1 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.
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.
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 Dec 11, 3:25 AM EST, 5 hours 20 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 325 AM EST THU DEC 11 2003 .DISCUSSION... WL CANCEL FLOOD WATCHES OVER WESTERN TWO THIRDS OF CWA AS STEADIEST AND HEAVIEST RAINS HAVE WINDED DOWN THERE. SNOWPACK LARGELY DISSOLVED FROM OVERNIGHT RAINS...WITH WIDESPREAD BASIN AVERAGE PRECIPITATION OF 1.5 TO 2 INCHES INDICATED FROM RADAR ESTIMATES AND IFLOWS GAGES AND MULTISENSOR PRECIPITATION ESTIMATES (MPES). NO MAJOR PROBLEMS REPORTED AS OF YET...BUT GIVEN .5 TO 1.00 W.E. OF MELTED SNOWPACK ADDED TO 1.5 TO 2.0 BASIN AVERAGE PRECIPITATION... STILL EXPECT AT LEAST MINOR FLOODING PROBLEMS...ESPECIALLY OF ROADWAYS TYPICALLY SUSCEPTIBLE TO MINOR FLOODING AND SOME BASEMENTS. COLDER AIR ARRIVES ON BRISK WEST/NORTHWEST WINDS LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT FOR SOME R TO S CHANGEOVER AND MINIMAL ACCUMS...AND THEN SOME LES POSSIBILITIES TONIGHT. AT THIS TIME...TRAJECTORIES DONT BECOME EXTREMELY FAVORABLE FOR OUR NORTHWEST COUNTIES...ALTHOUGH SOME OF THE STEADIER BANDS COULD SNEAK INTO WARREN AND MCKEAN COUNTIES FOR A FEW HOURS OVERNIGHT. QUIET WEATHER THEN PREVAILS FOR LATE FRIDAY THROUGH THE FIRST HALF OF THE WEEKEND. PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM STILL PROGGED TO CREATE A POTENTIAL MESS BEGINNING NOW AS EARLY AS LATE SAT NIGHT AS PER LATEST GFS WITH LIGHT SNOW BREAKING OUT OVER SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL SECTIONS...AND THEN CONTG ON SUNDAY. ECMWF MUCH FURTHER NORTH WITH UPPER & SFC FEATUERS...GFS FURTHER OFFSHORE WITH BOTH. LEANING TOWARD MORE CONSISTENT ECMWF SOLUTION FOR NOW...WHICH GFS IS TRENDING TOWARDS LAST FEW RUNS. ISC GRIDS AND WORK ZONES SENT. && PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... HARRISBURG 46 28 42 22 / 40 0 0 10 WILLIAMSPORT 44 26 38 18 / 50 0 0 10 BRADFORD 37 20 28 11 / 60 10 10 10 JOHNSTOWN 36 20 28 17 / 50 10 10 10 ALTOONA 42 25 36 17 / 40 0 0 10 STATE COLLEGE 43 28 35 19 / 40 0 0 10 SELINSGROVE 45 25 38 19 / 50 0 0 10 LANCASTER 46 28 42 20 / 50 0 0 10 YORK 46 26 42 18 / 40 0 0 10 && .CTP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... PA...FLOOD WATCH CONTINUES UNTIL 100 PM EST FOR THE LOWER TO MIDDLE SUSQUEHANNA RIVER VALLEY. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 520 AM EST THU DEC 11 2003 PAZ036-045-046-049>053-056>059-063>066-111218- ADAMS PA-COLUMBIA PA-CUMBERLAND PA-DAUPHIN PA-FRANKLIN PA- LANCASTER PA-LEBANON PA-MONTOUR PA-NORTHUMBERLAND PA-PERRY PA- SCHUYLKILL PA-SNYDER PA-SOUTHERN CLINTON PA-SOUTHERN LYCOMING PA- UNION PA-YORK PA- 520 AM EST THU DEC 11 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY: COMBINED RUNOFF FROM OVERNIGHT RAINFALL AND SNOW MELT MAY CAUSE FLOODING OF STREAMS AND CREEKS OVER SOUTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA. A FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH 100 PM EST. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY: THERE IS A CHANCE OF SNOW OR RAIN BEGINNING SATURDAY NIGHT AND CONTINUING INTO MONDAY...AND AGAIN ON WEDNESDAY. OTHERWISE NO OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. PAZ004>006-010>012-017>019-024>028-033>035-037-041-042-111218- BEDFORD PA-BLAIR PA-CAMBRIA PA-CAMERON PA-CLEARFIELD PA-ELK PA- FULTON PA-HUNTINGDON PA-JUNIATA PA-MCKEAN PA-MIFFLIN PA- NORTHERN CENTRE PA-NORTHERN CLINTON PA-NORTHERN LYCOMING PA- POTTER PA-SOMERSET PA-SOUTHERN CENTRE PA-SULLIVAN PA-TIOGA PA- WARREN PA- 520 AM EST THU DEC 11 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY: NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY: THERE IS A CHANCE OF SNOW BEGINNING SATURDAY NIGHT AND CONTINUING INTO MONDAY...AND AGAIN ON WEDNESDAY. OTHERWISE NO OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy rainfall caused the Tioga River at Mansfield to exceed flood stage. The river rose above its flood stage of 9.0 feet at 8:45 AM EST on the 11th, crested at 9.24 feet at 09:00 AM EST on the 11th, then fell back below flood stage at 11:00 AM EST on the 11th.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Pennsylvania in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, December 2003
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: 5330782.