373 flood insurance claims·$7.7M paid·6 federal flood & hurricane disasters
Share of the whole county outline, rivers and lakes included; parts FEMA hasn’t mapped count as zero.
Shaded areas are FEMA’s mapped flood hazard zones in and around Jefferson County, Pennsylvania. Zoomed out they are simplified; at street level the map switches to FEMA’s exact layer. Tap anywhere to check that spot, or search an address above.
Jefferson County experiences an even distribution of flooding and flash flooding, driven primarily by slow-moving weather systems and summer convective storms. Over the last 30 years, NOAA recorded 55 flood events and 54 flash flood events. Recent flash flood events from June 2025 illustrate this pattern, caused by a stalled boundary lifting north that triggered repeated diurnal convection and additional storms fueled by a lingering moist airmass as an upper-level disturbance approached.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that flood impacts extend across multiple zones. Zone A bears the heaviest frequency with 210 claims, averaging a payout of $23,080 and an average recorded water depth of 17 inches. Zone X_SHADED recorded 51 claims with an average payout of $47,093 and an average water depth of 13 inches, while Zone X recorded 47 claims with an average payout of $25,996 and an average water depth of 13 inches. Zones with unknown designations and unshaded Zone X areas recorded lower averages.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located in Zone A, which accounts for the vast majority of claims and deeper average water depths, as well as properties in Zone X_SHADED and standard Zone X where fewer claims occurred but average payouts were significantly higher.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
25% of Jefferson County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
280 NFIP claims with a recorded rated flood zone, 1978 to date. The zone is the one FEMA used to rate that policy, which may not match today’s map. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 14 inches.
Drawn to scale against an 80-inch door. Even a few inches soaks flooring, the bottom of the drywall and anything plugged in near the floor.
Average of the depths reported on claims (zero and implausible values left out); FEMA’s record doesn’t say exactly where each depth was measured. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
The worst year was 1996, with 157 claims and $5.5M paid, the year of Severe Storms and Flooding and Severe Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes.
Bar height is scaled by square root so ordinary years stay visible next to the worst one. NFIP claims by year of loss. Source: OpenFEMA.
41 NOAA storm reports from Jefferson County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Pennsylvania flood stories →
14 federal disaster declarations since 1972, 6 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Jun 26, 2013 |
| Hurricane Sandy | Oct 26, 2012 |
| Hurricane Katrina | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Tropical Depression Ivan | Sep 17, 2004 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding Associated With Tropical Depression Frances | Sep 8, 2004 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, And Tornadoes | Jul 19, 1996 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jan 19, 1996 |
| Severe Snowfall & Winter Storm | Mar 13, 1993 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
109 since 1996: 54 flash floods and 55 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jun 18, 2025 | $2,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 18, 2025 | $5,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 17, 2025 | $5,000 |
| Flash Flood | Apr 2, 2024 | $1,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 26, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 26, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 12, 2021 | $5,000 |
| Flood | Jul 7, 2020 | $10,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jun 18, 2025. The stalled boundary began to lift north during the day on the 17th but remained the focus of diurnal convection. While the front did eventually shift off to the east on the 18th, additional storms were able to fire with the lingering moist airmass as an upper level disturbance approached.
Flash Flood · Jun 17, 2025. The stalled boundary began to lift north during the day on the 17th but remained the focus of diurnal convection. While the front did eventually shift off to the east on the 18th, additional storms were able to fire with the lingering moist airmass as an upper level disturbance approached.
Flash Flood · Apr 2, 2024. Several rounds of showers and thunderstorms prompted a widespread flash flood problems across the Ohio River Valley on April 2nd to April 3rd. The synoptic pattern across the CONUS was a slow moving and deep elongated trough over the Great Plains phasing with a ejecting trough over the Midwest that created an area of converging moisture over eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania. Overall, over a span of 4 days, fo…
Flash Flood · Jul 26, 2023. A line of thunderstorms formed over northern Ohio during the evening of July 26th and raced across southwest Pennsylvania to the north of Pittsburgh, supported by a shortwave trough. Many wind damage reports were received in the vicinity of the I-80 corridor, with isolated flash flooding as well.
National Weather Service narratives, lightly trimmed. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Every colour on the map above is a place on this drawing: where the ground sits relative to the flood FEMA plans for.
If a building in Jefferson County is in a high-risk zone (A or V) and its mortgage comes from a federally regulated or insured lender, or is federally backed, flood insurance is required.
Outside those zones it is optional, and often worth having: from 2014 to 2024 nearly one-third of NFIP claims came from outside the high-risk Special Flood Hazard Area. Since Risk Rating 2.0, NFIP premiums are set for each building, so the only reliable price is a quote: FloodSmart.gov or a local agent.