Flash Flood, Berks
- When
- January 18, 2:00 PM EST to January 19, 1:00 AM EST
- Where
- Berks County, Countywide
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 40.416, -75.926 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood in Pennsylvania, January 18 to 19, 1999
The combination of showers and thunderstorms with heavy rain and the already saturated ground caused flooding along some of the creeks and streams across Berks County. Flooding was reported along the Cacoosing, Maiden, Monocacy and Sacony Creeks.
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
- 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.
What happened
The episode as NWS PHI wrote it up.
The combination of showers and thunderstorms with heavy rain and the already saturated ground caused flooding along some of the creeks and streams across Berks County. Flooding was reported along the Cacoosing, Maiden, Monocacy and Sacony Creeks. Parts of Pennsylvania State Route 662 were under water and several homes were evacuated in Richmond Township. Roads were also closed and flooded in and around the Reading area. The recent heavy precipitation during the past week caused the Dauberville Dam in Centre Township to overflow. Storm totals were not excessively large, but this event came just a couple of days after another heavy precipitation event. The combination caused the flooding. Rainfall totals from the 18th included 1.34 inches in Vinemont, 1.2 inches in Reading and Virginville, 1.18 inches in Hamburg, 1.14 inches in Lincoln Park, 1.06 inches in Bethel and 0.87 inches in Morgantown.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
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
- Avalanche in Washington, January 18, 1999
- Tornado in Pennsylvania, January 18, 1999
- High Wind in New Jersey, January 18 to 19, 1999
- Damaging Winds and Waterspout in Maryland, January 18, 1999
- High Wind in New Jersey, January 18, 1999
- High Wind in Pennsylvania, January 18, 1999
- Tornado in Pennsylvania, January 18, 1999
- Damaging Wind and High Wind in Massachusetts, January 18, 1999
- High Wind in West Virginia, January 18, 1999
- Damaging Wind in New Jersey, January 18, 1999
- Winter Weather in Maine, January 18 to 19, 1999
- Hail in Alabama, January 18, 1999
More
Every storm in Pennsylvania in 1999Every state in 1999This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, January 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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5685302.