A storm system pushing into the Northern Rockies will bring high winds and winter weather from Montana into Minnesota today into Monday. Winds up to 55 mph are expected, which may result in blizzard conditions across eastern Montana. Increased moisture through the lower Mississippi River Valley will have some stronger showers and possible thunderstorms through Monday along the central Gulf Coast. Read More >
Hurricane Agnes June 19-24, 1972 |
View the multi-agency StoryMap created for the 50th Anniversary of Agnes by visiting https://agnes50-noaa.hub.arcgis.com/.
You can view the Weather Prediction Center write-up on Agnes at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/tropical/rain/agnes1972.html.
Check out the Facebook Live panel session discussing Hurricane Agnes, the storm/flooding, improvements and the lessons learned.
Hurricane Agnes remains one of the most costly natural disasters in Pennsylvania history. Nationwide, there were 122 deaths attributed to Agnes, 50 in the state of Pennsylvania. Total damages from the storm reached over $3 billion dollars nationwide, with over $2 billion dollars in losses occurring in the Susquehanna River basin. It has been estimated that damage from Agnes (if adjusted to 2017 dollars) would be around $17.5 billion dollars. Hurricane Agnes was the nations' most costly natural disaster at the time. |
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STORM SUMMARYDevastating floods occurred across the Mid-Atlantic region resulting from the remnants of Hurricane Agnes in late June of 1972. Hurricane Agnes came onshore over the Florida Panhandle during the afternoon of June 19th. The storm weakened to tropical depression status over the Carolinas, only to re-intensify to tropical storm strength as it reached the Virginia coast on the 21st. The storm then moved North, weakening to extra-tropical strength as it passed just west of New York city before recurving to the West across Central New York state. The storm then looped back to the East, crossing Northern Pennsylvania before dissipating. |
The slow moving remnants of the storm moved across Pennsylvania and dropped generally between 7 and 10 inches of rain across the region, although there were some local reports of nearly 18 inches of rain. Eight to 12 inch amounts were also common across Virginia, with 2 to 6 inch amounts across the southern tier of New York. The heavy rain of Agnes followed a relatively wet May, in which 3 to 4 inches of rain fell across the area. |
The slow moving remnants of the storm moved across Pennsylvania and dropped generally between 7 and 10 inches of rain across the region, although there were some local reports of nearly 18 inches of rain. Eight to 12 inch amounts were also common across Virginia, with 2 to 6 inch amounts across the southern tier of New York. The heavy rain of Agnes followed a relatively wet May, in which 3 to 4 inches of rain fell across the area.
Rainfall amounts across Central Pennsylvania for the four day period from June 20th through June 24th ranged in general from 8 to 10 inches. Isolated amounts however approached 18 inches. The heaviest rain (12 to 16 inches) fell in a corridor from Williamsport South through Harrisburg and York. The heaviest reported 24 hour rainfall was recorded at Harrisburg, where 12.53 inches fell between 8 pm on June 21st through 8 pm on June 22nd. Other rainfall totals (June 20-24) include:
HARRISBURG 15 INCHES WILLIAMSPORT 12 INCHES YORK 16 INCHES LEWISTOWN 12 INCHES STATE COLLEGE 8.5 INCHES TIOGA 8 INCHES BRADFORD 8 INCHES ALTOONA 9 INCHES JOHNSTOWN 7 INCHES
Many record river crests were achieved along the Susquehanna and Juniata rivers, as well as their tributaries. Most of the previous records were established back in March of 1936, when heavy rainfall on a deep snowpack produced record flooding. Some more notable river crests due to Agnes include:
SITE RIVER OR TRIBUTARY CREST FLOOD STAGE (FEET) (FEET) BLOOMSBURG SUSQUEHANNA 31.20 19.00 DANVILLE SUSQUEHANNA 32.32 20.00 SUNBURY SUSQUEHANNA 35.80 24.00 HARRISBURG SUSQUEHANNA 32.57 17.00 MARIETTA SUSQUEHANNA 64.54 49.00 SINNEMAHONING SINNEMAHONING CR 19.50 17.00 RENOVO WEST BRANCH SUSQ 26.56 16.00 LOCK HAVEN WEST BRANCH SUSQ 31.30 21.00 JERSEY SHORE WEST BRANCH SUSQ 38.40 26.00 WILLIAMSPORT WEST BRANCH SUSQ 34.75 20.00 MILTON WEST BRANCH SUSQ 34.55 19.00 LEWISBURG WEST BRANCH SUSQ 34.23 18.00 CEDAR RUN PINE CREEK 16.00 12.00 BEECH CR STATION BALD EAGLE CREEK 12.29 11.00 LOYALSOCKVILLE LOYALSOCK CREEK 14.74 12.00 WILLIAMSBURG JUNIATA 18.38 12.00 HUNTINGDON JUNIATA 20.03 12.00 MAPLETON DEPOT JUNIATA 33.07 20.00 LEWISTOWN JUNIATA 42.10 23.00 NEWPORT JUNIATA 33.97 20.00 CAMP HILL YELLOW BREECHES CR 18.33 7.00 HOGESTOWN CONODOGUINET CREEK 17.01 8.00 LANCASTER CONESTOGA CREEK 27.80 11.00 HARPERS TAVERN SWATARA CREEK 23.72 9.00 SHERMANSDALE SHERMAN CREEK 18.09 9.00 PENNS CR STATION PENNS CREEK 14.85 8.00