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Berks County, Pennsylvania severe weather history spans 1,349 recorded events between 1950 and 2026. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 63.8% of all recorded events. It ranks #53 nationally and #3 in Pennsylvania.
1,349
Recorded events
3
Direct deaths
29
Direct injuries
$56.7M
Property damage
The record
What the Berks County, Pennsylvania severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Berks County, Pennsylvania severe weather history averages 17.8 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2020s, with 464 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 88 events fall before 1990 and 1,261 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Berks County, Pennsylvania record is flash flood, responsible for 2 direct deaths. The costliest is flash flood, with $18.9M in reported property damage. In total, 9 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Berks County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 860 | 0 | $2.8M | 88 | 1960–2026 |
| Flash Flood | 177 | 2 | $18.9M | 0 | 1996–2025 |
| Hail | 141 | 0 | $0 | 2.5 | 1956–2025 |
| Lightning | 49 | 1 | $850K | 0 | 1996–2025 |
| Flood | 45 | 0 | $17.8M | 0 | 2006–2023 |
| Heavy Rain | 40 | 0 | $1K | 0 | 1997–2017 |
| Tornado | 30 | 0 | $16.4M | F3 | 1950–2025 |
| Funnel Cloud | 6 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1998–2023 |
| Wildfire | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2000–2000 |
Decade by decade
Berks County, Pennsylvania severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
30 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 26 touched down inside it and 4 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970-06-18 | EF3 | 1 | 5 | 1.9 mi | Crossed in |
| 1998-05-31 | EF3 | 0 | 7 | 8.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 1950-11-04 | EF3 | 0 | 1 | 15.9 mi | Crossed in |
| 2019-05-28 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 3.1 mi | Crossed in |
| 1984-07-05 | EF2 | 0 | 2 | 7.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1984-07-05 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1984-07-05 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 8.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1984-07-05 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 5.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1979-10-05 | EF2 | 0 | 1 | 1.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1979-09-05 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Berks County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 11, 2019 | Flash Flood | PINE FORGE | 2 | 0 | $0 |
| May 25, 1998 | Lightning | BREEZY CORNER | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Jun 1, 1998 | Tornado | EVANSVILLE | 0 | 7 | $1.4M |
| Jul 9, 1997 | Lightning | HAMBURG | 0 | 5 | $0 |
| Jul 5, 1984 | Tornado | 0 | 2 | $2.5M | |
| May 16, 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | STONERSVILLE | 0 | 1 | $0 |
| Mar 4, 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | FREDERICKSVILLE | 0 | 1 | $0 |
| Jul 9, 2015 | Tornado | JALAPPA | 0 | 1 | $750K |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A pregnant woman and her son were trapped in a car that flipped over after being swept against a guardrail on Grist Mill Road near Locust Road along the Ironstone Creek. The two were trapped inside the vehicle, where they both perished. The rescue crew could not reach them until the water receded about 5 hours later.
A severe thunderstorm damaged the second and third floors as well as the roof of a toothbrush manufacturing plant in Kutztown. The roof and part of the third story wall of the plant were partially knocked down. The main stairwell in the plant was also destroyed. Elsewhere a Chinese Restaurant in the borough lost its display sign. Several trees and lines were knocked down on and around Main Street. Tree debris covered one playground set. About 5,000 homes and businesses in the area lost power.
An EF1 tornado occurred in Tilden Township in Berks County and injured one person. The tornado touched down near Stone Road and moved eastnortheast, passing through the Blue Mountain Academy before crossing Mountain Road into a campground area before lifting. The most significant damage occurred to the Blue Mountain Elementary School. The roof of the school was completely removed by the tornado. The building is a total loss. The 52-year-old principal inside the school at the time of the tornado was injured and was found covered by ceiling tiles. Pieces of the roof were found hundreds of yards away in trees. Hardwood trees were snapped along the tornado's path with a soybean field having debris dragged through it with visible arcing marks. ||The estimated path length of the EF-1 tornado was three-quarters of a mile with a maximum path width of 75 yards. The estimated maximum wind speed was 105 mph.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Moderate
FEMA NRI risk rating
433,015
Population (ACS)
$257K
Median home value
23
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 30, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
| Mar 23, 2016 | Snowstorm | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND SNOWSTORM | DR |
| Oct 29, 2012 | Hurricane | HURRICANE SANDY | EM |
| Sep 12, 2011 | Flood | TROPICAL STORM LEE | DR |
| Sep 8, 2011 | Flood | REMNANTS OF TROPICAL STORM LEE | EM |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Berks County, Pennsylvania?
1,349 events are on record between 1950 and 2026, causing 3 direct deaths and $56.7M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Berks County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 860 recorded events — 63.8% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Berks County?
30 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 26 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Berks County?
23 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Berks County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Berks County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Berks County as relatively moderate risk, placing it in the 93 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Berks County, Pennsylvania severe weather history data come from?
Every figure is drawn from United States federal public-domain records: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events for the event archive, NOAA SPC SVRGIS for mapped tornado paths, FEMA for disaster declarations and risk ratings, and the U.S. Census for population context. Dates are shown in UTC and recent entries may still be revised by NOAA.
Nearby
Neighbouring counties
- Bedford County 267
- Blair County 304
- Beaver County 840
- Bradford County 620
- Armstrong County 510
- Bucks County 911
Cite this page
“Berks County, Pennsylvania.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/pennsylvania/berks-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.