Flash Flooding in Pennsylvania, March 26, 2002

Name: Flash Flooding in Pennsylvania, March 26, 2002
Start: 2002-03-26T18:35
End: 2002-03-26T23:15
Location: Pennsylvania

March 26, 2002 · NWS BGM · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Flash flooding was due to an inch and a half to two and a half inches of precipitation mostly in the form of rain. Most of the rain fell in a 12 hour period during the day on the 26th.

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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
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 happened

The episode as NWS BGM wrote it up.

Flash flooding was due to an inch and a half to two and a half inches of precipitation mostly in the form of rain. Most of the rain fell in a 12 hour period during the day on the 26th. The rain fell onto a saturated snow covered ground. Snow depths were only a few inches with water equivalents less than an inch. Creeks and streams flooded in the area the evening of the 26th. The Susquehanna River also flooded on the 27th and 28th. The rain was caused by a strong slow moving surface low in West Virginia the morning of the 26th. That evening the low moved to Erie, Pennsylvania before picking up speed to be in Maine the morning of the 27th. Bradford and Susquehanna Counties were in an overrunning event on the north side of a warm front.

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 26, 5:25 PM EST, 1 hour 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 26, 5:25 PM EST, 1 hour 10 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BINGHAMTON NY
525 PM EST TUE MAR 26 2002

UPGRADED THE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY TO A WARNING FOR FREEZING RAIN
FOR PORTIONS OF THE SUSQ RGN AND WRN MOHAWK VLY. NUMEROUS RPTS OF
TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN ACROSS THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS...AND
WORKSTATION ETA/RUC INDICATE SFC TEMPS WILL BE VERY SLOW TO RISE
OVER THESE AREAS AS MDT TO HEAVY PCPN CONTINUES INTO THE EVNG.

******************************************************************

RADARS CONTINUE TO SHOW PLENTY OF RAIN ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA
CONTINUING TO STREAM NORTHEAST AHEAD OF SFC LOW PRESSURE MOVING OUT
OF THE OHIO VALLEY. WESTERN AREAS CHANGED OVER TO RAIN LATE THIS
MORNING WHILE FAR NORTH AND HIGHER ELEVATIONS FROM BGM EAST CONTINUE
TO REMAIN AT OR JUST BELOW FREEZING. TREES AND POWER LINES HERE ON
THE HILL HAVE ACCUMULATED QUITE A BIT OF ICE. EXPECT THAT THE TEMPS
WILL CONTINUE TO NUDGE UP SLOWLY REMAINDER OF THIS AFTN INTO EARLY
EVENING SO THAT JUST ABOUT ALL AREAS WILL BE SEEING JUST RAIN THIS
EVENING. AM LEANING TOWARD LETTING ADVISORIES GO THIS AFTN BUT
KEEPING FZRA ACROSS THE HILLTOPS IN EASTERN AREAS IN THE ZONES.

THE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM IS NOW PROGGED TO CROSS THROUGH CENTRAL AND
NORTHERN PA TONIGHT. ETA JUST A TAD FURTHER SOUTHEAST THAN AVN BUT
BOTH SIMILAR. STRONG UPR LVL DIVERGENCE IN RR QUAD OF UPR LVL JET
TONIGHT. CONVECTION A SMALL POSSIBILITY THIS EVENING. LIGHTNING
STRIKES NOTED EARLIER ACROSS CENTRAL PA BUT THESE ARE GONE NOW. ABOUT
AN ADDITIONAL HALF INCH OF QPF EXPECTED TONIGHT BRINGING THE TOTAL
TO 1.00-2.00 SOME ISOLATED HEAVIER AMOUNTS POSSIBLE. SOME OF THIS
QPF WILL BE LOCKED UP ACROSS THE HILLTOPS DUE TO THE PROLONGED
FREEZING RAIN THIS AFTN. ALSO, EVEN WITH THE RAIN, THE COOL TEMPS
ARE KEEPING THE SNOW FROM MELTING TOO MUCH. THUS, WE DO NOT
ANTICIPATE FLOODING PROBLEMS ATTM WITH RECENT DRY CONDITIONS.

WEDNESDAY...WESTERLY FLOW WILL FOLLOW IN WAKE OF LOW PRESSURE AS IT
MOVES ACROSS NEW ENGLAND. MODEL SOUNDINGS AND LOW LVL RH PROGS SHOW
LOW LVL MOISTURE REMAINING TRAPPED BENEATH SUB INVERSION. WILL
INDICATE SOME PARTIAL CLEARING DURING THE AFTERNOON.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT...MAINLY CLEAR OR PTCLDY IN ALL ZONES WITH SFC HIGH
OVR OHIO VLY.

THURSDAY...SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE IN PLACE BEFORE NEXT SYSTEM
THURSDAY NIGHT. WILL FORECAST MOSTLY SUNNY BUT INCREASE CLDS LATER
IN THE DAY FOR WESTERN AREAS.

.BGM...WINTER STORM WARNING FOR FREEZING RAIN FOR PORTIONS OF THE
SUSQ RGN AND WRN MOHAWK VLY.

BRADY

The radar

The Binghamton radar (KBGM), 63 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:35 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Bradford

When: March 26, 6:35 PM EST to 10:00 PM EST
Where: Bradford County, Rome
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 41.789, -76.515 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wysox Creek flooded.

Flash Flood, Susquehanna

When: March 26, 7:11 PM EST to 11:15 PM EST
Where: Susquehanna County, Montrose
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 41.821, -75.801 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Several small streams in the Montrose area went out of their banks.

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 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Pennsylvania, March 2002

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: 5284019, 5284020.