Wayne County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Jun 27, 2006Flash Flood$50.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tropical moisture continued to stream northward into northeast Pennsylvania ahead of a frontal system which slowly moved westward into the eastern Great Lakes by Tuesday morning the 27th. This tropical moisture developed a batch of heavy showers and thunderstorms across much of eastern Pennsylvania late Monday evening the 26th to Tuesday morning the 27th. By 8 am Tuesday, another 3 to 5 inches of rain fell across Wayne County which caused major flash flooding. Additional rain fell Tuesday afternoon into Wednesday morning as the front moved back east and combined with a low pressure system moving up the eastern seaboard. The additional rainfall brought rainfall totals to between 8…

2. Jan 19, 1996Flash Flood$17.9 million
3. Sep 18, 2004Flash Flood$15.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain with amounts of 5 to 7 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. At least 1000 homes were damaged, 10 of which were completely destroyed. The county Emergency Management Agency had damage to their office in the basement of the County Courthouse. Dozens of bridges were closed with 2 bridges destroyed. There were at least 50 roads that were damaged and /or closed due to the flooding.

4. Jun 27, 2006Flood$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Major flooding occurred on the Lackawaxen River at Hawley. The Lackawaxen River at Hawley rose above the 11 foot flood stage early in the afternoon on Tuesday the 27th. The Lackawaxen River continued to rise Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning cresting at 18.19 feet at 200 pm EDT Wednesday the 28th. This was the 4th highest stage at Hawley with records going back around 100 years.

5. Apr 3, 2005Flash Flood$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A slow moving storm from the Ohio Valley brought 1 to 3 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. Roads, bridges and buildings were damaged. The hardest hit areas from the flash flooding were in the northern part of the county. Some of the towns most impacted were Damascus, Manchester, Scott, Buckingham, Starucca, and Mt. Pleasant. Numerous creeks and streams came out of their banks.

6. Sep 4, 2003Flash Flood$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   1 to 3 inches of heavy rain in less than 6 hours caused flash flooding. The ground was already saturated due to several inches of rain that fell on September 2nd. Dyberry creek came out of its banks in many locations. Mount Pleasant, Dyberry, Damascus and Oregon Townships, and the Borough of Honesdale were the most affected. A few bridges were damaged. One bridge in Oregon Township will have to be replaced by a new bridge. Several roads were washed out. Many people had water in their basements.

7. Apr 2, 2005Flood, Southern Wayne$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 Lackawaxen River at Hawley rose to its flood stage of 11 feet the evening of the 2nd, crested at 15.25 feet at 18:33 PM on the 3rd, then fell back below flood stage on the 4th. This was the fourth highest crest on record. The high crest was partially due to Lake Wallenpaupack making high releases.

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

   The Delaware River at Callicoon, NY (near Abrahamsville, PA) rose above its flood stage of 12 feet the morning of the 18th, crested at 17.3 feet at 4:45 PM on the 18th, then fell below the flood stage the morning of 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 highest crest on record by about a foot at the river gage at Callicoon.

9. Apr 2, 2005Flood, Northern Wayne$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 Callicoon rose to its flood stage of 12 feet the evening of the 2nd, crested at 17.97 feet at 8:00 AM on the 3rd, then fell back below flood stage the morning of the 4th. This was the flood of record. The next highest crest was 17.33 feet from the remnants of hurricane Ivan the previous September.

10. Sep 16, 1999High Wind, Wayne$630,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Strong and damaging winds plagued northeastern Pennsylvania during the late afternoon and night as the remnants of Hurricane Floyd moved up the eastern seaboard. The strong winds began during the afternoon as the tropical system reached the New Jersey coast. Blustery conditions lasted into early the next morning with persistent wind gusts estimated between 40 and 50 mph. Occasionally, wind speeds reached 60 mph or more, especially in the Pocono mountains. The gale force winds caused considerable tree and powerline damage throughout the Poconos and Wyoming valley. The Pennsylvania Power and Light (PP&L) company reported nearly 260,000 of their customers were without power at some…

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, 25.8 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.