Clarion County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Clarion County: 1.
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.

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

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.

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.

Every earthquake of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles

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 county boundary (or inside the county).
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.

Costliest events since 1996

1. Jul 19, 1996Flash Flood$75.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread heavy rain caused extensive flooding throughout Clarion County. Numerous roads and creeks were flooded. Around 4 am EST a 73 year-old woman died and her husband injured when their mobile home was swept away along Deer Creek near Shippenville. Flooding was also quite extensive along the Red Bank Creek in New Bethlehem.34 dwellings were destroyed, 32 sustained major damage and around 200 had minor flood damage.A total of 10 bridges were washed out in the county. Numerous roads and some businesses were also damaged. Widespread rainfall totals ranged from 4 to 6 inches.

2. Sep 17, 2004Flood, Clarion$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   At 410 PM EDT on 17th, Rte 66 closed by flood in Shippenville. New Bethlehem, Hawthorn, East Brady, and Sligo also flooded. At 646 PM on 17th, there was a mud slide on the south side of New Bethlehem. Rte 58 also flooded. On the Clarion River, Cooksburg rose above flood stage (13 ft) 2 AM EDT on 18th, crested 16.5 at 8 AM 18th, and fell below flood stage 8 PM EDT on 18th. Total of 117 homes and businesses, and 155 public roads, damaged or destroyed. Total rain: 3.5 inches in East Brady. (IVAN)

3. Sep 14, 2008High Wind, Clarion$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Low pressure from the remains of Hurricane Ike moved across central Ohio to Lake Erie on the evening of September 14th and produced very strong winds into the early morning of September 15th across eastern Ohio, northern West Virginia, and western Pennsylvania. Widespread damage to trees and power lines was reported across the region with power outages and damage to some structures from falling trees. Power was not restored to some rural areas for one week after the storm. At the peak of the storm more than 2 million homes were without power. For a period of about 8 hours, sustained winds during the storm were from 30 to 50 MPH, with gusts well over 60 MPH. The highest reported…

4. Jan 19, 1996Flood, Clarion$630,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The first of what eventually became numerous large ice jams were reported by ice observers on the Allegheny River and its tributaries by December 26th. This abnormally early ice development continued to build as frigid temperatures persisted. Early on the morning of the 19th, the river level at Lock 9, Rimer, Pennsylvania, quickly rose 9 feet. The water was from an upstream ice jam that had broken. Ice and flood waters from its tributaries continued and led to moderate to major flooding along the Allegheny River to Pittsburgh. Property damages for Clarion County include flooding on the Clarion River. Damages for Allegheny are totaled under the flood description for the Monongahela River.

5. Jul 1, 2023Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Water was observed to be entering houses on Madison Street.

6. Feb 12, 2009High Wind, Clarion$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A powerful cold front moved across the Ohio Valley on the evening of the 11th as strong low pressure moved north across the Great Lakes. A convective line along the cold front produced widespread damage across eastern Ohio, western Pennsylvania, northern West Virginia, and Garrett county Maryland with thunderstorm wind gusts of 60 to 70 MPH and a peak wind gust of 92 MPH at Allegheny County Airport near Pittsburgh. High winds gusting to 60 MPH behind the front in a strong pressure gradient produced wind damage across the entire region into midday on the 12th. In all across eastern Ohio, western Pennsylvania, northern West Virginia and Garrett county Maryland over one half million…

7. Aug 19, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   About 502 PM EDT, a wind gust, estimated 60 mph (52 kt), damaged part of a barn roof, felled 25 large trees, and forced a dome barn off its foundation. A 15-year old boy looked out his back door and saw a "white funnel". Nearby, on Route 322, roof of a water company pump house was destroyed. Wind also flipped over a mobile home, and blew down trees, which brought down power lines.

8. May 11, 2008High Wind, Clarion$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Emergency management reported numerous large trees and power lines down across the county.

9. Apr 28, 2011High Wind, Clarion$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   High winds occurred behind a powerful cold front in a strong pressure gradient from low pressure moving across the Great Lakes. Trees and power lines were reported down across parts of eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania. The highest recorded wind gust was 59 MPH at the Zanesville, OH airport.

10. Aug 28, 2021Flash Flood$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Multiple areas experienced flooded due to back building storm. Richey Run broke from its banks and flooded Route 208, Route 338 was closed between Ritts Station Road to Blairs Corners Road, and roadways near the county line was affected.

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

103°FJul 17, 1988

All-time low

−22°F2 times, most recently Feb 25, 2015

Warmest night

76°FAug 13, 1943

Coldest day

−3°FJan 18, 1977

Wettest day

5.75 inSep 30, 2015

Snowiest day

15.0 inDec 12, 1944

Hottest year

2016mean 51.5°F

Coldest year

1994mean 44.5°F

Wettest year

201160.54 in

Driest year

199130.94 in

Snowiest season

92.1 in1960-61

Station Putneyville 2 Se Dam (USC00367229), 1,280 ft elevation, 19.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1943 to October 23, 2026; 91.7% 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.

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.

Neighbouring counties

• 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 USC00367229.
• 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.
• 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.