Flood — Crawford, Pennsylvania
2018-01-12 to 2018-01-15 · near Meadville, Crawford, Pennsylvania
Event narrative
On January 12th a combination of rainfall, snowmelt, and most notably an ice jam resulted in significant flooding on the French Creek in Meadville. A warm up on January 11 and 12th cause an entire loss of the area snowpack which contributed about a half an inch of runoff the the river basin. Rainfall between January 11 and 12 measured between an inch and an inch and a half. When combined with the snowmelt, the total runoff was enough to raise the French Creek out of banks and into minor flood stage by the 12th. Prior to this, starting on the 11th large ice sheets in Saegertown moved downstream and ultimately jammed just downstream of Meadville. The 4.25 mile ice jam was situated between Wilson Chutes West Mead Township north to Smock Bridge City of Meadville, primarily uninhabited wooded areas.
The USGS river gauge located in Meadville reached its 3rd highest crest of 16.9 feet on January 12th which was confirmed by an independent survey. This resulted in widespread impacts to the City of Meadville. There were no formal evacuations however one person was sheltered due to water rises near their electrical panel. In Meadville there were 15 homes with basement flooding primarily on Hope Street, Minden Place, Shippen Street, and Park Row. About a half dozen businesses had to close due to flooding. The most damage to the business district on French Street was some semi-trailers damaged by flood waters. All property located east of Minden Place and Clay Streets were subjected to some degree of water on their property as well as the Park Avenue Plaza. At Park Avenue Plaza three people had to be removed from flood waters they had driven through in the parking lot, the Plaza was shut down early on Friday the 12th out of concern of rising water levels.
Elsewhere in the county flooding occurred in the Kerrtown section of Vernon Township with some additional basement flooding. Flooding from the French Creek was reported along state roads that are known flood prone locations. Most roads remained ice covered for several days after the flood waters receded, continuing the closures.
Crawford County road closures due to flooding:
Route 322 from Route 6 in Conneaut Lake Borough to Franklin Pike in West Mead Township.
Route 6 Eastbound from Willow Street to Mead Avenue in Meadville.
Route 173 from Lake Creek Road/Lippert Road in Wayne Township to Washington Street in Randolph Township.
Route 2040 (Spring Street) from Route 102 to Lincoln Avenue in the City of Meadville.
Route 1001 (Mystic Park Road) from Main Street in Hydetown Borough to Freemont Street in Steuben Township.
Route 1041 (Sparta Street/Fish Flats Road/Britton Run Road) from Garland Street in Centerville Borough to Route 77 in Sparta Township.
Route 1033 (Teepleville Road/New Richmond Road) from South Brownhill Road in Athens Township to Route 408 in Richmond Township.
Route 1016 (Mackey Hill Road/Miller Station Road/Brown Hill Road) from Route 6 in Cambridge Township to Miller Hill Road in Rockdale Township.
The ice jam remained in place for several days eventually breaking up during a brief thaw on January 24th with no additional flooding to properties.
Wider weather episode
On January 11 the region was impacted by anomalously high temperatures around 60 degrees. This was accompanied by gusty winds around 25 mph. The area snowpack was completely eliminated in a combination of melting and evaporation. Rainfall amounts of an inch to an inch and a half were reported in the French Creek basin. This in combination with snowmelt led to river rises into minor flood levels. Ice covering the French Creek ultimately jammed just downstream of the City of Meadville, causing an extended period of backwater flooding.
View location on OpenStreetMap → (41.6300, -80.1500)
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 728991. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.