Jefferson County

Every recorded tornado

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

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 (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. Jul 19, 1996Flash Flood$100 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread heavy thunderstorm rains dropped between 4 and 6 inches of rain and caused near record flood problems throughout Jefferson County. Numerous roads were closed throughout the county and several hundred people were evacuated.Punxsutawney was particularly hard hit, especially along and near the Little Mahoning Creek. A total of 40 businesses had first floor flooding. Five homes were destroyed. 200 homes had first floor flooding and 300 homes had second floor flooding. 3 grocery stores were flooded and stock destroyed, 1 had structural damage. 3 nursing homes had major damage. In Reynoldsville, 30 businesses flooded. 40-50 homes had first floor flooding. A water pump and a…

2. Jun 27, 2013Flood$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Emergency manager reported flooding throughout the town of Reynoldsville. Major arteries in and out of the town were made impassable. State Route 322 and 950 had several feet of water in spots. Over a dozen homes were evacuated and several car rescues took place. Several roadways remained closed until Saturday the 29th.

3. Aug 6, 2024Thunderstorm Wind$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Trees were reported down by county officials.

4. Sep 14, 2008High Wind, Jefferson$500,000
   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…

5. Sep 17, 2004Flood, Jefferson$478,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   At 538 PM EDT on 17th, roads flooded, in Warsaw Twp, 7 miles north of Brookville after 3.3 inches of rain. By 6 PM, there was widespread road and stream flooding. At least 5 people were rescued from their vehicles. By 8 PM, Rockdale had 4" of rain. By 9 PM, Punxsutawney had 4.5 inches. Mahoning Creek at Punxsutawney crested at 32.3 ft (flood stage 32) around 1 PM EDT on 18th. (IVAN)

6. Jun 2, 1998Tornado$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An F1 tornado touched down briefly over a farming community just west of the town of Ringgold. As this tornado moved to the east it totally destroyed one barn and damaged three others. Several silos were also damaged. As the tornado moved over one farm, it completely drained the water out of a small pond. Several roofs to surrounding houses also sustained minor damage.

7. Jun 5, 2002Flash Flood$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   After several days of heavy thunderstorm rains had already soaked the ground, a thunderstorm which deposited between two and four inches of rainfall in two hours produced flooding across southern sections of Jefferson County. Hardest hit were the Anita and Worthville areas, where several homes were flooded. Just northwest of Worthville, Tarkin Run overflowed its banks and flooded State Route 3003, where a large truck was stranded in water up to the tops of its wheels. Several other roadways in southern Jefferson County were closed due to flooding. Home and basement flooding were also reported in Reynoldsville and Punxsutawney.

8. Oct 16, 2021Tornado$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The National Weather Service in Pittsburgh conducted a tornado survey along the Clarion River that straddles Jefferson and Elk County. ||A weak EF0 tornado moved north northeast shortly after daybreak on Saturday October 16th. This resulted in damage to softwood and hardwood trees along the Jefferson County side of the Clarion River along State Route 949. More significant damage (EF1) was observed on the Elk County side, along River Road. The tornado lifted just prior to reaching Bridge Road. Estimated Maximum Wind Speed...85 mph.||Estimated cost of damage was provided by the county emergency manager.

9. Jun 15, 2005Tornado$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   About 635 PM EDT, an F-1 tornado touched down just north of Brockway. Many trees were snapped off. A few houses had damage to siding and shingles. Furniture factory in the industrial park suffered major damage: Most of the metal roof was ripped off. Steel beams were twisted and thrown about. In a smaller building next to the factory, the walls were buckled. Many people saw the tornado from a distance. One woman remained in her car while the tornado passed so close to her, it lifted the back of the car and moved it. Path length half mile. Maximum width 100 yards. Max wind 100 mph (87 kts).

10. Mar 26, 2021High Wind, Jefferson$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    The highest measured gust was 55 MPH at DuBois Airport at 9:59 AM. The county emergency manager reported that there were widespread incidents of downed trees and power lines across the county.

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

101°FJul 22, 2011

All-time low

−26°FJan 19, 1994

Warmest night

73°FAug 23, 1968

Coldest day

−9°FJan 19, 1994

Wettest day

5.65 inSep 29, 2015

Snowiest day

16.3 inMar 13, 1993

Hottest year

2024mean 52.6°F

Coldest year

1963mean 45.6°F

Wettest year

199660.70 in

Driest year

199128.12 in

Station Dubois Regional Airport (USW00004787), 1,806 ft elevation, 7.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1962 to October 26, 2026; 88.0% 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 USW00004787.
• 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.