Flash Flood, Venango
- When
- January 18, 6:30 PM EST to 11:59 PM EST
- Where
- Venango County, Oil City
- Coordinates
- 41.401, -79.758 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood in Pennsylvania, January 18, 1996
Ice jams along Oil Creek between at Oil City and north of Rouseville caused extensive low-land flooding. Route 8 was closed due to flooding.
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 PBZ wrote it up.
Ice jams along Oil Creek between at Oil City and north of Rouseville caused extensive low-land flooding. Route 8 was closed due to flooding. The jam at Oil City at the mouth of Oil Creek extended up to one mile upstream at the height of the jam. The subsequent release of the water behind the jam contributed to further major flooding along the Allegheny River.Widespread flooding of small streams and creeks continued into the early morning hours of the 20th before the water receded. Most of the damage was related to ice jam flooding. A beer distributor had a hole ripped into a building a beer kegs spilled into the river. Over 40 homes had their basements flooded. A bridge was also damaged due to the ice.
The radar
The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 104 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:25 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
- Cold in Oklahoma, January 18 to 20, 1996
- Blizzard in Iowa, January 18, 1996
- Heavy Snow in Washington, January 18 to 19, 1996
- Cold in Wisconsin, January 18, 1996
- High Wind in Indiana, January 18, 1996
- Flash Flood in Virginia, January 18 to 19, 1996
- Tornado in Missouri, January 18, 1996
- Flash Flood in Virginia, January 18 to 19, 1996
- Flash Flood in New York, January 18, 1996
- High Wind in Alabama, January 18 to 19, 1996
- Tornado in Kentucky, January 18, 1996
- Tornado in Arkansas, January 18, 1996
More
Every storm in Pennsylvania in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, January 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: 5544504.