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Length of Loyalsock Creek a concern as waters rise

Roads closed along Loyalsock Creek on Friday as waters rose 8 feet in two hours.

Coming off the third wettest month in Williamsport on record, the county's already saturated soil was blasted with another 2 inches of rain yesterday morning.

"All along Loyalsock Creek is a concern for us," John Banghoff, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in State College said. "We imagine it will continue to rise."

Values taken of the Susquehanna River in the city showed that it had risen by about 1.9 feet between 2 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Friday, according to the service. By today, the river is expected to crest at 12 feet between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m., far from the 20 feet the river would have to reach to hit its flood stage.

Loyalsock Creek was expected to crest at 10.7 feet and was forecasted to have decreased by a foot by today. The section of the creek in Barbours reached 16 feet, causing residents along Lower Barbours and Scaife roads to leave their homes.

John D. Yingling, director of the county Department of Public Safety, said the county is closely watching Loyalsock Creek at Loyalsockville, which, when flooded, would spill over to Montoursville.

"If the projection holds true at 11.9 feet in Loyalsockville, it will be a close call for Montoursville," Yingling said. "Any changes in rainfall could completely change that."

At the time of publication, rising waters forced closures along Routes 87 in Fairfield Township; 220 from Hughesville to Beech Glen in Sullivan County; Lower Barbours Road in Plunketts Creek Township and Kehrer Hill Road in Upper Fairfield Township. Also closed was Route 44 between Gap Road and Mill Road in Washington Township, Route 54 between Brouse Road and Route 15 in Clinton Township and Broad Street between Warrensville Road in Loyalsock Township and Loyalsock Avenue in Montoursville. Affected by this closure was the green bridge across Loyalsock Creek leading into Montoursville.

Saturated soil not only made it easy for water to collect across the county, but also helped loosen the soil for trees to fall in Milford Township and in the city.

Pennsdale Volunteer Fire Department worked against the flooding waterways on Friday, staying alert to deal with fallen trees, flooded basements and road closures.

"It has been pretty bad here within the township," Scott Oldweiler, fire chief for the department, said. "It came all at once. It's the first time we've had flash flooding like that."

Last month's rains totaled at 11.99 inches -- the most rainfall the area has ever had in July and the third wettest month on record. Banghoff says despite the extreme streak of rain the county has seen over the past month, August as a whole will be nowhere near as water-soaked.

According to Craig Evanego, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in State College, two of the first three days in August have already set a daily record for the most rainfall.

The total for the three days was 5.06 inches. The daily record for August 1 was 1.15 inches set in 1983, with that date this year seeing a total of 2.11 inches. The old record for August 2 was 1.89 inches set in 1964, while Thursday's total was 2.92 inches.

Social media had listed possible tornado activity in the area Friday, but Evanego said the weather service had contacted county emergency services which could not verify that.

"At this point it does look like this pattern will shift," he said. "Things will move much more from West to East than South to North, meaning more variability instead of the last couple weeks funneling a fire hose of moisture into the state."

The rain is expected to taper off for the weekend and continue to stay dry until Monday, according to Banghoff.

Sun-Gazette reporter Pat Crossley contributed to this article