381
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
7
Direct injuries
$3.0M
Property damage
Thunderstorm Wind in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania: 381 recorded events between 1960 and 2026. The strongest on record measured 85. That places the county #247 nationally and #23 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Thunderstorm Wind in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for thunderstorm wind in Dauphin County is the 2010s, when 117 of the county's 381 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 Dauphin County archive, thunderstorm wind makes up 68.9% of all recorded severe weather across 7 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #247 for this hazard and #23 within Pennsylvania, putting it in the 92.2 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jun is the peak month for thunderstorm wind in Dauphin County with 110 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.
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 7, 1998 | HARRISBURG | 51 | 0 | 4 | $0 |
| Jul 6, 1994 | Harrisburg | 0 | 0 | 1 | $0 |
| Jul 12, 1987 | 0 | 0 | 1 | $0 | |
| Aug 31, 1984 | 0 | 0 | 1 | $0 |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 16, 2026 | BRESSLER | 52 | $2K |
| Mar 11, 2026 | MIDDLETOWN | 52 | $5K |
| Mar 11, 2026 | CHARLTON | 52 | $5K |
| Dec 19, 2025 | (MDT)OLMSTED FLD MID | 58 | $0 |
| Nov 6, 2025 | HERSHEY | 52 | $50K |
| Nov 6, 2025 | (MDT)OLMSTED FLD MID | 54 | $0 |
| Nov 6, 2025 | MIDDLETOWN | 52 | $15K |
| Jul 8, 2025 | INGLENOOK | 52 | $1K |
| Jul 8, 2025 | DAUPHIN | 52 | $1K |
| Jul 3, 2025 | HARRISBURG | 52 | $10K |
Other hazards here
More from Dauphin County
- Hail 90
- Flash Flood 42
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A complex of severe thunderstorms caused considerable wind damage, especially within the city of Harrisburg. Damage estimates in Harrisburg were around $ 1 million as wind gusts reached 80 mph. Falling trees damaged twenty-five cars. The golf concession on City Island was destroyed. Fallen trees blocked thirty-four streets. At least two trees fell on houses. The fencing on the Walnut Street Bridge was damaged. The cupola 160 feet above the ground on the Payne Shoemaker Building was left leaning at a 45-degree angle. They removed it a couple of days later. Wind damage was not confined to Harrisburg. Near Middletown the two story high, 80-feet long cinder block wall of the Kunkel Elementary School addition was flattened. Numerous trees were downed in Hershey and Hummelstown and blocked at least two roads. About 40,000 Pennsylvania Power and Light customers lost power in Dauphin and Lancaster Counties.
Thunderstorm wind gusts to 63 mph were recorded at both the Harrisburg Federal Office Building and Harrisburg International Airport. Within the city of Harrisburg, damaging winds at Riverfront Park uprooted trees that were more than a century old. Damage to cars and homes was estimated at $100,000. About 2,000 customers lost power due to downed trees and wires.
Thunderstorm winds produced a 8 mile long swath of damage from 2.5 miles southwest of Halifax, to 6.5 miles east of Halifax. Damage began near the intersection of Shammons School Road, about 1 mile east of the Susquehanna River, and ended in a wooded area of Jackson Township, about 1.5 miles east of Enders. The thunderstorm winds produced minor damage to several dozen homes, and downed thousands of trees.|Embedded in the damaging thunderstorm winds was a short lived F1 tornado.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many thunderstorm wind events are on record in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania?
381 thunderstorm wind events are recorded in Dauphin County between 1960 and 2026, causing 0 direct deaths.
What is the strongest thunderstorm wind recorded in Dauphin County?
The strongest thunderstorm wind on record in Dauphin County measured 85.
Where does the thunderstorm wind data for Dauphin 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
“Thunderstorm Wind in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/pennsylvania/dauphin-county/thunderstorm-wind/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.