Flood, Venango
- When
- January 23, 7:00 AM EST to 1:00 PM EST
- Where
- Venango forecast zone
- Property damage
- $8,000
- Coordinates
- 41.401, -79.758 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flood in Pennsylvania, January 23, 1997
Ice began to build up on the Allegheny Rivers and its tributaries since January 11th. Below zero temperatures on the 18th and 19th rapidly increased ice development.
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
- $8,000
- 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 began to build up on the Allegheny Rivers and its tributaries since January 11th. Below zero temperatures on the 18th and 19th rapidly increased ice development. On the morning of the 23rd, ice began to move out of Oil Creek, a tributary of the Allegheny River, and became jammed downstream near the mouth of the Allegheny River. Low-lying areas and some basements in Oil City flooded as water levels behind the jam rose. Three homes and a couple of businesses were also evacuated. The ice began to break up and water levels fell early in the afternoon.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Flood
- Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Tornado in Louisiana, January 23, 1997
- Tornado in Texas, January 23, 1997
- Heavy Snow in Colorado, January 23, 1997
- Heavy Snow in Minnesota, January 23 to 24, 1997
- High Surf in Hawaii, January 23 to 26, 1997
- Heavy Snow in Idaho, January 23, 1997
- Heavy Snow in Nevada, January 23, 1997
- Heavy Rain in Puerto Rico, January 23 to 24, 1997
- Winter Weather in North Carolina, January 23, 1997
- Dense Fog in Florida, January 23, 1997
- Heavy Snow in Montana, January 23 to 25, 1997
- Winter Weather in North Carolina, January 23, 1997
More
Every storm in Pennsylvania in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, January 1997
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: 5588316.