Flood and Heavy Rain in Pennsylvania, January 3, 1999

Name: Flood and Heavy Rain in Pennsylvania, January 3, 1999
Start: 1999-01-03T06:00
End: 1999-01-03T14:00
Location: Pennsylvania

January 3, 1999 · NWS PHI · 10 events in 10 counties and zones

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

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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.

On the evening of the 2nd, as one low pressure system headed into the Great Lakes, a second low pressure system formed along its frontal boundary along the coastal plains of the South Atlantic States. Not only did this second low pressure system increase the pressure gradient (or surface pressure difference between it and a strong high pressure system over the Canadian Maritimes), but it also brought heavy rain into the region. Heavy rain fell for most of the morning of the 3rd and produced the usual urban and poor drainage flooding. In the Poconos until mid morning a combination of heavy rain and heavy freezing rain fell. In Philadelphia, the Frankford Creek at Castor Avenue crested at 6.6 feet at 950 a.m. EST. Flood stage is estimated at 6 feet. The creek was above flood stage from 9 a.m. through 1030 a.m. EST. The usual poor drainage flooding occurred elsewhere, but no other serious flooding was reported.Storm totals for the entire event included 2.50 inches in Center Bridge (Bucks County), 2.46 inches in New Hope (Bucks County), 2.45 inches in Crum Creek (Delaware County), 2.40 inches in West Chester (Chester County), 2.37 inches in Perkasie (Bucks County) and Chadds Ford (Delaware County), 2.31 inches in Glenmoore (Chester County), 2.30 inches in Tobyhanna (Monroe County), 2.29 inches in Springtown (Bucks County), 2.04 inches in East Stroudsburg (Monroe County), 1.95 inches in Morgantown (Berks County) and Easton (Northampton County), 1.90 inches in Green Lane (Montgomery County), 1.85 inches in Pottstown (Montgomery County), 1.71 inches at the Lehigh Valley International Airport, 1.57 inches in Hamburg (Berks County), 1.52 inches in Lehighton (Carbon County), 1.51 inches at the Philadelphia International Airport, 1.49 inches at the Northeast Philadelphia Airport, 1.43 inches in Long Pond (Monroe County) and 1.24 inches in Reading (Berks County).

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

9 heavy rain, 1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Rain, Berks

When: January 3, 6:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM 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, Bucks

When: January 3, 6:00 AM EST to 1:00 PM EST
Where: Bucks County, Countywide
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 40.337, -75.107 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Carbon

When: January 3, 6:00 AM EST to 11:00 AM EST
Where: Carbon County, Countywide
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 40.918, -75.709 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Chester

When: January 3, 6:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
Where: Chester County, Countywide
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 39.973, -75.748 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Delaware

When: January 3, 6:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
Where: Delaware County, Countywide
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 39.917, -75.399 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Lehigh

When: January 3, 6:00 AM EST to 2:00 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, Monroe

When: January 3, 6:00 AM EST to 11:00 AM EST
Where: Monroe County, Countywide
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 41.058, -75.339 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Montgomery

When: January 3, 6:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
Where: Montgomery County, Countywide
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 40.211, -75.367 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Northampton

When: January 3, 6:00 AM EST to 2:00 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)

Flood, Philadelphia

When: January 3, 6:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
Where: Philadelphia County, Countywide
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 40.008, -75.134 (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.
Flood: Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

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, 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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5684525, 5684526, 5684527, 5684528, 5684529, 5684530, 5684531, 5684532, 5684533, 5684622.