Potter County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Dec 1, 2010Flood$800,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rainfall amounts between 2 and 4 inches produced extensive flooding. The flooding closed numerous state, county and municipal roads including portions of SR 6. Flood waters spilled into first-floor buildings in downtown Coudersport. Numerous basements were flooded. Water rescues was performed at 163 Summit Street in Austin Borough along Freeman's Run and at C & S Lumber in Roulette along the Allegheny River. Flooding was reported along Reeds Run Road, Railroad Avenue, Main Street, Fishing Creek and Lananger Creek in the Roulette area. Evacuations were ordered in West Bingham Township as a result of flooding along the Genesee River.

2. Jul 21, 2003Tornado$200,000
   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 Potter county. The team determined that an F3 tornado touched down in Potter county around 4:00 pm Monday July 21 2003. The tornado first touched down about 2 miles southwest of the town of Ellisburg...where it downed hundreds of trees. The tornado continued to the northeast...where it hit the Smoker Farm. The barn and house were completely destroyed...and one of three silos was tipped over. A second home on Smoker Road was also extensively damaged and is uninhabitable. In addition...a car was picked up and thrown 600 yards. A farm…

3. May 2, 2012Tornado$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe thunderstorms spawned a brief tornado near Ayers Hill. A survey team consisting of the National Weather Service and County Emergency Management concluded that the tornado touched down near the intersection of Cherry Tree Lane and First Fork Road /SR 3003/ just west of Ayers Hill. The tornado moved east-northeast intermittently touching down for about a half mile before lifting near Gates Hill Road. There were several witnesses who saw a funnel cloud prior to taking shelter in their homes. Damage included uprooting about 30 trees, damaging two barns, and producing some minor roof damage to 4 homes. In addition, a large trailer was overturned, totaling two vehicles which it…

4. Jul 6, 1999Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
5. Jul 27, 2013Tornado$30,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A National Weather Service survey team, along with Potter County Emergency Management Officials, confirmed that an EF1 tornado touched down south of Coudersport during the late afternoon of July 27th. The EF1 tornado touched down just west of Big Moores Run Road in Homer Township and traveled to the northeast producing intermittent damage along a three mile path. The last observed damage was found along First Fork Road about one mile south of Ayers Hill. Damage was confined mainly to trees, however two homes sustained damage from the falling limbs and trees. The most significant tree damage occurred along Big Moores Run Road about 1 mile southeast of the intersection of Black…

6. Jul 24, 2010Tornado$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   NWS meteorologists confirmed an EF1 tornado approximately 2 miles west-southwest of Galeton, PA in Potter County. The tornado was on the ground for about 2 minutes and had a path length of just over 1 mile. The estimated maximum wind speed was 90 mph based on tree and utility pole damage indicators. The damage occurred in a very rural area with only minor structural damage to a few cabins. The tornado path was slightly curved and extended from a small tributary on the West Branch of Pine Creek across SR 2002. The EF1 tornado destroyed over 1000 trees and up to 10 utility poles along SR 2002. A pump-house that supplies the town of Galeton with water was impacted by power outages…

7. Nov 16, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$20,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds ripped the roof off a barn in Ulysses.

8. Sep 7, 2020Strong Wind, Potter$15,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong non-thunderstorm winds resulting from a wake low were estimated near 50 mph across northern Potter County during the early afternoon of Monday, September 7. These winds produced multiple reports of trees and wires down from Oswayo to Germania.

9. Mar 16, 2025Thunderstorm Wind$14,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A line of severe thunderstorms producing wind gusts estimated near 60 mph knocked down multiple trees and powerlines in Roulette. This severe thunderstorms also produced damage to an outbuilding in Roulette.

10. Dec 12, 2000High Wind, Potter$14,000

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, 36.1 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.
• 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.