Flash Flood — Bradford, Pennsylvania

1996-01-19 to 1996-01-20 · near Countywide, Bradford, Pennsylvania

Wider weather episode

The most disastrous flood event in more than twenty years struck northeast Pennsylvania from the early morning of the 19th to the evening of the 21st. Significant widespread flooding of streams, rivers, homes and businesses, streets and highways, woodlands, and farmland occurred as a result of rapid snowmelt and nearly simultaneous storm runoff. Every county in northeast Pennsylvania experienced road closures due to washouts, mudslides, and failed, damaged, or weakened bridges. Evacuation of one hundred thousand to one hundred and ten thousand people was ordered at 11 PM on January 19th in Luzerne County (including much of Wilkes-Barre). The Susquehanna River at Wilkes-Barre was forecast to crest at 35 to 36 feet, just below the top of the 37 foot levee. Surrounding areas of the Wyoming Valley, unprotected by the levees, were inundated by runoff, the Lackawanna River, and the Susquehanna River when it crested at 34.42 feet at Wilkes-Barre, well above the 22 foot flood stage. The American Red Cross reported that at the height of the evacuation, only five thousand people were housed in the mass care centers, even though the evacuated areas were like ghosttowns. Nearly every county declared a county-wide State of Emergency with remaining counties having locally declared States of Emergency on January 19th. Most States of Emergency were lifted by late on January 20th. Small-scale evacuations of homes and/or businesses were experienced by many counties within the region. A strong low pressure system tracked northward across the Great Lakes on the morning of the 19th, bringing mild air into the region on strong southerly winds gusting to 45 MPH. The strong winds played a significant role in eroding the snowpack - snow depths by sunrise on the 19th ranged from only a few inches to bare ground, down from depths of one to two and a half feet the day before! Water equivalents of the eroded snowpack ranged from two and a half to five inches. During the early morning hours of the 19th, a line of heavy rain showers and embedded thunderstorms developed ahead of a strong cold front. Streams and creeks were approaching bankfull due to runoff from the snowmelt. Rainfall intensified over the region as the front slowed its eastward progress. Rainfall amounts ahead of the front were generally between one and a half and two and a half inches, with many locations receiving rainfall rates of one-half to one inch in an hour. Serious flooding of streams and creeks began across Bradford County during the early morning, and flooding commenced across the remainder of northeast Pennsylvania during the afternoon as the heavy rain moved east. The cold front moved across the region during the afternoon, causing temperatures to drop from the 50s into the 20s, and the rain to change to snow (with some areas receiving a period of sleet and/or freezing rain) in only one to two hours. The rapid drop in temperature that caused standing water to freeze rapidly, in concert with the one to two inches of snow that accumulated in most areas by evening, created very slippery conditions throughout northeast Pennsylvania. Flash floods that began early on the 19th gave rise to main stem river flooding that persisted through the evening of the 21st. Near record river flooding occurred on January 19th and 20th over the upper Susquehanna River basin. At Meshoppen, in Wyoming County, the Susquehanna River crested at its second highest level of all time, at 36.34 feet, which was about seven feet lower than the all time crest of 43.51 feet recorded on June 23, 1972. The 34.42 foot crest at Wilkes-Barre was the third highest on record, well below the 40.91 foot crest recorded on June 24, 1972. On the Lackawanna River at Old Forge, in Lackawanna County, the crest of 15.57 feet on the 19th was the fourth highest on record, well below the highest crest of 20.05 feet recorded on August 19, 1955. Most forecast points had fallen below flood stage by the evening of January 21.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5545611. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.