Pennsylvania, 2002Flash Flood in Pennsylvania, July 18, 2002
July 18, 2002 · NWS PBZ · 1 event in 1 county or zone
1 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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
Open the live radar over this ground
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $100,000
- 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 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 Jul 18, 2:30 PM EST, 3 hours earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 18, 2:30 PM EST, 3 hours before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
330 PM EDT THU JUL 18 2002
MOIST AIR MASS IN PLACE WILL BRING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO THE
AREA TONIGHT INTO TOMORROW DUE TO A WEAK SW TROUGH. ETA AND
AVN NOT AGREEING. ETA DRYING OUT TOO FAST WHILE AVN HOLDS MOISTURE IN
THROUGH SAT NIGHT AND SERN REGIONS THROUGH LATE SUN. APPROACHING COLD
FRONT IS DIGGING THROUGH THE CWA SLOWLY BRINGING SHWRS AND
THUNDERSTORMS W/ IT. SOUNDINGS SHOW PWS TO RANGING FROM 1.7 TO 2.0 FOR
NEXT FEW DAYS.
EXPECT HUMID CONDITIONS TO PERSIST THROUGH THIS WEEKEND AS FRONT AND
WAA LINGERS. VORT MAX DRIFTS SLOWLY EASTWARD ACROSS MISS VALLEY THROUGH
WEEKEND. LESS HUMID CONDITIONS WILL BE OFF AND ON THROUGHOUT NEXT
WEEK.
AVN BRINGS STRONG COLD FRONT INTO CWA BY NEXT THURSDAY.
.PBZ...
MD...NONE.
OH...NONE.
PA...NONE.
WV...NONE.
RLA
Flash Flood, Allegheny
- When
- July 18, 5:30 PM EST to 6:30 PM EST
- Where
- Allegheny County, 1 mi N of Castle Shannon
- Property damage
- $100,000
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 40.469, -79.981 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Thunderstorm rains dropped 2 inches of rain in less than an hour, producing flash flooding in the Overbrook section of Pittsburgh. Several cars were stranded in 4 to 5 feet of water at the intersection of Routes 51 and 88. First-floor flooding was also reported in several buildings in the vicinity.
- 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.
- Flash Flood in Oregon, July 18, 2002$1.0 million · 1 event
- Flash Flood in Colorado, July 18, 2002$158,000 · 1 event
- Damaging Wind and Lightning Strike in Indiana, July 18, 2002$97,000 · 2 events
- Lightning Strike in Florida, July 18, 2002$90,000 · 1 event
- Damaging Winds and Lightning Strikes in Michigan, July 18, 20022 injured · $30,000 · 56 kt wind · 5 events
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Iowa, July 18, 2002$58,000 · 2 in hail · 4 events
- Damaging Wind in Florida, July 18, 2002$50,000 · 1 event
- Tornado in Minnesota, July 18, 2002F1 · 1 event
- Hail and Damaging Winds in New York, July 18, 2002$27,000 · 0.75 in hail · 4 events
- Damaging Winds in Iowa, July 18, 200261 kt wind · 14 events
- Lightning Strike in Florida, July 18, 20021 injured · 1 event
- Flash Flood in Missouri, July 18, 20021 injured · 1 event
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: 5308274.