Heavy Rain, Bucks
- When
- January 24, 8:00 PM EST to January 25, 4:00 AM EST
- Where
- Bucks County, Countywide
- Coordinates
- 40.337, -75.107 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood and Flooding in Pennsylvania, January 24 to 25, 1997
A low pressure system developed over the lower Tennessee Valley the morning of the 24th and moved northeast passing through the eastern Great Lakes by the morning of the 25th. It tapped moisture over the Gulf of Mexico and Western Atlantic and produced heavy rain across Southeast Pennsylvania.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 5 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
- 6
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 low pressure system developed over the lower Tennessee Valley the morning of the 24th and moved northeast passing through the eastern Great Lakes by the morning of the 25th. It tapped moisture over the Gulf of Mexico and Western Atlantic and produced heavy rain across Southeast Pennsylvania. The heaviest rain fell from the evening of the 24th through the pre-dawn hours on the 25th. Storm totals averaged one inch to one and a half inches. The ground was still saturated from the heavy rains of the previous month and this led to the flooding of some of the streams and creeks in Southeast Pennsylvania along with the usual urban and poor drainage flooding.In Chester County, the East Branch of the Brandywine Creek at Downingtown was above its 7 foot flood stage from 230 a.m. through 830 a.m. EST on the 25th. It crested at 9.2 feet at 530 a.m. EST. The West Branch of the Brandywine Creek at Coatesville crested at 6.6 feet at 8 a.m. EST on the 25th. Flood stage is 6.5 feet. Later in the day the main stem of the Brandywine Creek at Chadds Ford (Along the Delaware/Chester County border) was above its 9 foot flood stage from 1030 a.m. EST through 4 p.m. EST. It crested at 9.4 feet at 1 p.m. EST. Within Philadelphia, the Frankford Creek at Caster Avenue crested at 6.0 feet at 115 a.m. EST on the 25th. Flood stage is 5 feet. In Montgomery County, the Valley Creek near Valley Forge crested at 7.4 feet at 145 a.m. EST on the 25th. Flood stage is 7 feet.Storm totals included 1.61 inches in Glenmoore (Chester County), 1.48 inches in Fricks, 1.45 inches in Perkasie (both in Bucks County), 1.45 inches in Green Lane (Montgomery County), 1.41 inches in Honey Brook (Chester County), 1.31 inches in Valley Forge (Montgomery County) and 1.14 inches at the Willow Grove NAS (Montgomery County).
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
4 flood, 1 heavy rain, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Flood, Montgomery
- When
- January 25, 12:30 AM EST to 3:30 AM EST
- Where
- Montgomery County, Southeastern
- Coordinates
- 40.211, -75.367 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flood, Philadelphia
- When
- January 25, 12:30 AM EST to 2:30 AM EST
- Where
- Philadelphia County, Countywide
- Coordinates
- 40.008, -75.134 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood, Chester
- When
- January 25, 2:30 AM EST to 8:30 AM EST
- Where
- Chester County, Countywide
- Coordinates
- 39.973, -75.748 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flood, Chester
- When
- January 25, 10:30 AM EST to 4:00 PM EST
- Where
- Chester forecast zone
Flood, Delaware
- When
- January 25, 10:30 AM EST to 4:00 PM EST
- Where
- Delaware forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 39.917, -75.399 (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.
- Flood
- Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.
- 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
- Tornado and Hail in Tennessee, January 24, 1997
- Tornado in Alabama, January 24, 1997
- Tornado in Tennessee, January 24, 1997
- Tornadoes in Kentucky, January 24, 1997
- Tornado in Tennessee, January 24, 1997
- Tornado in Tennessee, January 24, 1997
- Tornado in Tennessee, January 24, 1997
- Tornado in Tennessee, January 24, 1997
- Tornado in Tennessee, January 24, 1997
- Tornado in Tennessee, January 24, 1997
- Tornado in Tennessee, January 24, 1997
- Flash Flood in California, January 24 to 25, 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: 5596713, 5596708, 5596709, 5596710, 5596711, 5596712.