Luzerne County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

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.

Mapped landslides

Mapped by NASA (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. Jun 27, 2006Flash Flood$100 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Additional heavy rain fell Tuesday the 27th through early Wednesday morning the 28th across Luzerne County and the Poconos on top of what fell on Monday as a front moved east across Pennsylvania and combined with low pressure and tropical moisture. This additional rainfall brought three day rainfall totals between 6 and 10 inches in Luzerne County, sending most streams and creeks over their banks in what would be deemed the worst flash flooding this county has experienced since Hurricane Agnes in 1972. Many people remarked that this storm reminded them of the Agnes Floods of 1972. The flash flooding lasted until Wednesday and affected over 1000 homes of which 33 had major damage.…

2. Sep 18, 2004Flash Flood$100 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain with amounts of 4.0 to 6.5 inches caused major flash flooding. Almost all of the streams and creeks came out of their banks. In addition, the Susquehanna River also caused major flooding. Solomon's Creek in Wilkes-Barre Township was the first to flood. This creek caused businesses to close and people to evacuate. 4000 homes and dozens of businesses were damaged. Mercy Hospital had damage to its lower levels. The hardest hit areas were Shickshinny, Moconqua, Plains, and Plymouth Township.

3. Sep 8, 2011Flood$43.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Record flooding occurred along the Susquehanna River throughout the Wyoming Valley of northeast Pennsylvania. The river crested at Wilkes-Barre at 42.66 feet around 7:00 AM on September 8, 2011 as determined by a USGS high water mark survey. The previous record crest was 40.91 feet which dates back to the June 1972 Hurricane Agnes flood.

4. Jan 19, 1996Flash Flood$21.3 million
5. Jun 28, 2006Flood$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Major flooding occurred on the Susquehanna river at Wilkes-Barre. The river rose to the flood stage of 22 feet June 28th at 2:15 AM EDT. The river rose to the moderate flood level of 24 feet June 28th, at 3:30 AM EDT. At 24 feet Canal Street in Shickshinny and the lowlands in Pittston begin to flood. The river rose to the major flood level of 30 feet June 28th at 9:00 AM EDT. The river crested at 34.09 feet June 28th at 6:30 PM EDT. This is the fifth highest flood crest on record. Records began at Wilkes-Barre in November 1890. The local basin average rainfall for June 26 to 29 was 6.99 inches.

6. May 28, 2002Flash Flood$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   About 6 inches of rain fell in less than 4 hours from nearly stationary thunderstorms along Bear Creek in Luzerne County. The heavy rainfall caused massive flooding along Bear Creek which impacted numerous roads, homes and bridges in southeastern Luzerne County. The Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike was closed northbound between Exits 35 and 38 was closed due to numerous mudslides and flooding. Water was flowing over many parts of the turnpike where it was closed. Numerous homes were also flooded as waters rapidly engulfed them in the village of Bear Creek. Many people were overcome by the floodwaters and had to be rescued from the roofs of their flooded homes by…

7. Jun 13, 2018Tornado$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A severe thunderstorm moved across Luzerne County between 930 and|1030 pm on Wednesday June 13 2018, producing an EF2 tornado in |Wilkes-Barre Township around 1000 pm. The tornado touched down |at Mundy Street and Highland Park Boulevard near the Wyoming |Valley Mall, then traveled across Interstate 81 and up into the woods|on Wilkes-Barre Mountain. Tornado damage continued on a broken |path through the State Game Lands before dissipating near |Llewelyn Corners and Interstate 476. Numerous roofs were destroyed and |windows blown out throughout the shopping center. Some structures |were sheared off near their foundation. Power poles were snapped |with numerous lines down. Several…

8. Sep 9, 2023Flash Flood$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Toby Creek is well out of its banks, flooding an unknown number of homes and businesses.

9. Sep 18, 2004Flood, Luzerne$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The north branch of the Susquehanna River at Wilkes-Barre rose above its flood stage of 22 feet midday on the 18th, crested at 35.0 feet at 1:00 AM on the 19th, then slowly fell to be below its flood stage midday on the 20th. 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.

10. Jul 3, 2011Flash Flood$1.5 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    Well over 200 homes and businesses were affected by flooding from heavy rains over the Coal Creek basin. Video captured by local residents showed significant damage occurring to infrastructure and homes, with torrents of water flushing down area roadways.

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, 14.3 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.
• 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.