PENNSYLVANIA, USA — After a weekend winter storm, there is another concern. All of northeastern and central Pennsylvania is under a flood watch.
We have seen this scenario in our area many times before: A big snowstorm comes and goes, and the temperature goes up in the days after. Couple that with heavy rain, and it adds up to trouble.
The snow from the weekend storm is still around. It will melt later this week when temperatures hit the 40s, and then we're getting heavy rain.
During Christmas week of 2020, rain and snow melt had the Susquehanna River on the rise. Flood gates at Wilkes-Barre were closed.
Government forecasters put out a graph showing the Delaware River at Milford in Pike County. There are no problems now. The river is well below flood stage of 25 feet, but a sharp increase is expected mid-week, up to 16 feet, and it's still too early to predict how much it will climb after that.
The Susquehanna River at Wilkes-Barre is expected to go up to more than 21 feet, and it is still too early to tell how high the river will get in Luzerne County. Flood stage in Wilkes-Barre is 22 feet. If that happens, only low-lying, uninhabited areas take on water.
But as we have seen in the past, the big rivers might be able to handle all the runoff. The problems could be at smaller rivers, creeks, and streams, and we will be keeping an eye on those this week as well.
Check river and stream levels near you HERE.
Get the full Stormtracker 16 forecast HERE.
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