The Severe Flooding Event of January 1996 across North-Central Pennsylvania

Abstract
The rapid ablation of a snowpack and intense rainfall combined to cause catastrophic flooding across much of the mid-Atlantic region of the United States on 18 and 19 January 1996. This flooding event resulted in as many as 30 fatalities, numerous injuries, and damage estimated at $1.5 billion. The Loyalsock and Lycoming Creek watersheds in northern Pennsylvania were arguably the hardest hit areas in the region, at least from the perspective of fatalities and injuries. This flooding event, which was certainly devastating from a human and economic perspective, also represents an interesting scientific situation in which climatological preconditioning and the occurrence of an unusual synoptic-scale weather event combined to create disastrous results. Before the event, snow fell at record levels across northern Pennsylvania during the late autumn and early winter seasons. By the middle of January 1996, more snow had fallen across the combined watershed region than is expected during an average snowf... Abstract The rapid ablation of a snowpack and intense rainfall combined to cause catastrophic flooding across much of the mid-Atlantic region of the United States on 18 and 19 January 1996. This flooding event resulted in as many as 30 fatalities, numerous injuries, and damage estimated at $1.5 billion. The Loyalsock and Lycoming Creek watersheds in northern Pennsylvania were arguably the hardest hit areas in the region, at least from the perspective of fatalities and injuries. This flooding event, which was certainly devastating from a human and economic perspective, also represents an interesting scientific situation in which climatological preconditioning and the occurrence of an unusual synoptic-scale weather event combined to create disastrous results. Before the event, snow fell at record levels across northern Pennsylvania during the late autumn and early winter seasons. By the middle of January 1996, more snow had fallen across the combined watershed region than is expected during an average snowf...

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