Widespread Flooding Submerges Cars, Causes Major Commute Problems

The logo of the United States National Weather Service. The source page states that is not an “official” version but it looks very close to the version used on NWS’s website. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Rain that pounded the Philadelphia region last night and into this morning left widespread flooding that stranded motorists and caused the shutdown of major routes from the western suburbs to South Jersey.

The National Weather Service said around 5 inches fell in most parts of the area, with some places seeing a bit more, such as the 6.56 inches recorded in Spring City, Chester County.

A weather service flood warning is in effect until 12:45 p.m. Authorities are warning that the flood situation is dangerous in many areas as motorists continued to underestimate the severity. Rescue crews were busy throughout the night rescuing stranded drivers.

Even though the flooding had started to recede, crews were still busy rescuing people this morning.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/Widespread_flooding_submerges_cars_causes_major_commute_problems.html#mqwogWXh5swhAXoc.99

April Showers Swamp Region, Trigger Flooding

The rains came heavy Tuesday into Wednesday as if all those metaphorical April showers waited until the last day of the month to show up.

It all started when a low-pressure front slinked into the region Tuesday and started dumping rain into the area to the point that by 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, a United States Geological Survey rain gauge along the Schuylkill River had recorded nearly 5 inches of rain in a 24-hour period.

And, as you might expect, the result was creeks bursting their banks — along with the Schuylkill River they ultimately feed — and flooded roads, and then trapping some motorists on those roads after they tried to drive through the water.

One of at least four “water rescues” in the area occurred on Bethel Church Road in East Coventry when a small blue sedan stalled in a deep swell of water on the road.

Read more: http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20140430/april-showers-swamp-region-trigger-flooding

Chester County Very Wet The Past 3 Months

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Chester County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Unofficially, summer 2013 will go down as perhaps the wettest on record in the Philadelphia region, borne out by rainfall totals from Chester County.

From June 1 to Aug. 31, the National Weather Service at Mount Holly, N.J., recorded 22.18 inches of rainfall, according to Jim Bunker, an observation program leader at the facility.  It rained 10.56 inches in June, a stunning 13.24 inches in July and 5.91 inches in August, he said in an interview Friday.

That is in stark contrast to the normal amount of precipitation in those three months of 11.28 inches in Philadelphia, Bunker said.  Although he indicated that the rainfall was the most recorded in the city, he could not find the previous maximum figure.

The region has experienced 36.55 inches of rain in 2013, significantly above the normal amount of 28.76 inches, Bunker said.

Read more: http://www.dailylocal.com/article/20130901/NEWS01/130909965/chesco-very-wet-the-past-3-months#full_story

Map Of Rainfall Totals For Pennsylvania From The Flood

If you want to see a map of Pennsylvania with rainfall totals from Tropical Storm Lee for every county in the state, and a partial list of rainfall totals by community, click here:

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2011/09/tropical_storm_lee_dumped_more.html