- Ida’s remnants and a front brought historic rainfall to the Northeast Wednesday.
- Here’s a round-up of the most shocking things we’ve seen.
Here are some of the most eye-popping stats we’ve seen from this record-breaking flood event.
More Than 270 Reports of Flooding in 24 Hours
The National Weather Service had received 275 reports of flooding in the 24 hours ending Thursday at 7 a.m. EDT. Those reports stretched from northern Virginia and West Virginia to Massachusetts.
Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland and New Jersey had the most flood reports.
New York City’s Heaviest One-Hour Rainfall
Central Park in Manhattan picked up 3.15 inches of rainfall in a single hour Wednesday evening. That’s the heaviest one-hour rainfall on record there.
Wednesday’s total rainfall amount was 7.13 inches, making it New York City’s fifth-wettest day on record dating to 1869.
Newark’s Wettest Day
Newark, New Jersey, picked up 8.41 inches of rain on Wednesday, making it the wettest calendar day on record there dating to 1931.
The previous heaviest rainfall day was 6.73 inches on Nov. 8, 1977.
Top Rainfall Total
South Plainfield, New Jersey, has the heaviest rainfall total from this event with 9 inches. The town is located just over 30 miles southwest of New York City.
Schuylkill River at Highest Level in More Than 150 Years
The Schuylkill River in Philadelphia was experiencing its worst flood in more than 150 years on Thursday morning.
Its level of 16.23 feet as of 9 a.m. EDT has only been exceeded one other time. That happened more than 150 years ago in an Oct. 4, 1869 flood when the river hit its all-time record stage of 17 feet.
Record Flooding in at Least Seven Locations
At least nine locations on rivers and creeks in New Jersey and Pennsylvania have set a new record flood stage. Here’s a rundown of the records so far:
-North Branch Raritan River Near Raritan, New Jersey
-Stony Brook at Princeton, New Jersey
-Raritan River at Manville, New Jersey
-Saddle River at Ridgewood, New Jersey
-Perkiomen Creek at Graterford, Pennsylvania
-Schuylkill River at Norristown, Pennsylvania
-East Branch Brandywine Creek Below Downington, Pennsylvania
-Neshaminy Creek Near Penns Park, Pennsylvania
-Brandywine Creek at Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania
Tornado Emergency and Flash Flood Emergency at the Same Time
For a brief time Wednesday evening, a part of southeastern Bucks County, Pennsylvania, was under both a tornado emergency and a flash flood emergency.
These high-end emergency level warnings are rarely issued by the National Weather Service, so for this to happen in one location simultaneously is incredibly unusual.
We’ve found at least one other time when both tornado and flash flood emergencies were declared at the same time in the same place. That happened on May 6, 2003, in Jackson County, Alabama, where a tornado emergency and flash flood emergency were in effect for a time in the morning hours.
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