Pike County

Every recorded tornado

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

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Jan 19, 1996Flash Flood$23.0 million
2. Sep 18, 2004Flash Flood$15.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain with amounts of 3.5 to 6 inches caused flash flooding. The rain which fell from the 16th to the 18th was due to the remnants of hurricane Ivan. Most creeks and streams went out of their banks. In addition, the Delaware and Lackawaxen Rivers had major flooding. About a dozen rescues were performed. Over 100 roads were closed. The entire borough of Newfoundland in western Pike County was evacuated. 6 bridges were closed. 2 businesses were closed.

3. Jun 28, 2006Flood$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Major flooding occurred along the Delaware River from Matamoras, PA and Port Jervis, NY south through the eastern border of Pike County Wednesday June 28th. The Delaware River at Matamoras/Port Jervis crested at 21.43 feet 3:00 pm EDT Wednesday which was the 5th highest crest on record. At the Montague, New Jersey river gauge, which is directly across the Delaware River from Milford, Pennsylvania, the river crested at 32.16 feet 1:00 am EDT Thursday June 29th. This was the 3rd highest crest on record at this gauge location.

4. Apr 3, 2005Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A slow moving storm from the Ohio Valley brought 2 to 4 inches of rain on April 2nd and 3rd. Before this storm, the rivers and streams had high flows due to a previous rainstorm March 28th and snowmelt. All towns were affected in the county by flash flooding. Numerous roads, bridges and buildings were damaged. All streams and creeks were out of their banks.

5. May 31, 1998Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The cell that produced tornadic damage earlier both in southern Wayne county and just upstream in Promised Land State Park dropped a tornado once again across the southern and southeastern portions of Pike county. A nearly continuous 20 mile path was uncovered via aerial storm surveys from Pecks Pond east-southeastward to near route 739 in Delaware township. The average width of the damage path was about 200 yards. The twister descended once again in the Pecks Pond area around 8:20 pm EDT. At that point, the intensity was rated as F2 as the tornado cut down nearly every tree in its path on its way towards Blue Heron Lake. At approximately 8:30 pm, the tornado struck the small…

6. Aug 12, 2004Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous road washouts from flash flooding reported in the towns of Shohola, Lackawaxen, Porter, and Blooming Grove. This included the settlements of Lords Valley and Pecks Pond. Pennsylvania Department of Transportation reported that State Route 4006, also known as Towpath Road, was closed in Lackawaxen Township. This road parallels the Lackawaxen River. One area of the road was completely washed away leaving a 10 foot deep crater. Localized rainfall amounts were 2 to 4 inches.

7. Sep 18, 2004Flood, Pike$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Delaware River at Port Jervis, NY (near Matamoras, PA) rose above its flood stage of 18 feet during the afternoon on the 18th, crested at 19.5 feet at 4:45 PM on the 18th, then fell below its flood stage early in the morning of the 19th. This was the fifth 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.

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

   The Delaware River at Barryville, NY (near Shohola, PA) went above its flood stage of 17 feet the morning of the 18th, crested at 24.1 feet at 3:15 PM EST on the 18th, then fell back below the flood stage late morning on the 19th. Rainfall amounts were 4 to 7 inches due to the remnants of hurricane Ivan. The rain fell from the 16th to the 18th. This was the second highest crest on record at Barryville. The highest crest was in 1955.

9. Apr 3, 2005Flood, Pike$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A slow moving storm from the Ohio Valley brought 2 to 4 inches of rain on April 2nd and 3rd. Before this storm, the rivers had high flows due to a previous rainstorm March 28th and snowmelt. By the time the river fell below flood stage most of the snow had melted. The Delaware River at Port Jervis, NY and Matamoras, PA rose to its flood stage of 18 feet early on the 3rd, crested at 20.53 feet at 12:15 PM on the 3rd, then fell back below flood stage later that day. This was the fifth highest flood of record. A state of emergency was declared in Matamoras. 100 homes were damaged. 15 homes had damage to the foundations and were condemned.

10. Sep 18, 2004Flood, Pike$1.0 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    The Delaware River at Montague, NJ (near Milford, PA) rose above its flood stage of 25 feet during the afternoon on the 18th, crested at 28.4 feet at 10:15 PM on the 18th, then fell below its flood stage the morning of the 19th. 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.

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, 38.4 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.