Flash Flood — Westmoreland, Pennsylvania

2020-03-28 · near Rillton, Westmoreland, Pennsylvania

Event narrative

One man died when he was swept into a storm drain. The incident happened in Sewickley Township near Clay Pike. His wife told police that her husband had just finished clearing the drain of leaves and sticks when he got pulled down.

Wider weather episode

An advancing warm front promoted heavy rain and thunderstorms during the afternoon of March 28th. Substantial breaks in the clouds south of the boundary, along with substantial warm air advection, resulted in around 1500 J/kg of mean-layer CAPE, and substantial (60kts+) effective shear was in place across the region. Hail growth increased into the evening as effective wind shear increased to 70kts over eastern Ohio.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (40.2811, -79.7253)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 909156. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.