State College

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.

Every large fire

1. Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.

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 Centre County, the county that contains State College.

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.

The drought index is for Centre County, the county that contains State College.

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 Centre County.

Mapped by NASA (1), USGS Conterminous (1).

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. Oct 20, 2016Flash Flood$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Intense heavy rainfall brought flash flooding to Centre County late in the evening on Thursday October 20th, continuing until daybreak on Friday October 21st. Major damage was reported to parts of the area.||Up to eight inches of rain fell in a short time, resulting in evacuations and rescues in low lying areas that were flooded. Threats to water supplies, sewage treatment facilities, road washouts and widespread damage to property and infrastructure occurred.||Centre County issued a Disaster Declaration for this flood. This included the municipalities of Milesburg Borough, Boggs Township (Twp), Spring Twp, Centre Region (State College Borough, Patton Twp, Ferguson Twp, Harris…

2. Jun 27, 2013Flash Flood$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Torrential rains produced flash flooding in the Centre region from Pine Grove Mills and State College through Bellefonte and Milesburg. The hardest hit area was from Milesburg northeast along Route 150 to the Blanchard/Beech Creek Area near the Centre/Clinton county line. Numerous roads were closed including Route 26 from Porter Road to Benner Pike in College Township, Jacksonville Road (Route 26) in Marion Township, Route 3005 (Fox Hollow Road) from Cricklewood Drive in Patton Township to Park Ave/Porter Road in College Township, Route 455 in Walker Township, Route 550 from Upper Gyp Road to Reynolds Lane in Benner Township and Route 26 at Walnut Ridge Road in Marion Township.

3. Oct 29, 2002Ice Storm, Northern Centre$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   During the mid morning hours of Tuesday October 29th 2002, a mixture of wet snow, sleet and rain developed across much of Central Pennsylvania. This mixture occurred at moderate intensity through much of Tuesday afternoon and evening, and continued intermittently through the evening hours of Wednesday, October 30th 2002. Total snowfall accumulations of 1 to 4 inches occurred across Centre County, with ice accretion from freezing rain of up to one inch across higher elevations (generally above 2000 feet above mean sea level) of Cambria, Somerset, Fulton, Franklin, and Bedford counties. With trees still containing nearly full foliage, the added weight of ice and heavy, wet snow…

4. Jul 13, 2021Lightning$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A thunderstorm produced a lightning strike that caused a house fire in the 200 block of Brothers Court in Patton Township.

5. Dec 1, 2010Flood$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rainfall amounts between 2 and 4 inches produced significant flooding. The flooding closed several state, county and municipal roads in Howard, Curtain, Liberty, Potter and Gregg Townships. The Borough of Milesburg declared a state of emergency and evacuated several residents from the Eagle Creek Trailer Park. The major flooding at confluence of Bald Eagle Creek and Moose Run caused extensive flooding in Milesburg. Unionville and Julian were also hit hard by the flooding. Numerous businesses and homes were affected in downtown Milesburg. U.S. Alternate 220 was closed from Skytop Mountain to Unionville. SR 45 westbound from Pine Grove Mills and Dogtown Road in Potter Township were…

6. May 1, 2017Tornado$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF1 tornado touched down near a wooden pallet factory on the outskirts of town and moved rapidly northeastward before lifting just northeast of the town. Damage occurred to several dozen homes and outbuildings across Rebersburg. Several dozen trees were either snapped or uprooted. One utility pole was also snapped. One injury occurred when a victim was trapped by the collapse of a work shed. Maximum wind speeds were estimated near 110 mph.

7. Jun 14, 2026Tornado$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF-1 tornado occurred in Pine Glen during the evening of June 14th. The maximum wind speed was estimated to be 110 mph and the tornado had a maximum path width of 120 yards. Damage was first noted at a residence on Fye Lane where around 20 trees were either uprooted or snapped. The tornado continued northeastward, causing sporadic damage to trees and power lines as it approached PA-879, where it ripped the roof off of a house. Parts of the roof were thrown over 100 yards into an area of trees. Approximately 30 trees were snapped or uprooted at the intersection of PA-879 and Barnyak Lane. The tornado then continued to produce sporadic tree damage down to a residence at the end…

8. Mar 16, 2025Thunderstorm Wind$140,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An NWS Storm Survey confirmed a downburst in Bellefonte associated with a line of severe thunderstorms that moved through on March 16, 2025. Notable tree and power line damage was observed near Saint Johns Cemetery and Union Cemetery. Additional tree damage occurred throughout downtown Bellefonte and resulted in extensive power outages. As the strongest winds moved to the east, a structure housing farm animals on Scott Avenue was damaged and a large garage on Jacksonville Road collapsed. Tree damage continued along the rest of the 3.3 mile path which ended just north of the I-80 and I-99 interchange.

9. Apr 29, 2025Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A line of severe thunderstorms producing wind gusts estimated at 70 mph knocked multiple trees and power lines down throughout Bellefonte.

10. Nov 8, 1996Tornado$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    An F0 tornado touched down along Route 144 about 3/4 miles southeast of Old Fort and traveled northeast along a 4 mile path. Part of one barn roof was removed and another was damaged. A sign was blown over at Case IH Equipment Sales, a hay wagon was tossed across Route 45 and a utility pole was snapped east of Old Fort. A second swath of damage occurred along Sinking Creek about 3/4 miles south of the end of th einitial path and about 2 miles west southwest of Spring Mills. This damage of F0 intensity continued northeast for about .4 miles taking down trees and removing a barn roof.

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

102°F2 times, most recently Jul 17, 1988

All-time low

−20°FFeb 10, 1899

Warmest night

77°F11 times, most recently Jul 16, 2026

Coldest day

−5°FFeb 10, 1899

Wettest day

5.05 inSep 18, 2004

Snowiest day

26.6 inMar 3, 1994

Hottest year

2023mean 53.0°F

Coldest year

1888mean 45.3°F

Wettest year

201863.75 in

Driest year

193024.81 in

Snowiest season

109.3 in1993-94

Station State College (USC00368449), 1,170 ft elevation, 0.6 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1882 to October 28, 2026; 99.7% 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 Centre 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 USC00368449.
• 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.