A mid-January thaw occurred for several days, allowing much of the snow pack to melt into river runoff. This combined with a moderate rainfall of 1 to 2 inches across the region was enough to loosen the river ice cover throughout central New York and northeast Pennsylvania.
Every event with a place to put it. 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 episode as NWS BGM wrote it up.
A mid-January thaw occurred for several days, allowing much of the snow pack to melt into river runoff. This combined with a moderate rainfall of 1 to 2 inches across the region was enough to loosen the river ice cover throughout central New York and northeast Pennsylvania. Moving ice congested and jammed along bridges and narrows on our main stem rivers and tributaries which resulted in numerous areas of minor to moderate flood impacts.
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 Jan 23, 4:19 AM EST, 3 hours 13 minutes earlier.
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</html>The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
7 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
An ice jam occurred on Mill Creek which caused flooding along York Ave.
Minor flooding was reported along Toby's Creek.
Areas of minor street flooding reported around the City of Scranton. Law enforcement closing some roads.
Minor flooding was reported around Dalton, mainly on Brookside Road.
Minor flooding was reported along Coxton Road from a combination of locally heavy rainfall and backwater from an ice jam on the Susquehanna River.
A large ice jam along Tunkhannock Creek was causing significant flooding to nearby roads and residences. Water was backing upstream on Martins Creek near the Route 92 bridge affecting a lumber yard. Six homes were evacuated by swift water rescue teams. One-hundred people were evacuated from a winterized campground that housed migrant oil and gas workers.
An approximately 20 mile long ice jam on the Susquehanna River was creating flooding in Pittston, Exeter Township and West Pittston. Vehicle size chunks of ice were jammed up against bridges, and along islands within the river. Water behind the main ice dam flooded roads and a few homes in West Pittston to the equivalent of a 35 foot natural flow. The ice jam was in place causing flooding for nearly 24 hours, and released during the early hours of January 25, 2018.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Pennsylvania in 2018Every state in 2018This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, January 2018
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: 735520, 735525, 735536, 735537, 735538, 735539, 735542.