Flash Flood « WJAC-TV Weather Blog

Flooding in Pennsylvania

By Tim Tender on April 18th, 2011 at 10:52 AM

Departure from normal so far this month...

The month of April has been extremely wet and we’re only a couple of weeks into it right now. We are more than 75% greater than normal for all but four counties in the state. Three of those counties are between 51 and 75% above average. Erie County is between 25 and 50% above average.

Take a look at the graphic and you’ll see for yourself. The graphic shows the departure from normal as the bottom number and the total precipitation as the top number. I also checked the year-to-date totals and all counties in Pennsylvania are above average so far this year (not that this is a surprise).

You can see multiple graphics by heading to the MARFC once you’re done here. I’ll post a link at the bottom of the post.

In searching for a trivia question this morning, I started thinking about flooding and how many floods we have a year in the state of Pennsylvania. I found a great website (link at bottom) that has information about all of extreme weather we see in PA. While the information may not be 100% accurate, it’s still a good representation or sampling of the events that happen. (Read More)

Ridiculously Rainy

By Tim Tender on December 2nd, 2010 at 9:21 PM

Abandoned House In Johnsonburg - Courtesy: Mitchell Dececchis

We told you that we were going to have a lot of rain on Tuesday starting way back on Sunday (and maybe sooner).

On Monday morning, I mentioned that we could have over 2 inches of rain and at one point alluded to the fact that there would be between 2 and 3 inches of rain.

I also mentioned the opportunity for flooding due to the rain. Unfortunately, there was way too much rain and it caused many problems across the Alleghenies.

We had a lot of pictures and information posted to our Facebook page over the last couple of days. The image on the left is just one of the pictures that was posted on our Facebook page. This one comes from Mitchell Dececchis. He mentioned that this house in Johnsonburg was abandoned due to the rain. If you want to see more pictures, you can head over to our Facebook page. I’ll post the link at the end of this post. Just want to say thank you to everyone who posted and shared information with us during the rain event.

Let’s take a look at how much rain actually fell…

Rain Totals from November 30 thru December 1, 2010

(Read More)

Stormy Wednesday (Rain, Flooding, & Lightning)

By Tim Tender on June 3rd, 2010 at 8:56 PM

Lightning Strikes Sign - May 28

I was back in Pittsburgh on Wednesday and they were hit hard with weather. There were places with golf ball sized hail and even a tornado confirmed just to the west in Jefferson County, Ohio. While I was there, I managed to record some video of the heavy rain and lightning. There was also a lot of ponding (or laking) on the roads. You’ll see in the video below how much water was on the road. That comes towards the end of the video.

We normally say “turn around, don’t drown” but there really isn’t anything you can do when you don’t see the water coming. That was the case yesterday on Route 22 between Imperial and Robinson, PA (near the Pittsburgh International Airport). With it raining so hard, I didn’t see the water on the road until the last minute. I got about 3/4 of the way through the miniature lake and my car started to slow down. I got a little nervous, but made it through… luckily. You can see the truck in front of me go through it in the video below.

There’s more after the jump. Click below.

(Read More)

Severe Weather Awareness Week

By Tim Tender on March 16th, 2010 at 5:47 AM

Severe Weather Awareness Week

It’s that time of year… Severe Weather Awareness Week!� Every year the National Weather Service puts out a public statement telling the general public what to do in severe weather.� They cover everything from lightning to tornadoes to flooding.

Here’s the rundown for this week’s topics:

Monday: Tornadoes

Tuesday: [...]

120th Anniversary of the Flood of 1889

By WJAC Weather on May 31st, 2009 at 8:09 PM

Today is the 120th anniversary of one of the worst natural disasters in American history.

On May 31, 1889, the South Fork Dam gave way sending a 40-foot high wall of water roaring down the Conemaugh Valley.� The flood crashed into the city of Johnstown in the late afternoon.

More than 22-hundred people lost [...]

Flooding Video and Quiz!

By Tony Martin on March 11th, 2009 at 9:00 PM

Over the past few days, we’ve had some rivers and streams come out of their banks across the Northern Alleghenies. Next week is Flood Safety Awareness Week, brought to you by the National Weather Service. National Flood Safety Awareness Week is intended to highlight some of the many ways floods can occur, the hazards associated with floods, and what you can do to save life and property.

(Read More)

Severe Weather Awareness Week: Flash Flooding

By WJAC Weather on March 4th, 2009 at 8:52 PM

We continue Severe Weather Awareness Week by talking about Flash Flooding.

Did you know the flooding is one of the major weather killers?� It’s true.� Part of the reason behind this is the fact that they can occur without much warning at all.� Unlike river flooding, flash flooding is very sudden.

It happens in [...]

Tornado Touches Down in Centre County

By Tim Tender on August 12th, 2007 at 2:06 AM

Double blog post today…

Topic 1) Mississippi State UniversityTopic 2) Tornado in Centre County

Topic 1) That’s it. It’s 12:27 PM local time here in Birmingham, Alabama. I’m sitting in the hotel lobby waiting for a shuttle to the airport, which leaves at 1:30 PM. I’ll get on a flight at 3:40 PM [...]