Flash Flood, Northampton
- When
- May 18, 8:15 PM EST to 10:15 PM EST
- Where
- Northampton County, Central Portion
- Injuries
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 40.754, -75.307 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood in Pennsylvania, May 18, 2000
A series of thunderstorms with torrential downpours caused the flash flooding of some of the creeks in central Northampton County. A 47-year-old woman escaped death by using her cellular phone after her vehicle stalled in the rising flood waters on Bushkill Drive in Forks Township along the Bushkill Creek.
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
- 1
- 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.
A series of thunderstorms with torrential downpours caused the flash flooding of some of the creeks in central Northampton County. A 47-year-old woman escaped death by using her cellular phone after her vehicle stalled in the rising flood waters on Bushkill Drive in Forks Township along the Bushkill Creek. Storm totals included 2.07 inches in Bath and 1.70 inches at the Easton Bridge. Doppler Radar Storm total estimates (and adjusting them based on ground reports) showed there was a swath of 3 to 4 inch storm totals across Forks, Palmer and Lower Nazareth Townships.
The radar
The Philadelphia radar (KDIX), 118 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:16 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
- Heat in Texas, May 18, 2000
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Michigan, May 18 to 19, 2000
- Tornadoes and Hail in New York, May 18, 2000
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Indiana, May 18, 2000
- Damaging Winds in Illinois, May 18, 2000
- Rip Current in California, May 18, 2000
- Tornadoes and Flooding in Iowa, May 18, 2000
- Wildfire in Alaska, May 18, 2000
- Flash Flood and Flooding in Wisconsin, May 18, 2000
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Illinois, May 18, 2000
- Flash Flooding in Michigan, May 18 to 20, 2000
- Tornadoes and Hail in Iowa, May 18, 2000
More
Every storm in Pennsylvania in 2000Every state in 2000This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, May 2000
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: 5145145.