Flooding in Pennsylvania, March 21 to 26, 2003

Name: Flooding in Pennsylvania, March 21 to 26, 2003
Start: 2003-03-21T01:13
End: 2003-03-26T19:00
Location: Pennsylvania

March 21 to 26, 2003 · NWS BGM · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Mild temperatures starting on the 15th caused winter snow to melt. Overnight temperatures mainly in the 20s and 30s slowed the snowmelt down each night.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $100,000
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.

Mild temperatures starting on the 15th caused winter snow to melt. Overnight temperatures mainly in the 20s and 30s slowed the snowmelt down each night. The larger rivers began rising on the 17th. Rain fell on the 20th with basin averaged amounts ranging from three quarters of an inch to an inch and a half. This rain, combined with the snow melt, brought several forecast points on the Susquehanna over their flood stages. The Susquehanna River at Waverly, NY and Sayre, PA reached flood stage of 11 feet on the 21st, crested at 14.17 feet on the 23rd then fell below flood stage on the 26th. The Susquehanna River at Wilkes-Barre reached flood stage of 22 feet on the 22nd, crested at 22.85 feet also on the 22nd, then fell below flood stage on the 23rd. Flooding was minor to moderate. The Susquehanna River at Meshoppen and Towanda, which are between Sayre and Wilkes-Barre, crested just below flood stage on the 22nd. Flooding at Sayre and Wilkes-Barre on the Susquehanna River was minor.

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 20, 8:30 PM EST, 4 hours 43 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 20, 8:30 PM EST, 4 hours 43 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BINGHAMTON NY
830 PM EST THU MAR 20 2003

RADAR AND SATELLITE TRENDS SHOW SLUG OF STEADY MODERATE RAIN WILL BE
LIFTING THROUGH THE SOUTHERN HALF OF THE FCST AREA BY LATE EVENING
AND THROUGH ALL AREAS SHORTLY AFTER MIDNIGHT. 18Z ETA/AVN AND 21Z RUC
MODELS CONCUR THAT SHORTWAVE FORCING DRIVING THIS PRECIP EXITS THE
AREA ON THAT SCHEDULE.

6 HOUR QPF AMOUNTS THROUGH 00Z FELL A LITTLE SHORT OF MODEL FCSTS
ESPLY NORTHERN ZONES. 00Z-06Z PROGS WILL ALSO BE OVERDONE PER
CURRENT TRENDS AND GUAGE REPORTS SO WILL BRING QPF GRID FCSTS DOWN
CONSIDERABLY. THIS IS GOOD NEWS FOR ALLEVIATING THE FLOOD IMPACT.
GIVEN HIGH ANTECEDENT CONDITIONS...WARMING TEMPS BEHIND THE WARM
FRONT AND SHOWERS TOMORROW...WE STILL SHOULD SEE RAIN RUNOFF COMBINE
WITH SNOW MELT RELEASING FROM THE WOODS. THE GENERALIZED FLOOD WATCH
FOR SMALL STREAMS AND TRIBS WILL CONTINUE AS ADVERTISED. FLOOD
WARNINGS ALONG THE RIVER POINTS WILL ALSO REMAIN IN TACT...UNLESS
NUMBERS AT SOME OF THE FCST POINTS LOWER DRAMATICALLY GIVEN THE
LOWER OVERALL RAIN TOTALS. MARFC...I LIKE YOUR NEW 00Z QPF PROGS.

UPDATE TO FORECAST GRIDS AND WORDS WILL BE TO JUST ADJUST TIMING OF
STEADY RAIN DWINDLING TO SHOWERS IN THE NEXT FEW HOURS.

.BGM...FLOOD WATCH ALL OF CENTRAL NEW YORK AND NE PA INTO
       FRIDAY.

BREWSTER

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Bradford

When: March 21, 1:13 AM EST to March 26, 7:00 PM EST
Where: Bradford forecast zone
Property damage: $50,000
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 41.789, -76.515 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Luzerne

When: March 21, 1:13 AM EST to March 23, 4:15 AM EST
Where: Luzerne forecast zone
Property damage: $50,000
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 41.177, -75.989 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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

Every storm in Pennsylvania in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in Pennsylvania, March 2003

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: 5350228, 5350229.