McKean County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within McKean County: 4.
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 (5), NASA (2).

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 21, 2003Tornado$45.7 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A team from the National Weather Service office in State College surveyed damage and interviewed residents and emergency management officials in McKean county. The team determined that an F1 tornado touched down in McKean county between 315 pm and 330 pm local time on July 21st 2003.The thunderstorm which spawned the tornado first started producing downburst wind damage 2 miles west of the town of Kane. It continued to the Northeast for 15 miles...before the tornado itself touched down 1 mile west of the Kinzua Viaduct in a wooded area. The tornado continued northeast, producing a damage path 3 1/2 miles long, and about 1/3 mile wide. Winds were estimated at 100 mph, which…

2. Aug 20, 1999Flash Flood$25.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Between 8 and 9 inches of rain fell in a localized area around Bradford in little more than 12 hours. Rain overnight on the 19th dropped about 3.5 inches in the Bradford area up to sunrise. Thunderstorms developed in the early afternoon and continued to move repeatedly across the city. Before the rain ended, an additional 5-1/2 inches of water fell, causing major flooding across the mountainous area that surrounds the community. Two businesses sustained major damage. KOA Speer, an electronics component manufacturer, lost some $8 million in damage to buildings and inventory. A grocery store in the downtown experienced a roof collapse and a stock of $500,000 was lost. Two hundred…

3. Jul 21, 2003Flash Flood$900,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rains caused flash flooding in McKean County. An initial batch of rain began across the county during the mid afternoon, with reports of minor flooding including a road closure. Later in the evening, another batch of heavy rain caused rapid flooding in and around Bradford. Numerous roads were closed, and a Roller Skating Rink sustained significant damage.

4. Aug 25, 2007Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Law enforcement reported numerous trees and power lines down in Bradford. McKean county emergency management reported the storm packed winds upwards of 50 to 70 mph...toppling more than 100 trees and damaging close to 60 homes. Two trees fell onto parked vehicles. Pennsylvania Electric representatives said that there were 5,000 residents without power during the peak of the storm with nearly 200 customers without power for over 24 hours. A large tank inside the American Refining Group's Refinery was buckled due to strong winds and a roof was torn off a boiler house. ||County officials said that no major injuries occurred as a result of the storms. |

5. Dec 1, 2010Flood$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rainfall amounts between 2 and 4 inches produced extensive flooding in the Upper Allegheny River Basin. The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford evacuated several dormitories due to nearby flood waters. Flooding along smaller streams and creeks closed numerous state, county and municipal roads. Some of the roads included SR 346 and 446 along Knapp Creek and the Allegheny River in Eldred Township, SR 44 along Oswayo Creek and Bell Run in Ceres Township, SR 1002 (Champlain Hill road) along the Allegheny River in Annin Township, SR 155 along the Portage Creek into Potter County and SR 146 in the Red Mill area. A water rescue was performed at the intersection of Tuna Cross Road and…

6. Jul 24, 2022Thunderstorm Wind$60,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A severe thunderstorm producing winds estimated near 70 mph produced over 30 reports of trees down around Kane, including trees on at least three structures, as well as trees down on cars and wires and across roads.

7. May 1, 2017Thunderstorm Wind$30,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A severe thunderstorm produced a microburst with winds estimated near 90 mph just to the east of Custer City. Wind damage caused by the microburst began on northwest side of the Penn Hills Country Club and traveled southeastward for approximately three-quarters of a mile to near the intersection of Route 770 and Langley Drive. Most of the damage was to trees on the Penn Hills golf course property, some of which were snapped and others uprooted.

8. Jun 7, 1999Hail$30,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large hail fell and trees were blown down on Route 46. One tree fell on a barn and knocked it down.

9. Nov 9, 2005Thunderstorm Wind$20,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds knocked down approximately 100 trees, several of which fell onto hunting cabins.

10. Jul 26, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$15,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    An official NWS storm survey found widespread straight-line wind damage near Lewis Run. A broad swath of wind damage (approximately 10 miles wide) brought down dozens of trees in the area. Within the relatively wide swath of downed trees, an embedded microburst was confirmed along US 219. The microburst was approximately 200 yards long with estimated maximum winds between 70 and 90 mph. Five houses and two outbuildings sustained moderate structural damage due to fallen trees.

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

97°F2 times, most recently Jul 22, 2011

All-time low

−30°FFeb 11, 1979

Warmest night

73°F2 times, most recently Jun 16, 2022

Coldest day

−16°FJan 17, 1982

Wettest day

4.91 inSep 28, 1967

Snowiest day

30.2 inMar 11, 1992

Hottest year

2024mean 50.3°F

Coldest year

1981mean 40.8°F

Wettest year

199260.65 in

Driest year

200125.97 in

Snowiest season

154.9 in1993-94

Station Bradford Regional Airport (USW00004751), 2,107 ft elevation, 5.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1957 to October 26, 2026; 99.1% 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 USW00004751.
• 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.