Sullivan County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

Costliest events since 1996

1. Oct 21, 2016Flash Flood$7.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   During the early morning hours of October 21st a frontal system brought intense rainfall which led to flash flooding in part of Sullivan County. Over eight inches of rain fell across the headwaters of Mill Creek, Elk Creek and the Hoagland Branch. ||The storm damage occurred in three townships, Hillsgrove, Elkland and Fox.||The flash floods destroyed three primary residences and 14 seasonal structures. |State Route 87 remains closed until a bridge can be replaced. The bridge goes over Mill Creek at Hillsgrove, one of the major highways used in the County. ||Elk Creek Road is closed due to a bridge washout. ||Hoagland Branch Road is closed due to inaccessibility over a 2.5 mile…

2. Aug 28, 2011Flash Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy tropical rainfall from Hurricane Irene produced catastrophic flash flooding, with portions of the county receiving up to 6 inches of rain. Flood waters closed all major roads and caused evacuations of homes and businesses in Lopez (Colley Township), Mildred (Cherry Township), Dushore Borough, Laporte Borough, Forks Township, Forksville Borough and Hillsgrove Township. Unprecedented flooding in Lopez caused the the bridge that carries PA 487 over Loyalsock Creek to collapse. This greatly impacted water rescue efforts, increasing response time to 40 minutes despite the local fire and EMS department being only 3 miles from the town of Lopez. A multi-family along PA 487 was…

3. Apr 26, 2011Flash Flood$1.8 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A flash flood brought widespread damage to the town of Dushore. Numerous roads were closed. Several homes were damaged due to high water. Two water rescues were performed in Cherry and Colley Townships. German Street Bridge, SR 220 was damaged from flood waters. About 30 residents were displaced due to flooding in downtown Dushore. Two feet of water was estimated in downtown Dushore.

4. Apr 15, 2019Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The National Weather Service in State College PA has confirmed a tornado near Dushore in Sullivan County Pennsylvania on April 15, 2019. A tornado touched down near World`s End State Park on State Route 154 and continued northeast into the borough of Dushore. Along its path, the tornado produced pockets of damage characteristic of wind speeds greater than 100 miles per hour. Numerous trees were snapped or uprooted near World`s End State Park and in Cherry Mills. A barn was completely destroyed at Rickety Bridge Farm on Happys Road. The tornado did considerable damage to the borough of Dushore where 7-8 homes suffered moderate damage and numerous trees were snapped or uprooted. A…

5. Jul 1, 1999Tornado$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An F1 tornado touched down in Elkland township about two miles northwest of Lincoln Falls on route 154, then moved northeast through a crossroads near Eldredsville to Hugo corners. Trees were blown down as the storm crossed route 154. Just west of McCarty Ridge Road a group of campers narrowly missed injury when a stand of trees were blown over near their site. The heaviest damage was along McCarty Ridge Road near the town of Eldredsville. A well built older home was lifted just slightly on its foundation. The occupants told of seeing a cloud of dust appear as they watched from their basement. A barn nearby was leveled. The roof flew off a sawmill and landed largely intact about…

6. Nov 21, 2024Heavy Snow, Sullivan$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A winter storm produced 6 to 8 inches of snow across Sullivan County with higher elevations receiving 13 to 15 inches of snow from the evening of November 21 through the early afternoon hours of November 22, 2024. Heavy, wet snow coupled with gusty winds knocked down multiple trees and wires across the county, resulting in approximately 70% of the county being without power during the event. State Routes 487 and 87 were both closed for a period of time due to trees and wires being knocked down on the roadway.

7. Jul 29, 2023Thunderstorm Wind$20,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A severe thunderstorm producing winds estimated near 90 mph knocked down several trees and powerlines along and east of Lake Road on the east side of Mokoma Lake. There was one house was damaged, an outbuilding destroyed, and a vehicle damaged from falling trees.

8. Aug 12, 2005Tornado$15,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down during the afternoon of August 12th just north of the town of Hillsgrove in Sullivan County. A swath of tree damage about 1/2 to 3/4 miles long and about 30 yards wide ran along Mill Creek Road. It was estimated that the tornado was on the ground for 2 minutes. The tornado caused dozens of trees to be knocked down. In addition to the tornado, ambient winds with the thunderstorm produced downed trees throughout the general area of Hillsgrove. One of these trees fell on a vehicle causing major damage and others fell on structures causing minor to moderate roof damage. Winds were estimated at around 75 to 85 mph, making it an F1 on the Fujita Scale. There were…

9. Dec 12, 2000High Wind, Sullivan$14,000
10. Jul 29, 2023Thunderstorm Wind$10,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A severe thunderstorm producing winds estimated near 75 mph uprooted and snapped numerous cherry trees southwest of Lake Mokoma near Laporte.

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

94°FJul 16, 1995

All-time low

−12°F5 times, most recently Feb 1, 2019

Warmest night

75°F2 times, most recently Jul 23, 2011

Coldest day

−2°FJan 8, 2014

Wettest day

7.82 inSep 8, 2011

Snowiest day

30.0 inMar 14, 1993

Hottest year

1998mean 48.8°F

Coldest year

2014mean 43.6°F

Wettest year

201187.66 in

Driest year

201640.46 in

Snowiest season

150.3 in1995-96

Station Laporte (USC00364815), 1,966 ft elevation, 3.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1991 to October 23, 2026; 99.3% 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 USC00364815.
• 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.