PlainHazard

Pennsylvania drought

Every recorded drought record since 1996 · 67 counties with a record

NOAA's Storm Events Database records 807 drought records in Pennsylvania from 1996 through June 30, 2026, about 32 a year since 2000. The costliest was the July 1, 1999 drought ($886 million in 2025 dollars). Pennsylvania ranks 29th of 51 states and territories by count and 32nd of 50 per square mile.

Drought in Pennsylvania, 1996 to 2026

Drought records per year (NOAA Storm Events); 2026 to June 30, 2026.

  • recorded, no damage figure
  • under $1 million
  • $1 million or more
  • $10 million or more
  • $100 million or more, or 10 deaths
  • $1 billion or more, or 100 deaths
  • a year's colour: its recorded damage or deaths
  • a year with a death
Records
8071996 to June 30, 2026
A year since 2000
32average
Deaths
00 injuries
Damage, 2025 dollars
$924Mas filed
Busiest year
1999205 records

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; deaths and damage as filed, damage in 2025 dollars. Search the record at NCEI.

Are drought records common in Pennsylvania?

Pennsylvania averages about 32 drought records a year since 2000, 29th of 51 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 1999 (205). Per 10,000 square miles of land, Pennsylvania records 180 drought records since 1996, 32nd of 50 states and territories by that measure.

  1. 1. Hawaii 2624
  2. 2. New Jersey 1205
  3. 3. Delaware 1062
  4. 4. Oklahoma 971
  5. 5. Georgia 900
  6. 6. Texas 711
  7. 7. New Mexico 528
  8. 8. Alabama 527
  9. 9. Tennessee 477
  10. 10. Iowa 466
  11. 32. Pennsylvania 180

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1996, per 10,000 square miles of land area (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer; places under 1,000 square miles not ranked). Damage colours: Storm Events damage, 2025 dollars.

Which counties in Pennsylvania have the most drought records?

Per square mile, Philadelphia County leads Pennsylvania: 45 days with a drought record since 1996, 335.0 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Montgomery County has the most drought records (49 since 1996); large counties collect more records simply by covering more ground, so the ranking counts days with a record per unit of area (a storm filed for several forecast zones adds several records but one day).

  1. Philadelphia County 335.0 (46)
  2. Delaware County 239.4 (44)
  3. Lehigh County 124.5 (43)
  4. Northampton County 116.3 (43)
  5. Carbon County 104.9 (40)
  6. Montgomery County 101.5 (49)
  7. Bucks County 77.8 (47)
  8. Monroe County 67.4 (41)
  9. Chester County 58.6 (44)
  10. Berks County 51.4 (44)
  11. Montour County 30.7 (4)
  12. Lebanon County 30.4 (11)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, days with a record in the county since 1996 per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer); in brackets, the count of records.

When is drought season in Pennsylvania?

Pennsylvania's drought records by month. The busiest month is October (120 records).

The values, month by month

Jan 45 · Feb 35 · Mar 33 · Apr 30 · May 43 · Jun 44 · Jul 88 · Aug 100 · Sep 93 · Oct 120 · Nov 80 · Dec 96 (records).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1996.

The costliest drought records in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania: the most damaging storms since 1993, 2025 dollars
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
1999-07-01 DroughtPotter County · forecast zone Potter 0 0 $886M
1999-09-01 DroughtBradford County · forecast zone Bradford 0 0 $35M
1997-08-01 DroughtBradford County · forecast zone Bradford One storm episode: 7 records in 7 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $2.6M

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, in 2025 dollars.

Are drought records becoming more frequent in Pennsylvania?

Pennsylvania's count per decade against the whole country's, and its share. NOAA recorded every event type only from 1996, so earlier decades are not comparable; the share of the national total is the fairer comparison across decades.

Drought: Pennsylvania and the United States by decade (2020s to June 30, 2026)
DecadePennsylvaniaUnited StatesPennsylvania's share
1996-993875,6006.9%
2000s22518,5711.2%
2010s3331,4410.1%
2020-2616230,1470.5%

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.

The most recent drought records in Pennsylvania

The 12 most recent records, to June 30, 2026
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2026-06-01 DroughtYork County · forecast zone York 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtLancaster County · forecast zone Lancaster 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtFranklin County · forecast zone Franklin 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtCumberland County · forecast zone Cumberland 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtAdams County · forecast zone Adams 0 0 –
2026-05-12 DroughtYork County · forecast zone York 0 0 –
2026-05-12 DroughtCumberland County · forecast zone Cumberland 0 0 –
2026-05-12 DroughtAdams County · forecast zone Adams 0 0 –
2026-05-01 DroughtLancaster County · forecast zone Lancaster 0 0 –
2026-05-01 DroughtFulton County · forecast zone Fulton 0 0 –
2026-05-01 DroughtFranklin County · forecast zone Franklin 0 0 –
2026-04-21 DroughtLancaster County · forecast zone Lancaster 0 0 –

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; the newest months are revised by NCEI as reports arrive. Search the record at NCEI.

Federal disaster declarations for drought records in Pennsylvania

FEMA has declared 1 disaster in Pennsylvania for drought, counting its incident type and declarations that name the hazard in the title (FEMA files most storm disasters under Severe Storm); one was a major disaster, the latest on August 18, 1965.

The 12 most recent
DeclaredNumberTitleAreas named
1965-08-18DR-206Water Shortage13

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.

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