Flooding in Pennsylvania, November 9 to 11, 1996

A strengthening low pressure system moving up through the Great Lakes region and its trailing cold front brought widespread heavy rains and thunderstorms to northeast Pennsylvania from midday on the 8th into the early morning hours of the 9th. Heavy rain began falling during the late morning hours across Bradford county and eventually reached the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton metropolitan area during the afternoon. By the time rainfall began to taper off across these areas in the evening, 2 to 4 inches of rain had fallen. Already saturated ground conditions prior to this event contributed to localized flash floods. The most significant flooding occurred in Lackawanna and Luzerne counties from the evening of the 8th into the early morning of the 9th. Numerous creeks and streams overflowed their banks, causing bridge washouts and road closures. By daybreak on the 9th, most area creeks and streams had receded back within their banks. Widespread flash flooding in the headwater basins upstream ultimately gave rise to main stem river flooding in the Susquehanna basin of northeast Pennsylvania. Most river points along the Susquehanna from Towanda to Wilkes-Barre experienced lowland flooding from early in the morning of the 9th until late on the 11th. The most notable flooding occurred along the Tunkhannock Creek near Dixon in Wyoming county on the 9th. Several homes adjacent to the creek took on water as levels reached their high point around midday. By the evening of the 11th, all river points in northeast Pennsylvania were back within their banks.