Remnants of Hurricane Ida will bring rain to Pittsburgh region
Almost 17 years ago, the remnants of a Hurricane Ivan drenched the Pittsburgh region, dropping almost 6 inches of rain in a day, turning streets and roads into rivers, destroying homes and businesses and leaving millions of dollars of damage in its wake.
Better dig out your galoshes, because another hurricane that starts with the letter “I” is taking aim at this neck of the woods.
After lashing Louisiana on Sunday, Hurricane Ida began its northeasterly march into America’s interior on Monday. It was downgraded to a tropical storm, but still has plenty of rain to dish out before it heads back out to sea. It is expected to arrive in the Pittsburgh region early Wednesday, and the National Weather Service has issued a flash flood watch for Washington, Greene and Fayette counties, along with other parts of the Pittsburgh region, starting at 2 a.m. Wednesday and continuing through the same time Thursday.
Though their names are similar, Ida is not expected to wreak the same level of havoc as Ivan. Pittsburgh is expected to get about 1.5 to 2 inches of rain, with heavier rain expected farther to the south, according to Jenna Lake, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Moon Township. Washington, Greene and Fayette counties can expect 2 to 4 inches of rain, she said.
The ground is already saturated from a conveyor belt of thunderstorms that have rolled across the region, Lake said, so “a lot rain is going to create a lot of issues.” Residents of the region might find rivers rising over their banks, streets and roads being closed and mops being needed for some basements.
“We’re expecting plenty of impacts from this for sure,” Lake explained.
On Monday, Gov. Tom Wolf urged Pennsylvanians to be prepared for the storm.
“This storm has left more than a million people without power and caused catastrophic flooding in the South,” he said. “We’ve seen what this storm can do, and we all need to do everything we can to be ready for whatever it might bring to Pennsylvania.”
West Virginia is expected to be hit even harder by Ida, with 4 to 6 inches of rain anticipated across large parts of the state.