Pennsylvania, 2002

Flood in Pennsylvania, May 13 to 14, 2002

May 13 to 14, 2002 · NWS BGM · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
2
Property damage
$500,000
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 Binghamton, NY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 13, 12:00 PM EST, 0 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 13, 12:00 PM EST, 0 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BINGHAMTON NY
100 PM EDT MON MAY 13 2002

UPPER TROF CONTINUES TO DIG INTO THE REGION WITH SEVERAL SURGES OF
EMBEDDED SHORT WAVE ENERGY THROUGH THE PERIOD. GOOD UPPER SUPPORT IS
BEING PROVIDED BY DIFFLUENCE ALOFT ASSOCIATED WITH FAST JET. THESE
DYNAMICS WILL BE THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND THE DEVELOPMENT OF SFC
LOW MOVING THROUGH THE MIDDLE ATLANTIC REGION TONIGHT. AVN AND NGM
STILL HAVE THE BEST CONSISTENCY WITH ETA MODEL FURTHER SOUTH. WILL
LEAN MORE TOWARDS AN AVN/NGM SOLUTION FOR THIS PACKAGE GIVEN THEIR
CONSISTENCY FROM PREVIOUS RUNS.

UPPER JET DYNAMICS DRIVING HVY PCPN OVER THE OHIO VALLEY ATTM WILL
BRING SIG PCPN INTO THE REGION FROM THE SW AS IT MOVES THROUGH THE
AREA THIS EVENING. BASED ON PROJECTED PATH OF DYNAMICS WILL KEEP
CURRENT CONFIGURATION OF FLOOD WATCH WITH THIS PACKAGE. BEHIND THE
PRIMARY PCPN THIS EVENING ABUNDANT LOW LEVEL MOISTURE AND MAIN PIECE
OF SHORT WAVE ENERGY MOVING THROUGH OVERNIGHT WILL BE ENOUGH TO KEEP
SHOWERS AROUND FOR THE DURATION.

CLOSED LOW WILL SETTLE OVER THE REGION TOMORROW WITH ADDITIONAL
SHORT WAVES ROTATING THROUGH THE FLOW. LOW LEVEL MOISTURE REMAINS
LOCKED IN AND MORE SHOWERS ARE A GOOD BET UNTIL A DEAMPLIFYING RIDGE
NUDGES INTO THE AREA FROM THE WEST ON WEDNESDAY.

BALMY MOS TEMPS LOOK OK SO WILL STAY CLOSE.

BGM...FLOOD WATCH CONTINUES FOR TONIGHT
      NYZ015-022>025-044>046-055>057-062-PAZ038>040-043-044-047-048

SPORER

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Luzerne

When
May 13, 12:00 PM EST to May 14, 6:00 AM EST
Where
Luzerne County, Glen Lyon
Injuries
2 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage
$500,000
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
41.177, -75.989 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A freight train derailed at 6:20 AM in Newport Township along the Susquehanna River. Heavy rain that fell the previous two days amounted to over two inches. This rain fell on already saturated ground. The runoff washed out an area under the tracks that was 120 feet wide and 40 feet deep. The engineer and conductor were trapped for eight hours in the first of three engines. Around 5,000 gallons of diesel fuel escaped into the river. Seven freight cars also derailed before the train stopped.

What these are

Flood
Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Pennsylvania in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, May 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: 5299598.