Venango County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Venango County: 8.
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.

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. Jul 19, 1996Flash Flood$50.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread heavy thunderstorm rains, between 4 and 5 inches, caused numerous streams to go over their banks throughout the county. Roads were closed due to extensive flooding in Oil City and Franklin. Flooding was extensive at Sugar Creek Borough along the French Creek and along Chubb Run in Franklin.A total of 5 residences were destroyed, 60 had major damage and around 200 had minor damage. 11 bridges were out and over 100 miles of roads were damaged.

2. Aug 29, 2006Flash Flood$1.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   By 713 AM EDT, Sage Run overflowed and flooded Rte 62 near Oil City; and buildings were flooded in Franklin. By 920 AM EDT, the town of Polk was flooded; about 50 homes received major damage. People were chest deep in water and had to be rescued. When water began spilling over the top of the earthen Piffer Dam, 250 people were evacuated. Other roads in the southwest part of Venango County were closed or washed out. By 8 AM EDT, the city of Franklin declared a disaster: the water treatment plant was flooded. Rte 62 remained closed, because of flooding, from Franklin to the Mercer County line. A manufacturing plant was flooded by 830 AM EDT. A gas station was flooded. A bridge was…

3. Sep 14, 2008High Wind, Venango$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A 52 year old male was killed when wind sheared off a tree top and struck him in the head. The fatality occurred while attempting to clear a tree which had previously fallen.

4. Apr 28, 2002Tornado$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A storm producing two separate tornadoes moved across Mercer and Venango counties. The first tornado spawned by this storm, an F0, touched down in Mercer County at 1:35 PM EST near the community of Hermitage (approximately 2 miles east of Sharon) and moved to the east-northeast for about 6 miles before dissipating at approximately 1:40 PM EST. The maximum estimated winds were about 70 MPH. Some of the damage observed from this first tornado included a downed fire tower near Hermitage. The windward side of a barn in Jefferson Township was blown apart and the adjacent building exhibited large holes in the metal sides from flying debris. A garage that was under construction also…

5. Jun 21, 2001Flash Flood$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong thunderstorms dropped over 2 inches of rain in around one hour, which produced flooding in the Franklin area. Several main roadways in the area, including State Routes 8, 322 and 417 were closed due to flooding. Nearly 2 feet of water was reported on SR 322 just west of Franklin. In the Franklin area, dozens of homes and several businesses reported basement flooding. Up to 6 feet of water flooded some of the urban roadways, stranding motorists.

6. Jan 19, 1996Flash Flood$120,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread flooding of small streams and creeks continued into the early morning hours of the 20th before the water receded. Most of the damage was related to ice jam flooding. A beer distributor had a hole ripped into a building and beer kegs spilled into the Oil Creek, a tributary of the Allegheny River. Over 40 homes had their basements flooded. A bridge was also damaged due to the ice.

7. Aug 26, 2003Flash Flood$110,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Parts of Routes 8 and 62, and other roads, flooded. Pizza business on 15th Street hill flooded twice during this storm. Chubb Run overflowed, flooded at least 3 homes. Three homes evacuated. At least a dozen basements flooded. Route 257 near Oil City flooded. Doppler radar estimated 3.7 inches of rain fell.

8. Apr 1, 2023Lightning$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An emergency manager reported that lightning struck an apartment building, blowing a hole in the 3rd floor. Residents were displaced, moved to a warming shelter.

9. Jun 14, 2005Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Over 100 trees and power lines blown down when wind gusted to at least 60 mph. Tree fell onto home on Bishop Ave in Oil City. Falling tree limbs damaged houses on 3 other streets. 3300 customer lost electric power.

10. Feb 12, 2009High Wind, Venango$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A powerful cold front moved across the Ohio Valley on the evening of the 11th as strong low pressure moved north across the Great Lakes. A convective line along the cold front produced widespread damage across eastern Ohio, western Pennsylvania, northern West Virginia, and Garrett county Maryland with thunderstorm wind gusts of 60 to 70 MPH and a peak wind gust of 92 MPH at Allegheny County Airport near Pittsburgh. High winds gusting to 60 MPH behind the front in a strong pressure gradient produced wind damage across the entire region into midday on the 12th. In all across eastern Ohio, western Pennsylvania, northern West Virginia and Garrett county Maryland over one half million…

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

106°F2 times, most recently Jul 15, 1936

All-time low

−30°F2 times, most recently Jan 13, 1912

Warmest night

82°F2 times, most recently Aug 1, 1904

Coldest day

−3°F3 times, most recently Jan 20, 1994

Wettest day

5.30 inAug 14, 1994

Snowiest day

18.0 in2 times, most recently Nov 25, 1950

Hottest year

1921mean 52.8°F

Coldest year

1966mean 44.2°F

Wettest year

201960.23 in

Driest year

193029.70 in

Snowiest season

90.0 in1998-99

Station Franklin (USC00363028), 1,015 ft elevation, 3.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1897 to October 23, 2026; 95.2% 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 USC00363028.
• 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.