Heavy Rain in Pennsylvania, August 13 to 14, 1999

Name: Heavy Rain in Pennsylvania, August 13 to 14, 1999
Start: 1999-08-13T20:30
End: 1999-08-14T00:45
Location: Pennsylvania

August 13 to 14, 1999 · NWS PHI · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

75 inches in many places. This was the most widespread rain event in the area since May 23rd and 24th and started to chip away at the drought.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 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: 3

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.

In addition to the frequent lightning and some severe weather, the thunderstorms that rumbled through Berks County and the Lehigh Valley brought heavy rain with them as storm totals ranged between 1.5 and 2.75 inches in many places. This was the most widespread rain event in the area since May 23rd and 24th and started to chip away at the drought. Heavy rain fell mainly between 930 p.m. and Midnight EDT. It lingered until around 2 a.m. EDT on the 14th in southern Berks County as a second band of thunderstorms moved through. The rain caused the usual poor drainage flooding problems. In Allentown, 1.56 inches of rain fell within a two hour period between 10 p.m. and midnight EDT. Storm totals included 2.74 inches in Walnutport (Northampton County), 2.25 inches in Bechtelsville (Berks County), 1.88 inches at the Lehigh Valley International Airport, 1.73 inches in Reading (Berks County) and 1.68 inches in Hopewell Village (Berks County) and Easton (Northampton County).

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Rain, Berks

When: August 13, 8:30 PM EST to August 14, 12:45 AM EST
Where: Berks County, Countywide
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 40.416, -75.926 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Lehigh

When: August 13, 8:30 PM EST to 11:00 PM EST
Where: Lehigh County, Countywide
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 40.613, -75.592 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Northampton

When: August 13, 9:00 PM EST to 11:00 PM EST
Where: Northampton County, Countywide
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 40.754, -75.307 (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

Every storm in Pennsylvania in 1999 Every state in 1999 This day in weather history Warnings in Pennsylvania, August 1999

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: 5717862, 5717863, 5717864.