43 tornadoes and numerous damaging thunderstorms tore across Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ontario. The tornado touched down at 2:37 PM EST near Reading. On the evening of May 31st, 1985, a devastating and deadly tornado outbreak struck the Northeastern United States and Canada. Killer Tornadoes. Back on May 31st 1985, the state of Pennsylvania was the epicenter of a severe tornado outbreak, the deadliest in our state’s history. The tornado then traveled into the suburbs of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania's capital. FIVE KILLED IN A TORNADO NEAR WILKES BARRE, PA. Wilkes Barre, Pa., Aug. 20. The occasional funnel cloud does ravage our land, though this is a rare occurrence. The Tornado outbreak of June 2, 1998, was one of the most significant tornado outbreaks in recent history over the east-central United States.This severe weather event spawned a total of 47 tornadoes over 9 states from New York to South Carolina and caused an estimated $42 million in damage, 80 injuries and 2 fatalities. Due to its mountainous terrain, Pennsylvania is not exactly known for its tornadoes. According to The Pennsylvania Weather Book, May 31, 1985 would prove to be the deadliest tornado outbreak in Pennsylvania's history! Right after an F4 tornado ripped through Albion in Erie County, another F4 storm formed just west of the Ohio border in Kinsman Ohio. It then intensified into an EF3. Accidents and natural disasters are an inevitability. A total of around 90 fatalities were confirmed, 65 of those in Pennsylvania, making it by far the deadliest tornado event in the state’s history. The 2025 Harrisburg-Reading-Philadelphia Tornado was a large, catastrophic, and violent tornado that struck the areas of Philadelphia, Reading and Harrisburg, PA on Tuesday, May 20, 2025. When you hear the term “violent tornado outbreak,” you probably think of Tornado Alley or Dixie Alley, not Pennsylvania. January 8 New Lebanon, Mercer County: EF-1 (Max winds: 95 mph, Distance: 2.8 miles, Width: 400 yards) But on May 31, 1985, a violent tornado outbreak swept through northeastern Ohio and Pennsylvania. Sixty-three Pennsylvanians would lose their lives. If you are interested in reading about the “worst” tornadoes that have struck Pennsylvania (and all other states), see this page on our site.If you want to find out about specific tornadoes that have occurred since 2012, check out the NCDC Storm Events page. 44 tornadoes touched down in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ontario. In total, 43 tornadoes touched down including eight F4 tornadoes, one of which went through the state forest to our north, and a F5 tornado in the Sharon PA area, that decimated the town of Wheatland PA. -- Five persons were killed, seven seriously injured and 25 others less painfully hurt in this city today when a severe electrical storm, approaching a cyclone, in force swept the southern section known … Here Are The 10 Worst Disasters To Occur In Pennsylvania History. This page lists the date and location of all the tornadoes that have occurred in Pennsylvania from the year 1950. Coincidentally, the devastating Johnstown Flood in 1889 also occurred on May 31 in Pennsylvania. Here is a map and list of all reported tornadoes in Pennsylvania so far in 2019. 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