Somerset County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. May 31, 1998Tornado$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado touched down just east of Mt. Davis and traveled east-southeast into downtown Salisbury. The storm then continued eastward for 8 miles ending east of the town of Pocahontas. The tornado was rated as an F2 (113 to 157 mph) through the town of Salisbury, but probably reached F3 (158 to 206 mph) intensity briefly near Pocohontas. Along the 15 mile path, damages were estimated to reach between $3 million to $4 million. The path length of the tornado was probably close to 15 miles. F0 damage (40-72 mph) was in a swath about 1/2 mile wide, with F2 damage confined to an area about 2 blocks wide in Salisbury. Near Pocohontas, a farmhouse was completely destroyed indicating…

2. Jul 5, 2019Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A Large upper level system moving through the Mid Atlantic resulted in a 3 day rain event that caused multiple flash floods through Central PA.

3. Feb 12, 2009High Wind, Somerset$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Non-thunderstorm wind gusts between 55 and 65 mph toppled approximately 100 trees, 40 power lines and 14 utility poles. The high winds caused four buildings to collapse. Several trees fell onto houses and roofs resulting in significant structural damage. Nearly ten-thousand customers were without power at some point during the wind event.

4. Apr 19, 2025Thunderstorm Wind$120,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A severe thunderstorm, producing straight-line winds in excess of 95 mph, caused extensive tree damage in Addison and elk Lick Townships. In Addison, a tree fell onto a residence, with multiple trees knocked down across roadways in Addison, knocking out power for a majority of the town. Two people were injured in Addison when an ATV collided with a downed tree. Extensive tree damage continued into Salisbury, where a silo also collapsed into a barn, causing the barn to collapse.

5. Jul 18, 2026Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF-2 tornado with estimated peak winds of 125 mph, a path length of 0.72 miles, and a maximum width of 100 yards occurred in Jenner Township on July 18, 2026. The tornado began west of the Conemaugh Township Reservoir where minor damage to trees was noted. The tornado began to strengthen as it moved to the east-southeast and hundreds of trees were snapped or uprooted, with virtually no trees remaining standing in a quarter-mile swath just to the west of the reservoir. Damage to trees continued as the tornado moved along Ferndale Drive before coming to an end near Bens Creek.

6. Mar 4, 2023High Wind, Somerset$60,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Northwesterly winds occasionally gusting to near 60 mph occurred for several hours in Somerset County, resulting in numerous reports of trees and wires down across the county. Route 653 in Black Township and Route 423 in Coolbaugh Township were both closed due to downed trees and wires. Additionally, there was a tree downed onto a porch in Somerset Borough.

7. Jun 8, 2022Thunderstorm Wind$60,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A severe thunderstorm producing winds estimated between 75 and 85 mph produced wind damage in the Eagle Ridge housing development. Multiple homes in the Eagle Ridge housing development sustained minor structural damage ranging from sheds/outbuildings to roofs (shingles or fallen tree branches) and siding/downspouts. One residence received moderate damage due to a collapsed detached garage which also impacted vehicles that were parked underneath the garage and nearby. Several trees were also uprooted or knocked down. No injuries were reported. The damage was determined by an EMA/NWS coordinated damage assessment to have been straight-line in nature.

8. May 13, 2018Tornado$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado started northwest of the intersection of Beam Church Rd|and Wigstrom Rd where several trees fell and a house sustained minor|siding damage. The tornado crossed Beam Church Rd and continued east|southeast into Gray. Several buildings sustained roof or siding|damage from downed trees. Many trees were completely uprooted|because of saturated soil with standing water underneath the root|ball. The tornado crossed W 3rd street where it flipped a car port|and moved a trailer about 6 feet. A large patch of shingles was|tossed over a house and landed on a car windshield.||Further east, several healthy trees were snapped 10-30 feet off the|ground consistent with winds of up to…

9. Feb 8, 2025Ice Storm, Somerset$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An ice storm impacted Somerset County on February 8, 2025. Ice accumulation of up to 0.25 inches occurred over much of the county with higher amounts reported. The ice resulted in over 1500 power outages. Light snow also occurred with this storm, though snow accumulation was generally less than 0.5 inches across the county.

10. Aug 6, 2000Flash Flood$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    At least 30 basements were flooded and 6 roads were closed due to high water and debris as heavy rains hit the area. More than 4 inches fell in some locations, sending the Casselman River out of its banks near Salisbury. The county fairgrounds were inundated with water, putting mud and debris in some of the fair buildings and requiring cleanup prior to the August 19th opening of the event.

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

96°FJul 17, 1988

All-time low

−26°FJan 22, 1985

Warmest night

74°FJul 5, 1999

Coldest day

−4°FDec 26, 1983

Wettest day

6.33 inSep 7, 1996

Snowiest day

30.0 inMar 14, 1993

Hottest year

2024mean 51.8°F

Coldest year

1977mean 46.0°F

Wettest year

201874.58 in

Driest year

199132.44 in

Snowiest season

179.5 in1995-96

Station Frostburg 2 (USC00183415), 2,170 ft elevation, 25.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1972 to October 27, 2026; 99.7% 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 USC00183415.
• 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.