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 Sep 18, 2:10 AM EST, 50 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 310 AM EDT SAT SEP 18 2004 .AVIATION... RAIN WILL END FROM NW TO SE THROUGH MID MORNING BUT WIDESPREAD MVFR ALONG WITH ISOLD IFR CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THEN. AFTER THAT CONDITIONS WILL IMPROVE QUICKLY FOR LATE MORNING INTO EARLY AFTERNOON AS DRIER AIR WORKS IN FROM THE NW. CIGS/VSBYS WILL BE MVFR/VFR DURING THE LATE MORNING AND THEN BECOME VFR BY AFTERNOON. SAT NIGHT...PATCHY FOG A POSSIBILITY WITH PLENTY OF SURFACE MOISTURE...BUT STRONG HIGH PRESSURE ALONG WITH RAPIDLY DRYING AIR WILL INHIBIT WIDESPREAD FOG. && .SHORT TERM (TODAY THROUGH MONDAY)... LL JET CONTINUES TO PUMP COPIOUS MOISTURE INTO EASTERN PA THIS MORNING...WHILE BACK EDGE OF DEFORMATION ZONE PRECIP MOVING THRU NW MTNS. WIDESPREAD 3-6 INCH RAINFALL SO FAR...WITH ISOLATED REPORTS IN EXCESS OF 8 INCHES. LOOKS LIKE ANOTHER 1-2 INCHES YET TO FALL OVER EASTERN PORTIONS OF CWA BEFORE RAIN CUTS OFF LATER THIS MORNING. WILL CLEAR FLOOD WATCH OVER WARREN AND MCKEAN COUNTIES...WHERE RAIN HAS ENDED AND EMA REPORTING NO SIG PROBLEMS. ELSEWHERE...WILL CONTINUE WATCH THRU MIDNIGHT AS MANY LARGER STREAMS AND RIVERS WILL CONTINUE TO RISE WELL AFTER THE RAIN ENDS THIS AM. HI PRES BUILDS DOWN INTO THE AREA LATER TODAY AND SUNDAY...BRINGING SOME OF THE COOLEST WX YET THIS FALL SEASON. AS WINDS DIE SUN NITE...PATCHY FROST SEEMS POSSIBLE IN THE PROTECTED VALLEYS OF THE NORTH. MODEL 900MB TEMPS THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS RUNNING ARND 10C...SUGGEST HIGHS MAINLY IN THE 60S DESPITE NEARLY FULL SUN. && .LONG TERM (MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY)... MREF DATA CONTINUES TO SUGGEST AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF FAIR WX FOR CENTRAL PA AS LARGE RIDGE BUILDS OVER THE EASTERN CONUS. SFC HI PRES OVER THE REGION WILL LIKELY RESULT IN COOL NIGHTS W/AREAS OF FOG. HOWEVER...850 TEMPS RISING WELL ABV NORMAL FOR SEPT...SUGGEST HIGHS NR 80F BY MIDWEEK. A COLD FRONT COULD APPROACH THE AREA LATE IN THE WEEK. HOWEVER...WILL KEEP POPS IN THE SLGHT CHC CAT. && .HYDROLOGY... RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 3-7 INCHES OVER A WIDE AREA HAS TRIGGERED MODERATE OR GREATER FLOODING OVER MUCH OF THE MAINSTEM AND WEST BRANCHES OF THE SUSQUEHANNA AS WELL AS ALONG THE JUNIATA. HEAVY RAIN STILL FALLING AT THIS HOUR OVER ALL BUT FAR NWRN PA EXACERBATING THE FLOODING PROBLEMS. RISES ARE FORECAST TO CONTINUE WELL INTO SATURDAY AT MOST SPOTS...WITH SOME OF THE BIGGER POINTS LIKE HARRISBURG AND DANVILLE FORECAST TO NOT CREST UNTIL LATER SUNDAY OR EVEN MONDAY. && .CTP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... PA...FLOOD WATCH FOR ZONES PAZ006-010>012-017>019-024>028- 033>037-041-042-045-046-049>053-056>059-063>066 THROUGH TONIGHT. && AVIATION...RXR SHORT TERM/LONG TERM...FITZGERALD HYDROLOGY...LACORTE
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 458 AM EDT FRI SEP 17 2004 PAZ004>006-010>012-017>019-024>028-033>037-041-042-045-046-049>053- 056>059-063>066-180850- ADAMS PA-BEDFORD PA-BLAIR PA-CAMBRIA PA-CAMERON PA-CLEARFIELD PA- COLUMBIA PA-CUMBERLAND PA-DAUPHIN PA-ELK PA-FRANKLIN PA-FULTON PA- HUNTINGDON PA-JUNIATA PA-LANCASTER PA-LEBANON PA-MCKEAN PA- MIFFLIN PA-MONTOUR PA-NORTHERN CENTRE PA-NORTHERN CLINTON PA- NORTHERN LYCOMING PA-NORTHUMBERLAND PA-PERRY PA-POTTER PA- SCHUYLKILL PA-SNYDER PA-SOMERSET PA-SOUTHERN CENTRE PA- SOUTHERN CLINTON PA-SOUTHERN LYCOMING PA-SULLIVAN PA-TIOGA PA- UNION PA-WARREN PA-YORK PA- 458 AM EDT FRI SEP 17 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY: HEAVY RAIN FROM THE REMNANTS OF HURRICANE IVAN WILL OVERSPREAD CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA TODAY AND TONIGHT. SEVERAL INCHES OF RAIN ARE EXPECTED OVER MUCH OF THE REGION...RESULTING IN WIDESPREAD FLOODING...INCLUDING ALONG THE MAJOR RIVERS. AT THIS POINT THE HEAVIEST RAIN...WITH LOCALIZED TOTALS AROUND 6 INCHES...APPEARS MOST LIKELY OVER THE CENTRAL PORTION OF THE STATE...ROUGHLY ALONG THE I-80 CORRIDOR. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY: RAIN WILL LIKELY TAPER OFF EARLY SATURDAY. HOWEVER...FLOODING MAY CONTINUE THROUGHOUT THE DAY AND INTO SUNDAY. SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
1252 AM EDT SAT SEP 18 2004
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0745 PM FLOOD EMPORIUM 41.51N 78.24W
09/17/2004 CAMERON PA TRAINED SPOTTER
ROADS FLOODED
0945 PM FLOOD MEYERSDALE 39.81N 79.03W
09/17/2004 SOMERSET PA TRAINED SPOTTER
ROUTE 219 COVERED IN WATER
1015 PM FLOOD NEW BLOOMFIELD 40.42N 77.19W
09/17/2004 PERRY PA EMERGENCY MNGR
COUNTY WIDE FLOODING
1125 PM FLOOD MONTGOMERY 41.17N 76.88W
09/17/2004 LYCOMING PA TRAINED SPOTTER
EVACUATIONS NEAR BROOK STREET
1245 AM FLOOD STATE COLLEGE 40.79N 77.86W
09/18/2004 CENTRE PA NWS EMPLOYEE
NUMEROUS BASEMENTS FLOODED
&&
JVSPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 329 AM EDT SAT SEP 18 2004 PAZ065-066-180830- LANCASTER-YORK- 329 AM EDT SAT SEP 18 2004 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL AFFECT YORK AND LANCASTER COUNTIES... AT 314 AM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING NORTH FROM MARYLAND INTO YORK AND LANCASTER COUNTIES AT 30 MPH. THE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR BROGUE AROUND 335 AM...SHENKS FERRY AROUND 340 AM...SAFE HARBOR AROUND 345 AM...EAST PROSPECT AROUND 350 AM...MILLERSVILLE AROUND 355 AM...MOUNTVILLE...COLUMBIA AND WRIGHTSVILLE AROUND 400 AM. WIND GUSTS TO 50 MPH ARE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy rain caused the Swatara Creek at Hershey to exceed its flood stage of 7 feet. The river rose above flood stage at 03:00 EST on the 18th, crested at 14.27 feet at 09:30 on the 19th, and fell below flood stage at 05:00 EST on the 20th.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Pennsylvania in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, September 2004
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: 5422853.