Storm creates record deluge
Last week, I wrote about the fact that Smethport, Pennsylvania, located in McKean County, has the honor of having the record for the coldest temperature recorded in our state at 42 degrees below zero. Smethport also holds another famous weather record 鈥� for rainfall, not only in Pennsylvania, but possibly in the world.
Perhaps the most extraordinary rainfall ever measured in the world occurred in this unlikely location. Rainfall started around midnight on July 17, 1942. By 9 a.m. on July 18, six inches of rain had fallen. Then, between 9 a.m. and noon, another 28.50 inches of rain was recorded with a storm total of 34.50 inches. In fact, 30.70 inches fell in six hours.
Hillsides in the Smethport area were stripped of vegetation to the bedrock due to flooding. Fifteen people drowned during the storm. The rain was caused by a stalled weather system over the hilly terrain.
According to Christopher Burt, in his book 鈥淓xtreme Weather,鈥� no such rain intensity has ever been recorded anywhere else in the world. Other station records in the state include 20.40 inches in Emporium over a 12-hour period and 18.50 inches at Mount Jewett in 18 hours. More than 600 sheets of weather data and reports were compiled to substantiate this record.
The Smethport storm was also notable for the intensity of the rainfall. The 34.50 inch total is also the sixth largest 24-hour rainfall ever record in the entire country 鈥� Alvin, Texas, holds the 24-hour U.S. record for rainfall with an amazing 43 inches on July 26, 1979.
The 24-hour world record for rainfall is 73.62 inches at Cilaos, La Reunion Island. It may be of interest to note that the most rainfall in the Uniontown area in a 24-hour period was 4.60 inches on October 15, 1954.