Forest County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Forest County: 7.
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.

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.

Mapped landslides

Mapped by USGS Conterminous (3).

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. Aug 19, 2001Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An F1 tornado touched down just southwest of the town of Duhring. The tornado continued moving along a sporadic path to the northeast, exiting Forest County approximately 2 miles northeast of Duhring.As the tornado passed near Duhring it reached its maximum path width of nearly 300 yards. Winds estimated at 90 MPH downed around 250 trees. Several of these trees fell on cabins, homes and vehicles.

2. Sep 14, 2008High Wind, Forest$100,000
   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…

3. Feb 12, 2009High Wind, Forest$75,000
   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…

4. Jul 26, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Law enforcement reported numerous trees down. Some trees were blocking roads.

5. Sep 17, 2004Flood, Forest$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   At 9 PM EDT on 17th, roads and a bridge covered by water near Tionesta. On the Clarion River, Cooksburg rose above flood stage (13 ft) at 2 AM EDT on 18th, crested 16.5 at 8 AM 18th, and fell below flood stage at 8 PM EDT on 18th. (IVAN)

6. Dec 1, 2006High Wind, Forest$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Law enforcement reported trees down across the county due to high winds.

7. Jul 20, 2021Thunderstorm Wind$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Multiple trees were blown down in Tionesta.

8. Dec 12, 2000High Wind, Forest$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A strengthening area of low pressure and associated cold front swept across the area during the overnight hours, bringing high winds to much of western Pennsylvania. In general, damage was confined mostly to numerous downed trees and power lines, resulting in a loss of power to an estimated 150,000 homes across western Pennsylvania. However, several incidents of property damage were also reported. In Sharon, Mercer County, wind gusts estimated as high as 70 MPH blew a tree down onto a garage, causing considerable damage. Several homes in Sharon also had parts of their siding blown away. The highest wind in the event was an estimated 75 MPH gust in Farmington, Fayette County. Part…

9. May 1, 2017Tornado$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The National Weather Service in Pittsburgh has confirmed a |tornado near Newmansville in Clarion and Forest Counties in Pennsylvania.||Two distinct, tornadic damage swaths seemingly associated with |one parent mesocyclone were discovered beginning along Pine Hollow|Road in northern Clarion County.||A survey team examined damage along Red Pine Circle and Pine |Hollow Road in northern Clarion County. The team discovered a |coherent, convergent track of tree damage that began in a field to|the west of Red Pine Circle and carved a focused swath through |trees at the northwestern corner of the Red Pine Circle loop. |Hardwood and softwood trees were snapped and uprooted in this |area,…

10. Jan 30, 2008High Wind, Forest$25,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A large area of low pressure over the Great Lakes pushed a strong cold front across the region during the morning of January 30th. The strong pressure gradient along and behind the front produced wind gusts near 60 MPH in many locations across western Pennsylvania, northern West Virginia, eastern Ohio, and Garrett county Maryland. This produced numerous reports of trees and power lines down across the region.

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°FJul 23, 2011

All-time low

−28°FJan 31, 1948

Warmest night

74°FJul 22, 2011

Coldest day

−3°F2 times, most recently Jan 18, 1982

Wettest day

4.72 in2 times, most recently Aug 14, 1994

Snowiest day

19.0 inFeb 4, 1961

Hottest year

2012mean 54.7°F

Coldest year

1980mean 44.2°F

Wettest year

200457.58 in

Driest year

196331.19 in

Snowiest season

99.7 in1960-61

Station Tionesta 2 Se Lake (USC00368873), 1,200 ft elevation, 11.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1921 to October 22, 2026; 95.5% 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.

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 USC00368873.
• 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.