Flash Flood, Allegany
- When
- May 4, 9:00 PM EST to 11:00 PM EST
- Where
- Allegany County, West Portion
- Property damage
- $100,000
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 39.622, -78.699 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood in Maryland, May 4, 1998
Slow-moving thunderstorms with very heavy rainfall aligned across the western portion of Allegany Co, dumping between 1 1/2 and 2 inches of rain in less than 3 hours onto saturated ground. Several streams and creeks overflowed their banks.
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
- $100,000
- 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 LWX wrote it up.
Slow-moving thunderstorms with very heavy rainfall aligned across the western portion of Allegany Co, dumping between 1 1/2 and 2 inches of rain in less than 3 hours onto saturated ground. Several streams and creeks overflowed their banks. In Midland, Neff's Run flooded, causing damage to the flood wall and washing away several gabion baskets. Damage to the baskets was estimated at $100 thousand. A section of state route 936 was closed, and a few trees were knocked down by the swollen creek. Elsewhere, road and basement flooding was noted in Frostburg, McCoole, Lonaconing, and Rawlings.
The radar
The Sterling radar (KLWX), 127 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:02 UTC.
Event by event
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Damaging Wind in Florida, May 4, 1998
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Florida, May 4, 1998
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in North Carolina, May 4 to 5, 1998
- Hail in Virginia, May 4, 1998
- Hail in Virginia, May 4, 1998
- Tornadoes and Hail in Florida, May 4, 1998
- Damaging Wind in Florida, May 4, 1998
- Hail in South Carolina, May 4, 1998
- Hail in North Carolina, May 4, 1998
- Damaging Wind in Florida, May 4, 1998
- Damaging Wind in Florida, May 4, 1998
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Georgia, May 4, 1998
More
Every storm in Maryland in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyWarnings in Maryland, May 1998
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: 5645829.