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Weather alerts in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania today
National Weather Service
Official Freeze Watch in effect for Harrisburg.
What it means
- Freeze or cold: protect sensitive plants, pets and outdoor pipes. In extreme cold, dress in layers, limit time outdoors and use space heaters and generators safely.
Always follow your local National Weather Service office and local officials. Details below.
Official weather alerts for Harrisburg
Freeze Watch until Sun, Oct 18, 9:00 AM EDT
Freeze Watch issued October 16 at 9:09PM EDT until October 18 at 9:00AM EDT by NWS State College PA
Warren; Potter; Elk; Cameron; Northern Clinton; Clearfield; Northern Centre; Southern Centre; Cambria; Blair; Huntingdon; Mifflin; Juniata; Somerset; Bedford; Fulton; Franklin; Tioga; Northern Lycoming; Sullivan; Southern Clinton; Southern Lycoming; Union; Snyder; Montour; Northumberland; Columbia; Perry; Dauphin; Schuylkill; Lebanon; Cumberland; Adams; York; Lancaster
Full text from the National Weather Service
FREEZE WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM LATE SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING
* WHAT...Sub-freezing temperatures as low as 26 possible. * WHERE...A portion of central Pennsylvania. * WHEN...From late Saturday night through Sunday morning. * IMPACTS...Frost and freeze conditions could kill crops, other sensitive vegetation and possibly damage unprotected outdoor plumbing. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...The coldest areas will be the northern mountains and Laurel Highlands.
Instructions: Take protective measures now as freezing temperatures could damage or kill tender plants and vegetation.
Official NWS page · NWS State College PA
Storm Prediction Center · today's severe-storm outlook · issued 1 h ago
Harrisburg is outside today's thunderstorm and severe-storm areas.
Official SPC Day 1 Convective Outlook (NOAA), valid until Sat, Oct 17, 8:00 AM EDT. It shows the chance of severe storms in the area, not a warning for your street. SPC outlook
U.S. Drought Monitor · map of October 13
No drought, but 5.4% of Pennsylvania is abnormally dry.
Share of the state's area. Updated every Thursday by the U.S. Drought Monitor (National Drought Mitigation Center, USDA and NOAA). Drought builds over weeks and months: one rainy day rarely ends it.
Weather in Harrisburg now
Rain forecast for Harrisburg · next days
Automatic forecast from a computer model (MET Norway, data CC BY 4.0). Not an official alert: for watches and warnings, follow National Weather Service.
What do the inches mean?
As a rough guide: under a quarter inch in a day is light rain; 1 to 2 inches is a heavy downpour; more than 2 inches in a day is very heavy rain that can flood low-lying areas and roads.
Several rainy days in a row saturate the ground: even a modest storm can then cause flash flooding and rising rivers.
What is normal in October in Harrisburg
changing season The remnants of Atlantic hurricanes can bring flooding rain far inland, as several past storms have done in the Appalachians. Early snow is possible in the mountains.
El Niño is under way, and NOAA expects it to be strong (NOAA, October 8, 2026).
In the interior Northeast it tends to bring a milder winter.
These are general tendencies: every year is different, and your local forecast comes first.
Typical climate per NOAA and regional weather services. It describes the season, not the forecast for a given day.
Official sources for Pennsylvania
Emergency: 911