Training bands of locally heavy rain impacted parts of the middle Susquehanna Valley during the late morning and early afternoon. A deep east-southeast flow from the Atlantic pulled high moisture into the region around an upper-level low rotating northward from MD/VA.
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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 episode as NWS CTP wrote it up.
Training bands of locally heavy rain impacted parts of the middle Susquehanna Valley during the late morning and early afternoon. A deep east-southeast flow from the Atlantic pulled high moisture into the region around an upper-level low rotating northward from MD/VA. Rainfall rates of 1-2/hour were common with localized rainfall rates as high as 4/hour. Several locations around the Lewisburg, Selinsgrove and Sunbury areas picked up between 2-3 inches of rain over a short duration. Urbanization combined with the intense rains lead to flash flooding along SR 11 and the closure of Reagan/Hamilton underpasses near Sunbury. Small streams including Bull Run and Turtle Creek also came out of their banks.
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 8, 10:06 AM EST, 39 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 1106 AM EDT WED MAY 8 2013 .SYNOPSIS... AN UPPER LEVEL LOW WILL DRIFT TO THE NORTHEAST...REACHING SOUTHERN NY BY THURSDAY. WEAK HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD EAST OVER THE COMMONWEALTH THURSDAY AFTERNOON INTO EARLY FRIDAY. MILDER...AND MORE HUMID AIR WILL PUSH INTO THE REGION FRIDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH SATURDAY...AHEAD OF A STRONG COLD FRONT THAT WILL BRING UNSEASONABLY COOL AIR TO THE REGION LATER IN THE WEEKEND. && .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 PM THIS EVENING/... A SPRAWLING UPPER LOW OVER VIRGINIA THIS MORNING WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE NORTHEAST TODAY...KEEPING THE WEATHER CONDITIONS UNSETTLED AND EVEN A LITTLE HUMID. THE AXIS OF ANOMALOUS EASTERLY LOW LEVEL FLOW AND HIGH PWAT AIR WILL LIFT INTO NORTHERN PA AND SOUTHERN NY AS THE DAY PROGRESSES. FOR THE NEXT FEW HOURS HOWEVER...THE BEST MOISTURE AND FORCING WILL CONTINUE TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH THE CLUSTER OF SHOWERS AND STORMS MOVING WNW THROUGH THE MIDDLE AND UPPER SUSQ VALLEY. RADAR ESTIMATES THAT AS MUCH AS AN INCH AN HOUR IS FALLING UNDER SOME OF THE STRONGER CORES. SEVERE STORMS DO NOT LOOK TO BE A BIG THREAT...MAIN CONCERN WILL BE FOR LOCALLY HEAVY DOWNPOURS. BY MIDDAY...SOMEWHAT DRIER AIR AT MID LEVELS WILL WORK IN FROM THE SOUTH...ALLOWING FOR BREAKS OF SUN TO DEVELOP. DIURNAL HEATING...COMBINED WITH COLD TEMPS ALOFT...SHOULD HELP DEVELOP SOME INSTABILITY AND THE CHANCE FOR MORE SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS. ENS MEAN AND OPER QPF INDICATES AREAL-AVERAGE RAINFALL OF ARND 0.20 INCHES TODAY. EASTERN PA WILL BE FAVORED FOR THE HIGHEST AMOUNTS OVERALL GIVEN ITS PROXIMITY TO DEEPER LAYER MOISTURE IN A FAVORED QUADRANT OF THE FILLING UPPER LOW. HIGH TEMPS THIS AFTERNOON WILL VARY FROM THE LOWER 60S ACROSS THE LAURELS AND NW MTNS...TO THE MID AND UPPER 60S ELSEWHERE. && .SHORT TERM /6 PM THIS EVENING THROUGH 6 PM THURSDAY/... MORE TRANQUIL WEATHER IS EXPECTED DURING THIS 24-HOUR PERIOD AS THE WEAKENING UPPER LOW LIFTS NNE ACROSS THE SUSQ VALLEY LATE TODAY...THEN OVER THE HUDSON VALLEY THURSDAY. WEAK RIDGING AT THE SFC AND ALOFT AND A DEVELOPING WEST TO NW FLOW WILL HELP TO TRIM LLVL MOISTURE/SFC DEWPOINTS BACK INTO THE MID AND UPPER 40S IN MOST LOCATIONS. LINGERING COOL AIR ALOFT WILL SUPPORT ISOLATED TO SCATTERED AFTERNOON SHOWERS AND A FEW LOW-TOPPED TSRA...BUT COVERAGE OF THE CONVECTION AND THE RESULTANT QPF WILL BE LIGHT. LOW TEMPS AROUND DAYBREAK THURSDAY WILL VARY FROM THE U40S ACROSS THE HIGHER TERRAIN OF THE NORTH AND WEST...TO THE LOWER 50S IN THE SUSQ VALLEY. HIGH TEMPS THURSDAY WILL BE 4-6F WARMER THAN WEDNESDAY...RANGING FROM THE UPPER 60S ACROSS THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS...TO THE LOWER AND MID 70S THROUGHOUT THE SUSQ VALLEY. && .LONG TERM /THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY/... MINOR CHANGES MADE FOR THE MOST PART. THE UPPER LVL LOW WILL HAVE TO TRACK TO THE NORTH OF EAST...BEFORE MOVING AWAY FROM THE AREA LATE IN THE WEEK. MOST OF THU NIGHT AND FRIDAY DOES NOT LOOK BAD. IT COULD BE ON THE WARM SIDE FRIDAY...AS NEXT COLD FRONT DROPS SLOWLY SE AND WEAKENS. DID EDGE POPS UP SOME. A MUCH STRONGER COLD FRONT MOVES INTO THE AREA LATE SATURDAY AND EARLY SUNDAY...FOLLOWED BY A SECONDARY FRONT. EXPECT SHOWERS ASSOCIATED WITH THE CFRONT TO BE EAST OF THE AREA BY SUNDAY AFT. HOWEVER...THE MUCH COLDER AIR /-2 TO -3 SIGMA AT 850 MB ACROSS WRN PENN BY 12Z MONDAY/ PLOWING INTO THE REGION FOR LATER SUNDAY INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK...WILL PICK UP MOISTURE FROM THE GLAKES AND LIFT IT ACROSS THE ALLEGHENIES. THIS WILL MAINTAIN PLENTY OF CLOUDS AND SCATTERED RAIN SHOWERS FOR THE NRN AND WRN MTNS OF PA. 925 MB TEMPS OF -1 TO -3C...AND 850 MB TEMPS OF -5 OT -7C WILL BE COLD ENOUGH TO SUPPORT AT LEAST A MIX OF WET SNOW WITH ANY OF THE SHOWERS ACROSS THE HIGHER TERRAIN /AOA 1500 FT MSL/. FROST...FREEZE FLAGS MAY BE NEEDED FOR SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY NIGHT FOR WHAT LOOKS BE NEAR RECORD...OR RECORD COLD. BY MID TO LATE WEEK...IT COULD BE ON THE WARM SIDE...WITH TEMPS IN THE 70S IF NOT 80S...AS THE HIGH MOVES SE...AND WINDS SHIFT TO THE SW. && .AVIATION /15Z WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/... A SPRAWLING UPPER LOW OVER VIRGINIA THIS MORNING WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE NORTHEAST TODAY...KEEPING WEATHER CONDITIONS UNSETTLED THROUGH THE TAF PERIOD. AT MID MORNING CONDITIONS VARIED FROM MVFR/IFR OVER MY EASTERN TERMINALS...TO MAINLY VFR OVER WESTERN AREAS EXCEPT WITH LOWER CONDITIONS IN ISOLATED SHOWERS. BY MIDDAY/EARLY AFTERNOON...SOMEWHAT DRIER AIR WILL WORK IN FROM THE SOUTH...ALLOWING FOR MORE WIDESPREAD VFR CONDITIONS AS BREAKS OF SUN DEVELOP. DIURNAL HEATING...COMBINED WITH COLD TEMPS ALOFT...WILL HELP GENERATE SOME INSTABILITY AND INCREASE COVERAGE OF SHOWERS OVER CENTRAL PA. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE. AS THE LOW CONTINUES TO TREK NORTHEAST...SHOWERS WILL DECREASE OVERNIGHT BUT LIKELIHOOD OF FOG INCREASES AFTER 06Z. EXPECT MVFR WITH SCT IFR VSBYS INTO EARLY THURSDAY. WEAK HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD EAST OVER THE COMMONWEALTH THURSDAY AFTERNOON INTO EARLY FRIDAY. .OUTLOOK... THU...WIDESPREAD MVFR /IFR EAST/ IN THE MORNING. THEN VARIABLE CONDITIONS WITH AREAS OF MVFR DURING THE DAY. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED TSTMS. FRI...COLD FRONT MOVES THROUGH. SCT SHOWERS AND PERHAPS A THUNDERSTORM LATE ACCOMPANIED BY LOCAL MVFR CONDITIONS. SAT...MORE SHOWERS POSSIBLE WITH ANOTHER COLD FRONT. SUN...SHOWERS EARLY...THEN IMPROVING CONDITIONS. && .CTP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && SYNOPSIS...LA CORTE/LAMBERT NEAR TERM...LA CORTE/LAMBERT SHORT TERM...LAMBERT LONG TERM...LAMBERT/MARTIN AVIATION...LA CORTE
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 357 AM EDT WED MAY 8 2013 PAZ004>006-010>012-017>019-024>028-033>037-041-042-045-046-049>053- 056>059-063>066-090800- WARREN-MCKEAN-POTTER-ELK-CAMERON-NORTHERN CLINTON-CLEARFIELD- NORTHERN CENTRE-SOUTHERN CENTRE-CAMBRIA-BLAIR-HUNTINGDON-MIFFLIN- JUNIATA-SOMERSET-BEDFORD-FULTON-FRANKLIN-TIOGA-NORTHERN LYCOMING- SULLIVAN-SOUTHERN CLINTON-SOUTHERN LYCOMING-UNION-SNYDER-MONTOUR- NORTHUMBERLAND-COLUMBIA-PERRY-DAUPHIN-SCHUYLKILL-LEBANON-CUMBERLAND- ADAMS-YORK-LANCASTER- 357 AM EDT WED MAY 8 2013 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY. A COLD FRONT WILL SLIDE ACROSS THE COMMONWEALTH FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING...PRECEDED BY SCATTERED STRONG TO POTENTIALLY SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. A SECOND COLD FRONT WILL MOVE SOUTHEAST FROM THE GREAT LAKES AND CROSS THE REGION LATE SATURDAY INTO EARLY SUNDAY. MUCH COLDER AIR WILL FOLLOW FOR SUNDAY THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK...BRINGING THE LIKELIHOOD OF FROST ACROSS MUCH OF CENTRAL AND NORTHERN PENNSYLVANIA SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY NIGHT...AND AT LEAST PATCHY FROST ACROSS THE SOUTH. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. LAMBERT
The State College radar (KCCX), 94 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 15:45 UTC.
3 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Locally heavy rain caused flash flooding around Lewisburg. Bull Run and Turtle Creek came out of their banks and flooded adjacent roads. The Lewisburg COOP observer recorded 3.25 inches of rain.
Flash flooding caused water to cover portions of SR 11 from Selinsgrove northward along the west-side of the Susquehanna River.
Heavy rain and flash flooding closed the Reagan and Hamilton underpasses near Sunbury.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Pennsylvania in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, May 2013
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: 439187, 439190, 439191.