March 10: Comparing This Storm To Others
By Kate Bilo
Hi everyone! I went through some archived data and compiled some information for a few locations - looking at predicted flood stages with today/tomorrow's event in comparison to recent flood events (mainly Ghost of Ivan 2004, April floods of 2005, late June floods of 2006 and the October flooding last year).
In my mind, this event seems to draw most parallels to early April 2005 - that was also a storm that dumped over 3" of rain in areas just north of the city (NE PA and Northern NJ) less than a week after another storm that brought over 2", and had the snowmelt component to deal with. However, the threat for devastating and extensive flooding is not quite as potent as it was in 2005 (i.e. Delaware @ Easton was up to 37.2' in 2005, predicted to be 28' tomorrow).
As far as the Schuylkill River is concerned, this event looks to be a bit more potent than the Ivan flooding of 2004 but not quite to the extent we saw last October.
Schuylkill River @ Philadelphia – Flood Stage 11'
7.49' as of 8:00 am Thursday March 10
PREDICTED: 12.8' feet by 1 pm Friday March 11 (near moderate)
Recent highs:
13.1' on 10/1/10 (last October floods)
12.49' on 6/28/06 (June '06 floods)
11.33' on 9/18/2004 (Ivan floods)
Delaware River @ Easton – Flood Stage 22'
10.66' as of 8:30 am Thursday March 10
PREDICTED: 28' by 7 pm Friday March 11 (moderate)
Recent highs:
37.20' on 4/4/05
37.09' on 6/29/06
33.45' on 9/19/04 (Ivan)
20.72' on 10/2/10
Delaware River @ Trenton – Flood Stage 20'
14' as of 9:15 am Thursday March 10
PREDICTED 22.2' by 1:00 am, Friday March 11 (near moderate)
Recent Highs:
25.33 ft on 04/04/2005
25.09 ft on 06/29/2006
23.41 on 9/19/2004 (Ivan)
Neshaminy Creek @ Langhorne – Flood Stage 9'
2.35' as of 9:15am, Thursday March 10
PREDICTED: 11.4' by 1:00 pm, Friday March 11 (moderate, near major)
Recent Highs:
13.88' on 6/28/2006
12.87' on 4/3/2005
