Pennsylvania, 2002

Flash Flood in Pennsylvania, May 30, 2002

May 30, 2002 · NWS CTP · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 flash 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
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 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 State College, PA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 30, 1:05 PM EST, 2 hours 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 30, 1:05 PM EST, 2 hours 10 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE
205 PM EDT THU MAY 30 2002

TSTMS FIRING OFF THE LK SHORE AND WHERE DECREPIT BOUNDARIES EXIST FM
OVERNIGHT/EARLY MORNING CONVECTION ALONG AND N OF I-80. TALL CU OV
HIGHEST TERRAIN ELSEWHERE IN THE REGION AS WELL. S/B TOUGH TO GET
THINGS TO TURN SVR THIS AFTN...AS WBZERO PRETTY HIGH (LOW CHC SVR
HAIL)...AND ENVIRONMENTAL WINDS VERY LIGHT (NO DOWNWARD MIXING OF
HIGHER-SPEED WINDS/MOMENTUM). BUT...THE HEAVY RAIN THREAT IS PRESENT
ALREADY...AND WL POST AN FFA FOR AREAS N OF UNV AND IPT...INCLDG
CLEARFIELD CO...FOR TONIGHT OWEING TO RECENT RAFL.

FIRST FEW PDS WL REMAIN PRETTY CONSISTENT WITH PREV FCSTS. S/W
PROGGD TO ROLL THRU UPR GLS THIS EVENING WL BRING A BETTER CHC SHRA
TO MOST OF FA (EXCEPT SE THIRD) BY SUNRISE FRIDAY. THEN COLD FRONT
WITH FAVORABLE JET DYNAMICS TO CHARGE IN FOR THE AFTN. DIR
SHEAR/HELICITY ON FCST HODOGRAPHS LOOKS TO BE VERY LIMITED...AND
THEREFORE THE MAIN THREAT S/B SHORT LINE BOWS...AS LLJ INCREASES TO
30-40 KTS...BUT FM ALMOST DUE WEST DURING PEAK HEATING/FROPA.  THIS
SHUD KEEP THINGS BUSY...BUT ALSO KEEP THE STORMS MOVING TMRW...AS
OPPOSED TO THE SLOW MOVING HEAVY RAINERS WE WL SEE THIS EVENING. PWS
NOT PROGGED TO INCREASE MUCH IN 24 HRS...SO THE SPEED OF MOVEMENT OF
CELLS SHUD KEEP HEAVY RAIN THREAT TO A MIN TMRW. SAT LOOKS TO DRY
OUT NICELY...BUT WL HV TO ENDURE A SVR WX DAY BEFORE WE GET THERE.

XTNDD: SAT NIGHT...WAA AND ASSOCD LIGHT PCPN APPCHS FM WEST WHILE A
SECONDARY CD FNT TRIES TO DROP INTO THE STATE FM THE NORTH. SUN WL
BE DECENT WITH INCREASING CLDS. REST OF TIME LOOKS LIKE A
HODGE-PODGE OF WEATHER...AS A WEAKER WAVE ROLLS IN FM THE WEST FOR
MONDAY AND THEN A MORE OVER-RUNNING TYPE EVENT COMES IN FOR MID-WEEK
(WED NITE/THUR).

.CTP...FFA (FLASH FLOOD WATCH) FOR N CENTRAL MTNS TONIGHT.

DANGELO

The radar

The State College radar (KCCX), 92 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:14 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Lycoming

When
May 30, 3:15 PM EST to 5:30 PM EST
Where
Lycoming County, Elimsport
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
41.343, -77.064 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy rain caused extensive flooding along route 44, which eventually caused the closing of the roadway. There were also reports of trees down, resulting from saturated ground conditions.

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

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: 5288944.