Pennsylvania, 1997

Flash Flood in Pennsylvania, May 19, 1997

May 19, 1997 · NWS PBZ · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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

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The toll

Deaths
1
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.

The radar

The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 38 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:59 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Washington

When
May 19, 3:00 PM EST
Where
Washington County, 1 mi NW of Ginger Hill
Deaths
1 direct, 0 indirect
Coordinates
40.189, -80.248 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy thunderstorm rains led to a small creek leading to Little Mingo Creek to go out of its banks and flood Beagle Club Road. Water collected around a nearby horse barn. A 40 year-old man died when he was swept into a 24 inch wide sewer pipe that he was trying to clear in the flooded horse barn.

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

EventDateAgeSexWhereKind
Flash Flood, Washington1997-05-1940MaleIn WaterDirect

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

More

Every storm in Pennsylvania in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, May 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: 5615000.