Pennsylvania, 1998

Heavy Rain in Pennsylvania, March 8 to 9, 1998

March 8 to 9, 1998 · NWS PHI · 10 events in 10 counties and zones

Rain overspread Eastern Pennsylvania during the late morning and early afternoon on the 8th preceding a low pressure system's warm front. The heaviest rain in Southeast Pennsylvania fell during the late afternoon and evening on the 8th and mainly during the morning of the 9th in the Lehigh Valley, Berks County and the Poconos.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 10 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
10

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.

Rain overspread Eastern Pennsylvania during the late morning and early afternoon on the 8th preceding a low pressure system's warm front. The heaviest rain in Southeast Pennsylvania fell during the late afternoon and evening on the 8th and mainly during the morning of the 9th in the Lehigh Valley, Berks County and the Poconos. Scattered pockets of heavier rain also fell during the evening of the 9th from Berks County northeast through the Poconos. Storm totals averaged between 1.5 and 2.0 inches, except they exceeded 3 inches in Monroe County. This caused some urban and poor drainage flooding, but was not heavy enough to push any major streams or rivers over their banks. The heavy rain contributed to a major crash in Chester County the afternoon of the 8th. A volunteer fire fighter was killed and ten others were injured when a braking tractor trailer flipped on its side and plowed into a group of emergency rescue workers at an accident site on the Pennsylvania Turnpike about two miles west of Downingtown.Storm precipitation totals included 3.29 inches in Tobyhanna (Monroe County), 2.90 inches in Mount Pocono (Monroe County), 2.79 inches in Long Pond (Monroe County), 2.20 inches in Phoenixville (Chester County), 2.09 inches in Lehighton (Carbon County), 2.08 inches in Hamburg (Berks County), 2.05 inches in Easton (Northampton County) and East Stroudsburg (Monroe County), 2.00 inches in Green Lane (Montgomery County), 1.93 inches at the Lehigh Valley International Airport, 1.91 inches in Glenmoore (Chester County), 1.88 inches in Springtown (Bucks County), 1.44 inches in Valley Forge (Montgomery County), 1.37 inches in Neshaminy Falls (Bucks County), 1.34 inches at the Willow Grove NAS, 1.31 inches in Crum Creek (Delaware County) and 1.1 inches at the Philadelphia International Airport.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

10 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Rain, Berks

When
March 8, 11:00 AM EST to March 9, 10:00 AM EST
Where
Berks County, Countywide
Coordinates
40.416, -75.926 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Chester

When
March 8, 11:00 AM EST to March 9, 10:00 AM EST
Where
Chester County, Countywide
Coordinates
39.973, -75.748 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Delaware

When
March 8, 11:00 AM EST to March 9, 10:00 AM EST
Where
Delaware County, Countywide
Coordinates
39.917, -75.399 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Montgomery

When
March 8, 11:00 AM EST to March 9, 10:00 AM EST
Where
Montgomery County, Countywide
Coordinates
40.211, -75.367 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Philadelphia

When
March 8, 11:00 AM EST to March 9, 10:00 AM EST
Where
Philadelphia County, Countywide
Coordinates
40.008, -75.134 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Bucks

When
March 8, 12:00 PM EST to March 9, 12:00 PM EST
Where
Bucks County, Countywide
Coordinates
40.337, -75.107 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Lehigh

When
March 8, 1:00 PM EST to March 9, 3:00 PM EST
Where
Lehigh County, Countywide
Coordinates
40.613, -75.592 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Northampton

When
March 8, 1:00 PM EST to March 9, 3:00 PM EST
Where
Northampton County, Countywide
Coordinates
40.754, -75.307 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Carbon

When
March 8, 2:00 PM EST to March 9, 2:00 PM EST
Where
Carbon County, Countywide
Coordinates
40.918, -75.709 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Monroe

When
March 8, 2:00 PM EST to March 9, 2:00 PM EST
Where
Monroe County, Countywide
Coordinates
41.058, -75.339 (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.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Pennsylvania in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, March 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: 5636660, 5636663, 5636664, 5636667, 5636669, 5636661, 5636665, 5636668, 5636662, 5636666.