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Persistent Rain Raises Flood and Severe-Weather Risks for Pittsburgh

A stalled upper-level low is producing repeated downpours that have saturated soils, raising the chance of localized flash flooding and isolated severe storms.

Overview

  • Rain began the morning of Aug. 20 and prompted flood watches for Greene and Washington counties as the National Weather Service warned of localized flash flooding in low-lying and poorly drained areas.
  • Pittsburgh's month-to-date rainfall rose to about 6.88 inches after roughly 1.04 inches fell overnight, putting August among the wetter months on local records.
  • Radar estimates show pockets of very heavy rain with a broad swath of 3+ inches south of I-70 and spots near 3.5 inches through parts of Washington County.
  • Forecasters have placed the region under a marginal severe-weather risk for Saturday with the main concerns being strong straight-line winds, large hail, and a small tornado chance.
  • Storms have caused localized impacts to residents and infrastructure with Duquesne Light reporting about 660 customers without power and PennPower reporting about 157 outages as of Friday morning.