Lackawanna County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Lackawanna County: 0.
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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Jun 27, 2006Flash Flood$50.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tropical moisture streamed northward into northeast Pennsylvania ahead of a frontal system which slowly moved westward into the eastern Great Lakes by Tuesday morning the 27th. This brought 2 to 5 inches of rain to Lackawanna County and began significant flash flooding by Tuesday morning. Later on Tuesday another more substantial area of heavy rain moved into Lackawanna County as the front moved back east and combined with a low pressure system moving up the eastern seaboard. This additional rainfall caused massive flash flooding from Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday. Total rainfall in Lackawanna County ranged from 7 to 15 inches. This extreme rainfall sent streams and creeks…

2. Sep 18, 2004Flash Flood$20.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain with amounts of 4.5 to 7.5 inches caused flash flooding. The rain which fell from the 16th to the 18th was due to the remnants of hurricane Ivan. All creeks and streams were out of their banks. In addition, the Lackawanna River had major flooding. Almost 1000 homes and over 30 businesses were damaged. A 40 foot deep sinkhole developed on Pittston Avenue.

3. Jan 19, 1996Flash Flood$19.5 million
4. Sep 9, 2023Flash Flood$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Leggetts Creek flooding from South Abington Township to the Lackawanna River in Scranton. Severe flooding of residental structures on Leggett Street, Gilbert Street and Rockwell Street is occurring with evacuations underway.

5. Sep 3, 2003Flash Flood$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   1 to 3 inches of heavy rain in a short period of time caused rapid flash flooding of streams and urban areas. The ground was already saturated from several inches that fell on September 2nd. Most areas in the county had some flooding. The worst flooding was in the townships of Jermyn, Carbondale, Mayfield, and Scott. The Lackawanna River at Archbald crested at 10.2 feet which is above its 8 foot estimated flood stage. The Lackawanna River went out of its banks in many towns and cities including Scranton. A 58 year old man trying to get to his car in Carbondale had a heart attack and died. Hundreds of people were evacuated in the middle of the night. Many homes had several feet of…

6. Jun 27, 2006Flood$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   At Old Forge on the Lackawanna River, moderate flooding occurred. The river rose to the flood stage of 11 feet on June 27th at 12:00 PM EDT. Moderate flooding at 13 feet began June 27th at 2:00 PM EDT. The first crest was 13.39 feet June 27th at 3:15 PM EDT. The second crest was slightly lower than the first at 13.05 feet June 28th at 8:15 AM EDT. The record flood at Old Forge is 20.05 feet from the remnants of Hurricane Diane on August 19, 1955.

7. Sep 9, 2023Flash Flood$2.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A man and woman succumbed to flash flooding as they attempted to evacuate their vehicle while stuck in the railroad overpass crossing Shady Lane. Flood waters rapidly filled their vehicle and the woman was swept downstream. The man was also swept away and sustained grave injuries after being slammed into a sign post and guardrail. He died a few days later. Severe flooding also stranded several other vehicles in this immediate area.

8. Sep 18, 2004Flood, Lackawanna$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Lackawanna River at Old Forge rose above its flood stage of 11 feet early on the 18th, crested at 16.7 feet at 3:30 PM on the 18th, then fell below its flood stage in the evening also on the 18th. This was the third highest crest on record. Rainfall amounts were 4 to 7 inches which started on the 16th and continued into the 18th. This rain was from the remnants of hurricane Ivan.

9. Sep 16, 1999High Wind, Lackawanna$630,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong and damaging winds plagued northeastern Pennsylvania during the late afternoon and night as the remnants of Hurricane Floyd moved up the eastern seaboard. The strong winds began during the afternoon as the tropical system reached the New Jersey coast. Blustery conditions lasted into early the next morning with persistent wind gusts estimated between 40 and 50 mph. Occasionally, wind speeds reached 60 mph or more, especially in the Pocono mountains. The gale force winds caused considerable tree and powerline damage throughout the Poconos and Wyoming valley. The Pennsylvania Power and Light (PP&L) company reported nearly 260,000 of their customers were without power at some…

10. Sep 9, 2023Flash Flood$500,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Social media reports flash flooding along U.S. Route 11 near the gas station with multiple occupied vehicles stranded with water to the bumpers.

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°F3 times, most recently Jul 16, 1988

All-time low

−21°FJan 21, 1994

Warmest night

80°FJul 22, 2011

Coldest day

−2°FJan 19, 1994

Wettest day

5.98 inSep 27, 1985

Snowiest day

22.1 inMar 14, 2017

Hottest year

2020mean 53.7°F

Coldest year

1958mean 47.2°F

Wettest year

201861.08 in

Driest year

196326.22 in

Snowiest season

98.3 in1995-96

Station Wilkes-barre/scranton International Airport (USW00014777), 951 ft elevation, 8.7 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1949 to October 26, 2026; 99.8% 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 USW00014777.
• 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.