Flash Flood in Pennsylvania, July 25, 2001

Name: Flash Flood in Pennsylvania, July 25, 2001
Start: 2001-07-25T17:15
End: 2001-07-25T20:00
Location: Pennsylvania

July 25, 2001 · NWS PHI · 1 event in 1 county or zone

The thunderstorms not only produced damaging winds, but also flooding rains in east central Northampton County. Flooding was reported 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

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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 thunderstorms not only produced damaging winds, but also flooding rains in east central Northampton County. Flooding was reported along the Bushkill Creek. In Forks Township, an earthen bank collapsed as water cascaded over a guardrail on Frost Hollow Road. Zucksville Road was impassable. Doppler Radar storm total estimates ranged between 3 and 4 inches.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 25, 2:30 PM EST, 2 hours 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 25, 2:30 PM EST, 2 hours 45 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
330 PM EDT WED JUL 25 2001

HEAT WAVE/SOUPY AIRMASS WANING AS COLD FRONT APPROACHES FROM THE
NORTHWEST. QUITE UNSTABLE SOUTH OF THE FRONT THIS AFTERNOON WITH
LI/S APPROACHING -6 C AND CAPES 2500 J/KG. PRECIPITABLE H20 RUNNING
HIGH AROUND 2.00 INCHES. THE MORNING SOUNDING OUT OF KPIT VERIFIES
THIS. HEAT INDICES RUNNING AROUND 100 DEGS ATTM AND WILL ALLOW HEAT
WARNING TO EXPIRE AT 800 PM THIS EVENING.

WEAK WAVES WITH MINOR SURFACE REFLECTION TO MOVE ALONG FRONT THE
NEXT 24 HOURS. ALTHOUGH SURFACE REFLECTIONS ARE MINOR...LOW LEVEL
CONVERGENCE WILL INCREASE. THIS COMBINED WITH THE HIGH PW/S WILL
HELP INDUCE PERIODS OF INTENSE RAINFALL FOR THE CWA STARTING TONIGHT
AND CONTINUING TOMORROW.

SLOW MOVING COLD FRONT SAGS SOUTH OF CWA BEHIND SECOND WEAK WAVE
THURSDAY NIGHT. WILL END PRECIP ACROSS THE NORTH AT THIS TIME...BUT
CONTINUE ACROSS THE SOUTHERN CWA INTO EARLY 4TH PERIOD.

AFTER FROPA...GRIDDED H8 TEMPS DROP A GOOD 5 TO 9 DEGS C WITH
NORTHERN AREAS BOTTOMING OUT NEAR 9 DEGS C. THIS WILL HELP PUSH
TEMPERATURES BACK INTO THE 70S AND LOWER 80S THURSDAY AND FRIDAY.

THE EXTENDED PORTION WILL INDICATE A CHANGE FOR SATURDAY WITH
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE ACROSS THE SOUTH AS ABOVE
MENTIONED COLD FRONT SITS JUST TO OUR SOUTH. WITH RETURN FLOW
AFFECTING THE CWA SUNDAY AND MONDAY WILL KEEP POPS GOING. REST OF
EXTENDED WILL BE DRY.

.PHI...
DE...HEAT WARNING UNTIL 800 PM FOR ZONE DEZ001.
  ...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY COAST.
MD...NONE.
NJ...HEAT WARNING UNTIL 800 PM FOR ZONES NJZ015...NJZ017>019.
  ...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY COAST.
PA...HEAT WARNING UNTIL 800 PM FOR ZONES PAZ067>071.

KRUZDLO

The radar

The Philadelphia radar (KDIX), 118 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:14 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Northampton

When: July 25, 5:15 PM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where: Northampton County, East Central Portion
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 40.754, -75.307 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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

Every storm in Pennsylvania in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Pennsylvania, July 2001

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: 5260499.