Pennsylvania, 2001

Flash Flood and Lightning Strike in Pennsylvania, June 20, 2001

June 20, 2001 · NWS PBZ · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

1 flash flood, 1 lightning, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 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
1
Injuries
2
Property damage
$50,000
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
2

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 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 Pittsburgh, PA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 20, 1:35 PM EST, 4 hours 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 20, 1:35 PM EST, 4 hours 10 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
235 PM EDT WED JUN 20 2001

A WEAK FRONTAL BOUNDARY APPROACHING TRIGGERING SCATTERED SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS.  FRONTAL BOUNDARY EXPECTED TO STALL OVER THE CWA
BRINGING A THREAT OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH FRIDAY
NIGHT.  HIGH PRESSURE WILL BEGIN TO BUILD IN SATURDAY BRINGING DRY
CONDITIONS TO THE AREA OVER THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEKEND AND INTO
EARLY NEXT WEEK.  MRF SHOWS NEXT CHANCE FOR PRECIP WILL THE MIDDLE
OF NEXT WEEK.

JMP

.PBZ...
MD...NONE.
OH...NONE.
PA...NONE.
WV...NONE.

The radar

The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 84 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:43 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Fayette

When
June 20, 5:45 PM EST to 7:45 PM EST
Where
Fayette County, Uniontown
Property damage
$50,000
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
39.920, -79.647 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Strong thunderstorms produced an estimated 3 inches of rainfall in only a few hours in the Uniontown area. This heavy rainfall flooded roadways in Uniontown, leaving several motorists stranded in their cars. One roadway bucked under the force of the water in the vicinity of Redstone Creek. Many reports of flooded basements were also received, and three families were forced to evacuate their homes.

Lightning, Westmoreland

When
June 20, 6:15 PM EST
Where
Westmoreland County, 5 mi N of Ligonier
Deaths
1 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries
2 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
40.311, -79.467 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Two adult Boy Scout leaders and one 15-year old Boy Scout were struck by lightning at Twin Echo Park off Route 271. One of the leaders died the next day from his injuries. The other two people were treated and released from the hospital. A group of around 10 people were standing outside under a large pine tree when lightning reportedly struck the tree, then branched off and hit the 3 people. At the time of the lightning strike, the skies were "dark in the distance, but it was not raining and no one heard thunder".

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

EventDateAgeSexWhereKind
Lightning, Westmoreland2001-06-2056MaleUnder TreeDirect

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.
Lightning
A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Pennsylvania in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, June 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: 5251521, 5251522.