Flash Flood in Pennsylvania
Every flash flood event the National Weather Service has filed in Pennsylvania, year by year, with the most significant episodes. Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.
The most significant on the map
The most significant flash flood episodes in Pennsylvania.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The record
- Events
- 4,743
- Deaths
- 77
- Injuries
- 59
- Damage
- $2.0 billion
Every year
The most significant
Ranked by deaths, injuries, damage and size together.
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Pennsylvania, September 7 to 11, 2011Heavy rainfall from the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee produced widespread flooding, flash flooding and river flooding mainly near and to the east of the Susquehanna Valley from September 4-10.
- Flash Flooding and Coastal Flood in Pennsylvania, September 16 to 17, 1999Hurricane Floyd battered Eastern Pennsylvania (especially Southeast sections around Philadelphia) on September 16th and brought with it torrential and in some places record breaking rains and damaging winds.
- Flash Flooding in Pennsylvania, July 15, 2023Thunderstorms brought locally heavy rain to parts of eastern Pennsylvania from the late afternoon into the evening of July 15. Rainfall totals were as high as 3 to 6 inches.
- Flash Flood in Pennsylvania, January 19, 1996Six people died in Lycoming County along Lycoming Creek on Friday the 19th. A husband and wife age 77 and 75 were swept away when they tried to drive away from their home in rural Trout Run early in the afternoon.
- Flash Flooding in Pennsylvania, September 1, 2021Post Tropical Cyclone Ida brought heavy rain to eastern Pennsylvania on September 1. Rainfall totals were as high as 5 to 10 inches. The heavy rain caused significant flash flooding, mainly in the southeastern part of the state. It resulted in widespread property damage.
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Pennsylvania, August 19, 2011A slow moving cold front and a moist unstable airmass combined to produce scattered severe thunderstorms and flash flooding across eastern Ohio and Western Pennsylvania.
- Flash Flood in Pennsylvania, June 27 to 28, 2006Additional heavy rain fell Tuesday the 27th through early Wednesday morning the 28th across Luzerne County and the Poconos on top of what fell on Monday as a front moved east across Pennsylvania and combined with low pressure and tropical moisture.
- Tropical Storm and Storm Surge in Pennsylvania, August 27 to 30, 2011Irene produced heavy flooding rain, tropical storm force wind gusts with hundreds of thousands of outages, moderate tidal flooding along the Delaware River and one flooding related death in Eastern Pennsylvania over the weekend of August 27th and 28th.
- Flash Flood in Pennsylvania, January 19, 1996Four deaths occurred in Juniata County as a direct result of the flooding on the evening of Friday the 19th. Two females and two males in three separate cars were unable to cross Tuscarora Creek between Academia and Pleasant View due to a flooded bridge.
- Tornadoes and Tropical Storm in Pennsylvania, August 4, 2020Tropical Storm Isaias brought high winds, heavy rain, several tornadoes, and coastal flooding to the mid-Atlantic region, becoming the most impactful tropical cyclone to impact most of the region since Sandy in 2012.
- Flash Flooding in Pennsylvania, September 9 to 10, 2023A stationary frontal system over northeastern Pennsylvania combined with a weak upper level disturbance to focus heavy rain producing thunderstorms over the area.
- Flash Flood in Pennsylvania, September 8 to 9, 1996Thunderstorms, which "trained" or moved over the same locations of Southern Montgomery County, caused widespread flash flooding, caused the death of a couple in Abington and about $20 million dollars in property damage. Up to 10 inches of rain within a three hour period.
- Flash Flood and Flood in Pennsylvania, June 27 to 30, 2006Several days of heavy rain throughout the Delaware and Lehigh River Basins culminated with major flooding along the Delaware River from the 28th through the 30th.
- Flash Flood in Pennsylvania, June 12 to 13, 1996Nearly stationary thunderstorms brought three to eleven and a half inches of rain within a four hour period to southeast Bucks County. The 11.55 inches of rain that fell in Langhorne represented a greater than one hundred year single day storm.
- Flash Flood in Pennsylvania, May 9 to 10, 2004According to York County 911 dispatchers and spotters, minor flooding began across the county around 8:50 pm, with some water reported on Country Club Road and Route 24 in the Red Lion area.
- Tornado and Flash Flooding in Pennsylvania, November 5, 2017A cold front moved across the Ohio Valley and southern Great Lakes on the afternoon of Sunday, November 5th, 2017. Unseasonably warm and humid air was in place across the region ahead of the front.
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Pennsylvania, September 7 to 12, 2011The remnants of Tropical Storm Lee moved northward from the southern Appalachians on the 6th to the middle Atlantic states on the 7th before stalling on the 8th.
- Flash Flood in Pennsylvania, July 19, 1996Widespread heavy rain caused extensive flooding throughout Clarion County. Numerous roads and creeks were flooded. Around 4 am EST a 73 year-old woman died and her husband injured when their mobile home was swept away along Deer Creek near Shippenville.
- Flash Flood in Pennsylvania, June 27 to 28, 2006Tropical moisture continued to stream northward into northeast Pennsylvania ahead of a frontal system which slowly moved westward into the eastern Great Lakes by Tuesday morning the 27th.
- Flash Flooding in Pennsylvania, July 11, 2019Thunderstorms brought 2 to around 5.5 inches of rain to parts of southeastern Pennsylvania on the afternoon and evening of July 11. The heaviest of the rain fell in southeastern Berks County, northern Chester County and upper Montgomery County.
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Pennsylvania, July 22 to 27, 2018I persistent upper level flow of moist southerly air brought waves of flooding and flash flooding to the region. Significant flooding was reported across eastern portions of the area.
- Flash Flooding and Damaging Winds in Pennsylvania, October 20 to 21, 2016A potent cold front pushed into an unseasonably warm and humid air mass, generating widespread showers and thunderstorms. There was a considerable amount of both low level and deep layer shear, and some of the storms produced damaging winds.
- Flash Flood in Pennsylvania, June 27 to 28, 2006Tropical moisture continued to stream northward into northeast Pennsylvania ahead of a frontal system which slowly moved westward into the eastern Great Lakes by Tuesday morning the 27th.
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Pennsylvania, June 27 to 28, 2013A MCV and broader mid-level trough crossed the central Appalachians and triggered strong to severe thunderstorms from the central ridges into the Susquehanna River Valley during the afternoon and evening.
- Flash Flooding and Damaging Wind in Pennsylvania, July 21 to 22, 2003Heavy rain began falling during the morning hours and continued into the afternoon. Rainfall rates exceeded two inches per hour during the early afternoon hours. Spotters reported 2.5 inches of rain in Saegertown between 1:00 and 2:30 p.m.
More
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.