Flash Flood, Lehigh
- When
- April 2, 12:45 AM EST to 4:30 AM EST
- Where
- Lehigh County, Eastern
- Coordinates
- 40.613, -75.592 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood in Pennsylvania, April 2, 1996
A slow moving cold front and a separate low pressure system that moved off the Middle Atlantic Coast combined to produce heavy rain. The heavy rain combined with saturated soil to produce the flooding of smaller streams in the eastern part of the county.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS PHI wrote it up.
A slow moving cold front and a separate low pressure system that moved off the Middle Atlantic Coast combined to produce heavy rain. The heavy rain combined with saturated soil to produce the flooding of smaller streams in the eastern part of the county. This included Cedar Creek in the Allentown Area. Storm totals averaged around 1.5 inches and included 1.91 in Springtown and 1.30 inches at the Lehigh Valley International Airport.
The radar
The Philadelphia radar (KDIX), 125 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 05:47 UTC.
Event by event
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Flash Flood
- Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
More
Every storm in Pennsylvania in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, April 1996
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5561087.