40
Recorded events
11
Direct deaths
86
Direct injuries
$287.6M
Property damage
Tornado in Crawford County, Pennsylvania: 40 recorded events between 1950 and 2025. The strongest on record measured F4. That places the county #620 nationally and #2 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Tornado in Crawford County, Pennsylvania: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for tornado in Crawford County is the 1980s, when 14 of the county's 40 recorded events were logged. Comparing decades is useful for spotting active periods, but the earliest years are thin because systematic reporting for this hazard began later.
Within the Crawford County archive, tornado makes up 5.1% of all recorded severe weather across 8 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #620 for this hazard and #2 within Pennsylvania, putting it in the 78.6 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
May is the peak month for tornado in Crawford County with 12 recorded events, while Feb is the quietest. Seasonality here is a property of the archive as much as the climate: reports cluster where population and spotter networks are densest.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
| Date | Scale | Path length | Max width | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985-05-31 | EF4 | 14.0 mi | 400 yd | Crossed in |
| 1985-05-31 | EF3 | 23.0 mi | 277 yd | Touched down here |
| 1985-05-31 | EF3 | 8.0 mi | 427 yd | Touched down here |
| 1972-05-02 | EF3 | 7.9 mi | 33 yd | Crossed in |
| 1985-05-31 | EF2 | 4.0 mi | 200 yd | Touched down here |
| 2018-10-02 | EF2 | 4.1 mi | 50 yd | Touched down here |
| 2004-05-25 | EF2 | 7.0 mi | 50 yd | Touched down here |
| 1986-09-30 | EF2 | 0.5 mi | 60 yd | Touched down here |
| 1985-06-22 | EF2 | 33.4 mi | 40 yd | Crossed in |
| 1985-05-31 | EF2 | 10.0 mi | 220 yd | Crossed in |
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 31, 1985 | F4 | 8 | 75 | $25.0M | |
| May 31, 1985 | F3 | 2 | 0 | $0 | |
| May 31, 1985 | F2 | 1 | 0 | $0 | |
| Jul 28, 1981 | F2 | 0 | 4 | $250K | |
| May 3, 1972 | F3 | 0 | 3 | $25K | |
| Oct 2, 2018 | CONNEAUTVILLE | EF2 | 0 | 1 | $750K |
| Jun 11, 1994 | Blooming Vall | F1 | 0 | 1 | $500K |
| Sep 30, 1986 | F2 | 0 | 1 | $2.5M |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 9, 2025 | TILLOTSON | EF0 | $24K |
| Jul 29, 2021 | MT HOPE | EF0 | $0 |
| Apr 14, 2019 | SPRINGBORO | EF0 | $50K |
| Oct 2, 2018 | TOWNVILLE | EF1 | $25K |
| Oct 2, 2018 | WOODCOCK | EF1 | $25K |
| Oct 2, 2018 | CONNEAUTVILLE | EF2 | $750K |
| May 26, 2011 | BEAVER CENTER | EF1 | $150K |
| Jun 6, 2010 | ROMETOWN | EF0 | $30K |
| Jun 2, 2010 | CONNEAUTVILLE | EF0 | $125K |
| May 1, 2007 | MEADVILLE | EF1 | $500K |
Other hazards here
More from Crawford County
- Thunderstorm Wind 483
- Hail 185
- Flash Flood 63
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
An F2 tornado touched down three miles west of Custards and then tracked east for seven miles. The tornado finally lifted just west of Cochranton near U.S Highway 322. The damage path was continuous, up to 50 yards in width and roughly parallel to State Route 285. Significant damage occurred along the damage path. At least ten homes were damaged with two large farm buildings destroyed. Two factories west of Custards along Delano Road were also heavily damaged. One factory lost over 16,000 square feet of roofing and had much of it's inventory destroyed. The second factory was also heavily damaged on one side. Twelve semi trailers parked outside this factory were overturned and destroyed. Several dozen workers inside the factories had sought shelter prior to the arrival of the tornado and were uninjured. Hundreds of trees and dozens of power poles were downed along the damage path.
A tornado touched down in a field on the eastern edge of Conneautville and tracked eastward roughly parallel to Highway 198. The tornado quickly strengthened to EF2 intensity and destroyed a duplex. A nursing home was also damaged and lost large sections of roofing. Residents of the nursing home were in the process of being moved to the interior of the building when the tornado struck. Only one minor injury was reported. The tornado damaged several other homes and structures before lifting near the intersection of Carr Road and Norrisville Road. The maximum winds were estimated up to 115 mph.
An EF1 tornado touched down southeast of Meadville during the evening hours of May 1st. The track of the tornado began on the west side of Tamarack Lake near the intersection of Tamarack Drive and Phelps Road. The tornado continued southeast for around two miles and lifted near the intersection of Tamarack Drive and Freyermuth Road. The damage path was intermittent and 25 to 30 yards wide. Ten structures were damaged by this tornado and several hundred trees were knocked down. The parent thunderstorm responsible for this tornado also produced a downburst that caused damage from near Conneaut Lake to the south end of Tamarack Lake.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many tornado events are on record in Crawford County, Pennsylvania?
40 tornado events are recorded in Crawford County between 1950 and 2025, causing 11 direct deaths.
What is the strongest tornado recorded in Crawford County?
The strongest tornado on record in Crawford County measured F4.
Where does the tornado data for Crawford County come from?
All events come from the NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database, the federal public-domain archive of severe weather reports. Dates are UTC, damage is as reported and not inflation-adjusted, and the most recent entries may still be revised.
Cite this page
“Tornado in Crawford County, Pennsylvania.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/pennsylvania/crawford-county/tornado/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.