Heavy Rain in Pennsylvania, May 19, 1997

Name: Heavy Rain in Pennsylvania, May 19, 1997
Start: 1997-05-19T18:25
End: 1997-05-19T18:25
Location: Pennsylvania

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

1 heavy rain, 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.

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Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
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Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
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The toll

Deaths: 1
Injuries: 2
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 national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

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Event by event

1 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Rain, Armstrong

When: May 19, 6:25 PM EST
Where: Armstrong County, 2 mi ENE of Kittanning
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries: 2 direct, 0 indirect
Coordinates: 40.812, -79.464 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy thunderstorm rain and some wind weakened the roots of a large tree and the tree fell onto a pickup truck's windshield travelling on Route 66. A 13 year-old passenger was killed by the falling tree. The boy's father was seriously injured and the mother was treated overnight and released.

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.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Heavy Rain, Armstrong	1997-05-19	13	Male	Vehicle/Towed Trailer	Direct

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

Every storm in Pennsylvania in 1997 Every state in 1997 This day in weather history Warnings 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: 5615001.