Flash Flood, Bradford
- When
- March 30, 7:55 AM EST to 11:00 AM EST
- Where
- Bradford County, Countywide
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 41.789, -76.515 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood in Pennsylvania, March 30, 2001
A strong low pressure system in Maryland early on the 30th moved to near Cape Cod late that same day. Rain moved in ahead of the storm around 3 PM on the 29th.
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 BGM wrote it up.
A strong low pressure system in Maryland early on the 30th moved to near Cape Cod late that same day. Rain moved in ahead of the storm around 3 PM on the 29th. The rain was moderate to heavy between 2 AM and 7 AM on the 30th before tapering to showers midday. Rainfall amounts were 1 to 2 inches. Streams and creeks came out of their banks soon after the heavy rain ended. The river forecast point at Monroeton on the Towanda Creek rose to within a foot of flood stage. A state road in Wysox was under water.
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 Binghamton, NY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 30, 2:53 AM EST, 5 hours 2 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 30, 2:53 AM EST, 5 hours 2 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BINGHAMTON NY 253 AM EST FRI MAR 30 2001 SFC LOW CRANKING UP OVER THE MIDDLE ATLANTIC STATES WITH MDT TO HVY PCPN SPREADING OVER CWA. ATMOS COLDER THAN ERLYR MDL RUNS...AND WE/VE GOT MIXED PCP OVER THE HILLS WITH MAINLY RAIN IN THE VALLEYS. RAINFALL AMTS UPSTREAM OVER SRN PA...MD AND VA AT 06Z VERIFIED BETTER BY THE ETA 6HR PROG...SO WL FOLLOW. IFLOWS GAUGES REGISTERING AMTS HIGHER THAN GUIDANCE IN SOME SPOTS. TYPICALLY THESE RUN A LITTLE LOW...SO THIS GOT OUR ATTENTION. RGL RADAR COMPOSITE SHOWS DEFINITE BACK EDGE TO PCPN MOVG QUICKLY NWD ACROSS SERN PA. THIS MAY HELP TO CUT OFF HVY PCPN NEXT FEW HRS OVR NEPA...BUT STILL HAVE TO DEAL WITH COMMA HEAD OF UPR LOW MOVG OVER AREA...AND RUNOFF RESPONSE DURG THE DAY. COURSE OF ACTION...WILL EXPAND GENERAL FLOOD WATCH FURTHER WEST TO INCLUDE THE WY VALLEY AND SUSQ REGION. ALTHOUGH HIER TERRAIN WL SEE A WET SNOW/RAIN MIX...DECENT ETA QPF OF .75 TO 1.5 INCHES ERN AND CNTRL AREAS MAY BE ENOUGH TO GET SMALLER TRIBS RISING QUICKLY. OUR FLASHY POINTS IN THE SUSQ/DEL BASIN HEADWATERS WILL HAVE TO BE MONITORED CLOSELY THROUGH 18Z DURG HEAVIEST PCPN. MARFC HAS ALSO INDICATED IN ERLYR FCST THAT MAIN STEMS WILL RISE TO BANKFULL/FLOOD STAGE AT SOME LOCATIONS. SAVING GRACE IS THAT TEMPS WONT GET OUT OF THE 30S TODAY WHICH WILL PREVENT THE SNOWPACK FROM RELEASING TOO MUCH RUNOFF. PACK WILL BECOME RIPER HOWEVER...JUST IN TIME FOR NEXT SOAKER SYSTEM ARRIVING MONDAY. GIVEN NATURE OF PTYPE RIGHT NOW DURING THE LATE NIGHT...AM NOT TOO WORRIED ABOUT WINTER WX HEADLINES FOR THE HIER TERRAIN. H10-H85 THKNS VALUES HOVER AROUND 1300 TODAY AND WITH MARCH SOLAR INSOL... AND GENERAL TREND FOR PCP TO TAPER OFF TAFTN ACCUMS SHOULD BE HELD IN CHECK ALTHOUGH NEXT FEW HOURS AND ERLY COMMUTE MAY BE SLICK IN SOME SPOTS. A TOTAL CHANGEOVER TO RAIN PROBABLY NOT LIKELY ACROSS THE TUG HILL TDY...AND WL CARRY A MIX ALL DAY. BEYOND TODAY...STEADY PCPN TAPERS OFF BY LATE MORNING SOUTH...AND THIS AFTERNOON REST OF AREA WITH COLDER AIR FILTERING IN. ASIDE FROM A WK S/WV THAT PASSES OUR WRN AND NRN ZONES TOMORROW...SEE LITTLE IN THE WAY OF FORCING FOR MUCH PCPN UNTIL SAT NIGHT WHEN ANOTHER LOW ROLLS THROUGH THE SRN PARTS OF MID ATLANTIC STATES. THIS MAY THROW CHC LIGHT SNOW INTO SRN HLF OF CWA. OTHERWISE...COLDER THAN NORMAL AND CLOUDY WITH NEXT ROUND OF SIG RAIN AND POTNL FLOODING MONDAY. MOS TEMPS SEEM PRETTY CLOSE. .BGM...FLOOD WATCH TODAY FOR ENTIRE NORTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA ZONES... WESTERN CATSKILLS AND SUSQUEHANNA REGION IN NY. BREWSTER
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
- Flash Flooding and Flood in Massachusetts, March 30 to 31, 2001
- Lightning Strike in Oklahoma, March 30, 2001
- Winter Storm in Vermont, March 30 to 31, 2001
- Winter Storm in Vermont, March 30 to 31, 2001
- Heavy Snow in New Hampshire, March 30 to 31, 2001
- Winter Storm in New York, March 30 to 31, 2001
- Winter Storm in Vermont, March 30 to 31, 2001
- Winter Storm in New York, March 30, 2001
- Dense Fog in Minnesota, March 30, 2001
- Winter Storm in New York, March 30, 2001
- Heavy Snow in Maine, March 30 to 31, 2001
- Heavy Snow in New Hampshire, March 30 to 31, 2001
More
Every storm in Pennsylvania in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, March 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: 5237777.