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Whitehall. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 106 times since 1975, with stones up to 2.5 inches (tennis ball size). Whitehall has more hail reports within 10 miles than 89% of the 794 Pennsylvania cities.
Compare Whitehall's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Whitehall
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | IdaSep 2 | 53 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Category 4 |
| 2020 | IsaiasAug 4 | 13 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2020 | FayJul 11 | 70 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2012 | SandyOct 30 | 61 mi | Tropical storm (67 mph) | Category 3 |
| 2008 | HannaSep 7 | 69 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1996 | BerthaJul 13 | 61 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1979 | DavidSep 6 | 69 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1971 | DoriaAug 28 | 70 mi | Tropical storm (62 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1955 | DianeAug 19 | 26 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1952 | AbleSep 1 | 8 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1949 | Unnamed 1949 stormAug 29 | 48 mi | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1934 | Unnamed 1934 stormJun 19 | 54 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1933 | Unnamed 1933 stormAug 24 | 75 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1929 | Unnamed 1929 stormOct 3 | 21 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1924 | Unnamed 1924 stormSep 30 | 71 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormAug 4 | 22 mi | Tropical storm (54 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1903 | Unnamed 1903 stormSep 16 | 13 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1899 | Unnamed 1899 stormNov 1 | 8 mi | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormAug 29 | 3 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormAug 22 | 15 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1878 | Unnamed 1878 stormOct 23 | 24 mi | Category 1 (84 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1874 | Unnamed 1874 stormSep 29 | 70 mi | Tropical storm (64 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1872 | Unnamed 1872 stormOct 26 | 70 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1866 | Unnamed 1866 stormOct 30 | 73 mi | Tropical storm (61 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1863 | Unnamed 1863 stormSep 19 | 56 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Tropical storm |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Whitehall: 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 Whitehall
By decade
- 2020s8
- 2010s7
- 2000s3
- 1990s8(1 EF3+)
- 1980s14(1 EF3+)
- 1970s10
- 1960s2
- 1950s2
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 31, 1998 | F3 | 17 mi | 8.3 mi | 0 / 7 |
| Jul 26, 1981 | F3 | 9 mi | 3.3 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Jul 29, 2009 | EF2 | 23 mi | 4.58 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Nov 8, 1996 | F2 | 10 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jul 5, 1984 | F2 | 12 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 5, 1984 | F2 | 9 mi | 8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 5, 1984 | F2 | 17 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 5, 1984 | F2 | 15 mi | 7 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Jul 20, 1981 | F2 | 23 mi | 4.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 29, 1981 | F2 | 13 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 5, 1979 | F2 | 19 mi | 0.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 24, 1960 | F2 | 19 mi | 9.4 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 54, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Whitehall
The Storm Prediction Center has 106 hail reports within 10 miles of Whitehall since 1975, made on 55 separate days. Of these, 60 were 1 inch across or larger, and 2 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.5 inches (tennis ball size), fell on May 14, 2010. The most recent report is from July 3, 2025. August has the most reports, 27.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Whitehall
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Allentown International Airport, PA, 2 miles east of Whitehall at 390 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 86°F and low of 65°F; January is the coolest, at 38°F and 22°F. July is the wettest at 5.3 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.8 inches; the year adds up to 47.4 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 (26.4 of 47.4 inches); the other six months are drier. Highs reach 90°F on about 18 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 118 nights a year. Snowfall averages 33.1 inches a year, most of it in February. That 47.4 inches is more than at 108 of the 148 Pennsylvania stations used on this site (73%). Orefield, 6 miles west, has its own station (Rodale Rsch Ctr, PA): 48.8 inches a year, 1.4 more than here, and a July average high of 85°F against 86°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 38 | 22 | 3.3 | 6 | 9.8 |
| Feb | 42 | 23 | 2.8 | 6 | 10.8 |
| Mar | 51 | 31 | 3.6 | 7 | 6.3 |
| Apr | 63 | 40 | 3.7 | 7 | 0.5 |
| May | 74 | 51 | 3.7 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 82 | 60 | 4.4 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 86 | 65 | 5.3 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 84 | 63 | 4.6 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 77 | 55 | 4.8 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 66 | 44 | 4.1 | 6 | 0.2 |
| Nov | 54 | 34 | 3.2 | 6 | 0.9 |
| Dec | 43 | 27 | 3.9 | 7 | 4.6 |
| Year | 63 | 43 | 47.4 | 82 | 33.1 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Allentown International Airport, PA (390 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 Whitehall
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 513 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Whitehall: 361 thunderstorm wind reports, 85 flash floods, 26 floods, 25 lightning strikes and 16 heavy rain events. They killed 0 people and injured 7, and the NWS estimated $32.6 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 100 mph, on May 13, 2000. August has had the most flash floods, 31 of 85. Of the 788 Pennsylvania cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 646 have had fewer than Whitehall.
July 19, 2011: lightning strike 9 miles from the centre of Whitehall — 2 injured.
August 8, 2007: lightning strike 10 miles from the centre of Whitehall — 1 injured, $55,000 damage.
May 11, 1996: thunderstorm wind 6 miles from the centre of Whitehall — 1 injured.
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 Whitehall's ZIP code 18052 have filed 62 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $637,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1987: 17 claims (27% of all) and $495,000, then Not a named storm in 1979 with 11. 66% 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, 301 have fewer than Whitehall.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1987 | 17 | $495,000 |
| Not a named storm1979 | 11 | $26,000 |
Lehigh County, which includes Whitehall, has been named in 17 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 10 of them major disasters (by incident: 5 hurricanes, 3 floods, 3 severe storms, 3 snowstorms). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 30, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Lehigh County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for inland flooding, strong wind and lightning; Relatively Moderate for hurricanes, tornadoes and heat waves; Relatively Low for hail. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $128.3 million a year, the 8th highest of 67 Pennsylvania counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $68.0 million (53%), 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.