Johnstown

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond this area.
2. Weak tornadoes were under-recorded before Doppler radar coverage became national in the early 1990s, so earlier decades read low. Ratings use the Fujita scale before February 2007 and the Enhanced Fujita scale after.

Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, 1950 to 2025.

Every storm within 100 miles

1. Tropical storms and hurricanes (34 kt or more, still tropical) at closest approach. Post-tropical remnants with gale-force winds are listed but not counted. Direct: track within 50 miles; near: within 100 miles. Distance is measured to the county boundary for counties and to the city centre for cities, using positions interpolated hourly between HURDAT2 fixes.

National Hurricane Center HURDAT2, 1851 to 2025.

Smoke overhead

1. A smoke day is a date on which a smoke plume traced by NOAA Hazard Mapping System analysts from satellite imagery covered this place's point (the county's population centre or the city centre). Counts here are of medium or heavy smoke. Since 2018 analysts have often drawn light smoke as one area over most of the continent, so light-smoke counts are not comparable from year to year. The plumes show smoke anywhere in the air above, not air quality at the ground, and smoke hidden by cloud is missed.

NOAA Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, 2011 to 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Flood insurance figures are for Cambria County, the county that contains Johnstown.

Claims by ZIP code

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).

OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 2026.

River crests

River gauges in Cambria County, the county that contains Johnstown.

River gauges

1. Crests are the highest and the recent crests the National Weather Service lists for each river gauge in the county that has a flood stage, not every flood. Flood categories use each gauge's current flood stages; crests from before levees, dams or channel changes may not be comparable. Crests measured on an old datum are left out of the rankings.

NOAA National Water Prediction Service gauge records, retrieved October 30, 2026.

The drought index is for Cambria County, the county that contains Johnstown.

1. The Palmer Drought Severity Index is computed by NOAA each month from the county's average temperature and precipitation, relative to the county's own climate. Zero is normal; -3 or lower is severe drought and -4 or lower extreme drought. It describes the long-term balance of moisture, not water supply or crop losses.

NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, 1895 to September 2026, issued October 6, 2026.

1. Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more in the USGS Comprehensive Catalog since 1900. Within 50 miles means the epicentre lies within 50 miles of the city centre.
2. Small earthquakes were under-recorded before the modern seismic networks of the 1970s and are still missed in remote areas, so early decades read low. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them and mix scales (moment, local and body-wave).

USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, 1900 to present, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Mapped landslides

Landslides mapped in Cambria County.

Mapped by NASA (2), USGS Conterminous (2).

1. Landslides mapped in the USGS compilation of landslide inventories across the United States (version 3.0, 2025), rated probable or better. The compilation joins inventories made by federal and state agencies for different purposes and areas, so the number mapped in a county reflects how closely it has been surveyed as much as how often its slopes fail. An area with few records may simply not have been mapped. Deaths are as recorded in the inventories; a slide listed in two inventories is counted once.

USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0, retrieved October 27, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Apr 29, 2025Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An NWS damage survey confirmed that straight line winds estimated at 120 mph knocked over a cell tower near Carrolltown as a line of severe thunderstorms moved through.

2. Sep 2, 2013Flash Flood$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Intense heavy rainfall between 4-5 inches in less than an hour produced flash flooding in Northern Cambria. The bulk of the flooding was confined in Northern Cambria Borough and Susquehanna and Barr Townships. Deveaux Street and Route 219 North ��� both state routes - were closed temporarily due to flooding. Mosscreek Road in Barr Township received considerable debris and mud collection. The Northern Cambria Middle School reported significant flood damage and was closed for the week during the cleanup. Numerous flooded basements were also reported.

3. Feb 12, 2009High Wind, Cambria$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Non-thunderstorm wind gusts between 55 and 65 mph toppled numerous trees and wires across the Cambria County, resulting in over eight-thousand power outages. The ASOS at the John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport recorded a peak gust of 65 mph.

4. Mar 4, 2015Flood$70,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An ice jam brought flooding to 3 houses and 1 business along the North Branch of the Little Conemaugh River in Summerhill Township.

5. Nov 28, 2025Winter Weather, Cambria$60,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   SNOW SQUALL. A snow squall impacted Route 22 across all of Cambria County, bringing heavy snowfall and gusty winds that allowed for near-zero visibility. Snow covering the roadways allowed for ice formation on the road, which caused a multi-vehicle incident, where multiple injuries were reported. The roadway was closed for multiple hours as a result of this incident and the resultant icy roadways.

6. Aug 13, 1999Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Downburst winds struck Prince Gallitzin State Park on late afternoon of Friday the 13th, crossing the heart of the campground area in the park. Hundreds of trees were blown down by the strong winds, damaging trucks, cars, tents, and campers. A 20-year old male was killed by a falling tree, and a 40-year old man received a broken arm when he was struck by a tree. Several campers were destroyed and 2 vehicles crushed. An estimated 2,000 visitors were in the camp for the weekend.

7. Jun 16, 2004Flash Flood$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorms with torrential rains caused Flash Flooding in southern Cambria County, mainly in the Johnstown area. Along with 50 basements being flooded, extensive flooding of roads was reported. Many smaller streams and creeks in the Johnstown area were out of their banks. Area hospitals were considering evacuations because of the flooding. The county and the city of Johnstown Emergency Operations Centers (EOCs) were activated.

8. Oct 20, 2016Thunderstorm Wind$40,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A severe thunderstorm producing winds estimated near 80 mph damaged a couple of barns, blew the top off of a silo and damaged or uprooted several trees on a farm north of Ebensburg.

9. Mar 4, 2023High Wind, Cambria$40,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Northwesterly winds occasionally gusting to near 60 mph occurred for several hours in Cambria County, and an RWIS mesonet site on US Route 22 near Cresson recorded a wind gust to 58 mph. As a result, there were numerous reports of trees and wires down across the county. A section of Route 756 in Richland Township was closed due to downed trees and wires, as was a section of Route 160 in Adams Township.

10. Apr 29, 2025Thunderstorm Wind$30,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A line of severe thunderstorms producing wind gusts estimated at 70 mph caused a bran to collapse on the 800 block of Munster Road in Portage Township. Animals were trapped inside of the collapsed barn.

1. Storm Events records before 1996 cover only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail. Damage figures are as reported by the National Weather Service at the time, not adjusted for inflation.

NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 1950 to 2026, issued October 26, 2026.

All-time high

99°FJul 3, 1966

All-time low

−28°FJan 21, 1994

Warmest night

75°FJun 25, 2000

Coldest day

−6°FJan 21, 1985

Wettest day

4.63 inJul 20, 1977

Snowiest day

24.0 inDec 11, 1992

Hottest year

1991mean 50.6°F

Coldest year

2014mean 45.0°F

Wettest year

201869.97 in

Driest year

200135.84 in

Snowiest season

186.1 in1977-78

Station Ebensburg Sewage Plt (USC00362470), 1,940 ft elevation, 13.9 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1964 to October 26, 2026; 98.5% of days in the last 30 years are complete. Records at a single station can differ from a city’s official threaded record, which may combine several stations.

NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily.

Declarations for Cambria County.

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).

OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, retrieved October 30, 2026. Statewide declarations are not listed.

• Tornadoes NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, through 2025.
• Tropical cyclones NOAA National Hurricane Center HURDAT2 (Atlantic; Northeast and Central Pacific), through 2025.
• Wildfire USGS/USFS Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity, through 2026.
• Storm events NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, through 2026.
• Flood insurance OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026.
• Declarations OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Weather records NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily, station USC00362470.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Drought NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, through September 2026.
• Smoke NOAA NESDIS Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Landslides USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0 (2025).
• Earthquakes USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat), retrieved October 30, 2026.

Joins, thresholds and known limits are set out in the methodology. Found an error? Report it. Page built October 30, 2026.