ALLENTOWN, Pa. - It was a record day for rainfall in eastern Pennsylvania.
Philadelphia set a record Saturday with its wettest March day on record, eclipsing 3 inches just before 2 p.m.
In the Lehigh Valley, rainfall amounts fell well short of that. But the region saw an old record fall nonetheless.
Saturday’s rainfall set a record for March 23 in the Lehigh Valley, with 1.72 inches reported at Lehigh Valley International Airport around 3 p.m., according to Mike Lee, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Mount Holly, New Jersey.
While the Allentown area reached a new high mark for March 23, it didn’t come close to the record wettest March day, which came in 2005 when 2.99 inches fell at the airport, Lee said.
Take the flooding seriously today! Its one of the record books! pic.twitter.com/jt42LqYCQw
— NWS Mount Holly (@NWS_MountHolly) March 23, 2024
The bulk of Saturday’s storm, which prompted wind and flood advisories that remain in effect, had cleared the region by 3:30 p.m.
“The heavy stuff is moving out, which is good news because that should limit the flooding this evening,” Lee said.
A flood watch posted Friday for Lehigh, Northampton and several other counties remains in effect through Sunday morning.
“For the most part the rain has stopped,” Lee said. “Now we just have to figure out how much that will affect rivers and how much the rivers will rise.”
Downpours on Saturday made travel tricky as flood-prone roads quickly became dangerous.
The high water mark in Lehigh County was Center Valley, where 2.2 inches of rain was reported just after 2 p.m., according to the weather service.
In Northampton County, Martins Creek (2.17 inches) and Easton (2.13) had the most rain, according to precipitation amounts reported by the weather service.
