Heavy Rain, Philadelphia
- When
- July 12, 2:00 PM EST to July 13, 1:00 PM EST
- Where
- Philadelphia forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 40.008, -75.134 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Rain in Pennsylvania, July 12 to 13, 1996
Tropical Storm Bertha passed through Delaware and eastern New Jersey the morning of the 13th. Wind gusts reached around 40 mph in the Philadelphia Metropolitan Area and around 30 mph in the Lehigh Valley and the Poconos.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 7 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
- 10
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.
Tropical Storm Bertha passed through Delaware and eastern New Jersey the morning of the 13th. Wind gusts reached around 40 mph in the Philadelphia Metropolitan Area and around 30 mph in the Lehigh Valley and the Poconos. The strongest winds occurred during the morning of the 13th. Heavy rain that was falling since the evening of the 12th helped loosen the soil and the winds knocked over weak trees and limbs, mainly around Philadelphia. One house was heavily damaged in Plymouth Township (Montgomery County) when a 150 foot tree fell on it. About 60,000 Philadelphia Electric Company customers lost power, mainly in Bucks County. Heavy rains of between two and four inches fell across the area, with some locally higher amounts in the Poconos. But since most of the rain fell during a twelve to eighteen hour period and not a shorter duration, there was some urban and poor drainage flooding, but no major problems. No serious injuries, water rescues or damage was reported. Storm totals included 4.4 inches in Tobyhanna (Monroe County), 4.01 inches in East Stroudsburg (Monroe County), 3.87 inches in Pottstown (Montgomery County), 3.56 inches in Doylestown (Bucks County), 3.1 inches in Neshaminy Falls (Bucks County), 2.95 inches in Crum Creek (Delaware County), 2.82 inches in Valley Forge (Montgomery County), 2.73 inches in Lehighton (Carbon County), 2.63 inches in Jundale (Carbon County), 2.60 inches in Hamburg (Berks County), 2.50 inches at the Northeast Philadelphia Airport, 2.43 inches at the Philadelphia International Airport, 2.41 inches at the Lehigh Valley International Airport and 2.21 inches in Glenmoore (Chester County).
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
10 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy Rain, Delaware
- When
- July 12, 2:00 PM EST to July 13, 1:00 PM EST
- Where
- Delaware forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 39.917, -75.399 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Rain, Bucks
- When
- July 12, 2:00 PM EST to July 13, 1:00 PM EST
- Where
- Bucks forecast zone
Heavy Rain, Montgomery
- When
- July 12, 2:00 PM EST to July 13, 1:00 PM EST
- Where
- Montgomery forecast zone
Heavy Rain, Chester
- When
- July 12, 2:00 PM EST to July 13, 1:00 PM EST
- Where
- Chester forecast zone
Heavy Rain, Berks
- When
- July 12, 3:00 PM EST to July 13, 2:00 PM EST
- Where
- Berks forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 40.416, -75.926 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Rain, Lehigh
- When
- July 12, 3:00 PM EST to July 13, 2:00 PM EST
- Where
- Lehigh forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 40.613, -75.592 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Rain, Northampton
- When
- July 12, 3:00 PM EST to July 13, 2:00 PM EST
- Where
- Northampton forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 40.754, -75.307 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Rain, Carbon
- When
- July 12, 4:00 PM EST to July 13, 2:00 PM EST
- Where
- Carbon forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 40.918, -75.709 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Rain, Monroe
- When
- July 12, 4:00 PM EST to July 13, 2:00 PM EST
- Where
- Monroe forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 41.058, -75.339 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
What these are
- Heavy Rain
- Rainfall totals unusual for the place and season that did not produce a flood.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Hurricane in North Carolina, July 12 to 13, 1996
- Flash Flood in Colorado, July 12, 1996
- High Wind in North Carolina, July 12, 1996
- Tornado in Virginia, July 12 to 13, 1996
- Hurricane in North Carolina, July 12, 1996
- Hurricane in North Carolina, July 12, 1996
- Hurricane in North Carolina, July 12, 1996
- Hurricane in South Carolina, July 12, 1996
- High Wind in North Carolina, July 12, 1996
- Hail in Colorado, July 12, 1996
- Hurricane in South Carolina, July 12, 1996
- Hurricane in North Carolina, July 12 to 13, 1996
More
Every storm in Pennsylvania in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, July 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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5562813, 5562814, 5562815, 5562816, 5562817, 5562818, 5562819, 5562820, 5562821, 5562822.