Saturday night into Sunday, damaging storms pounded the mid-Atlantic withflooding downpours, high winds, lightning and even hail.The most far-reaching impact was that of urban and flash flooding triggeredby rainfall of 1-2 inches within only an hour. It was rain this heavy thatwashed the hills of greater Philadelphia late in the morning. Water pouring offroadside hills flooded all lanes of Interstate Highway 76, known locally as theSchuylkill Expressway. Traffic was snarled in both directions.
Doppler radar rainfall estimates for eastern Pennsylvania showed widespreadamounts of 2-4 inches with some of the hardest-hit areas being on the northernand western side of greater Philadelphia. At Willow Grove, rainfall topped 4inches. That corridor of heaviest rain stretched into Hunterdon and Somersetcounties of New Jersey.
Streets in Clinton, N.J., were turned into streams with raging floodwatersduring the day on Sunday. The flooding was described as the worst in the areasince Hurricane Floyd. The hurricane caused devastating flooding in the regionin September of 1999.
The flooding was so bad in some areas that high water rescues werenecessary. Cars also became stranded in floodwaters that reached up to doorlevel. Some small rivers and streams cresting this morning will continue toproduce travel disruptions this morning.
Besides the flooding, storms in the mid-Atlantic also caused widespread winddamage. Trees and power lines were toppled in many communities, even cuttingpower all day for some residents.
Two people were struck by lightning in Northfield, N.J.
Photo credit to WPVI-TV and PennDOTStory by AccuWeather.com Meteorologists Jim Andrews and Meghan Evans
