May to September 1992 Alaska floods From May to September 1992 in Alaska a combination of ice jams, snow melt, and heavy rains caused the worst flooding in this area. It is said to be one of the worst disasters recorded here. Rivers reached record stages during this flood.
January 1993 Arizona floods An unusual series of storms from the Pacific Ocean starting on January 6, 1993, and continuing through January 19, 1993, caused heavy and prolonged precipitation across the State of Arizona. These heavy rains caused the most widespread and severe flooding in Arizona since the turn of the century. ,
Minnesota, 1993
Great Flood of 1993 along Mississippi River Soils became saturated in the fall of 1992 across the
Midwest. Numerous rounds of showers and thunderstorms from mid-June into August led to significant flooding. Over of rainfall fell in isolated spots. Some areas of the
Mississippi Valley were flooded for over 200 days, leading to destruction spread across nine states. This was the flood of record along many of the streams and rivers that feed the Mississippi and
Missouri rivers. Around 60,000 homes were damaged or destroyed. The death toll was 50 and damage totaled US$800 million. The result of this flood was an aggressive campaign by the federal government to buy out flooded agricultural land from willing sellers.
Hurricane Rosa, The Great Southeast Texas Flood of 1994, and San Jacinto River Fire Also called The San Jacinto River flood of 1994 or The October Flood of 1994. Residual moisture from
Hurricane Rosa and a low-pressure system drawing moisture from the Gulf of Mexico stalled over a 38-county wide area centered around
Houston, Texas. The rainfall and flooding affected an area roughly the size of the state of Maine. Over 4-5 days, the average rainfall depth over the 2,880-square mile
San Jacinto River (Texas) watershed was 19.5 inches, reaching a maximum of 29-30 inches in some areas. Record stream flows were recorded at 25 of 43 stations within the affected area. Days after the rain stopped and the flood waters began to recede, a 40-inch pipeline and other smaller pipelines ruptured. Hundreds of thousands of gallons of gasoline along with diesel fuel, crude oil, and natural gas poured into the river resulting in burning masses of debris on fire that flowed atop of the flood waters downriver. At least 17 people died as a result of the flood; damage was estimated at US$800 million (1994 dollars).
California flood – January and March 1995 During the events of January and March 1995, over 100 stations recorded their greatest 1-day rainfalls in that station's history. The major brunt of the January storms hit the
Sacramento River basin and resulted in small stream flooding primarily due to storm drainage system failures, though flooding affected nearly every part of the state. The
Salinas River exceeded its previous measured record crest by more than , which was within of the reputed crest of the legendary 1862 flood. The
Napa River set a new peak record, and the
Russian and
Pajaro rivers approached their record peaks. More than thirty people were killed and 5 were missing. The flood cost $1.8 billion.
Northeast United States flood of January 1996 Significant snowfall during the first 20 days of January led to a snowpack across the region. Some areas of the
Northeast had received two to three times their average
precipitation since December 1. Significant snowpack was in place on January 18. Then, a period significant warming took place across the East, mainly during a 30-hour period, which led to ice jam floods across western
Pennsylvania and
New York. Surface dew points rose into the 50s and 60s Fahrenheit/teens Celsius, which rapidly melted the snowpack. Then, a heavy rain event occurred along a frontal zone moving in from the west, which led to of rainfall between January 18 and 19. Some areas lost of snow in only 12 hours, which led to the bulk of the flooding. The
Ohio and
Susquehanna rivers experienced their highest river crests since
Hurricane Agnes and
Hurricane Eloise. The
Delaware River at
Trenton, New Jersey saw its highest crest since
Hurricane Connie and
Hurricane Diane moved by in 1955. The
South Branch of the Potomac, as well as the
Cheat and
Monongahela rivers in
West Virginia and
Pennsylvania experienced their highest levels since early November 1985, which was the flood of record for the region. A total of 33 people died during the event, with 18 from Pennsylvania and 9 from New York. It was the worst flood event for the
Mid-Atlantic states as a whole since 1985.
Willamette Valley flood of 1996 This was the biggest flood for the region since December 1964. Above normal rainfall had been occurring since November 1, 1995, which led to significant snowpack in the mountains by late January. Western
Oregon then experienced a of rainfall on February 5 to 7, which in combination with temperatures rising into the 60s Fahrenheit/upper teens Celsius led to the flood. Much of the devastated Kentucky city of
Falmouth moved to higher ground after the flood.
1997 Red River flood The prior winter was one of the snowiest on record for the
northern Plains, with falling at
Fargo, North Dakota. During the spring thaw, this creates problems as it is usually colder in southern Canada, which makes ice jam flooding a major concern for this river basin. Starting in early February, a major flood was anticipated, over two months before the flood. This gave the region plenty of time to sandbag the nearby dikes. The river began rising on April 4, and flooding the area on April 18 as the flood waters rose up to above the long term prediction. Dikes gave way, and
Grand Forks was inundated. Between 75 and 90% of the residents had been evacuated prior to this time. Fires began to break out on the 19th as electric lines shorted out, which destroyed 11 buildings in downtown. The river and associated flood waters began to recede on April 23.
Fort Collins, Colorado, flood of July 1997 On July 27, upslope flow into the
Front Range of the
Rockies forced dewpoint temperatures to around . By 5 pm local time, thunderstorms began to erupt. Within 30 minutes, local amounts of had fallen near
Laporte and
Livermore, with more falling near
Loveland before the storm weakened around 8 pm. South of
Fort Collins, new thunderstorm development began around 10 pm, which spread north through the city, dumping another of rain before dissipating. Around midnight on July 28, upslope flow increased behind a cold front that triggered the initial thunderstorms. Steady rains began around 1 am, ending for the most part around 4 am for much of the region except for a narrow swath including Fort Collins, where rains continued towards 7 am. However, rains renewed across the region between 8 am and noon. An additional of rain had fallen near Laporte. By that evening, thunderstorms redeveloped. Starting at 7 pm, heavy rains fell at
Colorado State University. Between 8:30 and 10 pm, very heavy rains struck Fort Collins again. A total of over fell during this time frame, which brought storm totals to in southwest Fort Collins. The ensuing flooding of
Spring Creek caused a freight train to derail and completely destroyed two mobile home parks. Damage totaled in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Five people died. This flood event helped spawn a developing rainfall
mesonet for the United States, known as CoCoRAHS, which was anticipated to help detect ongoing flash flood events in real-time.
Texas 1998 floods In 1998, Tropical Storm Charley affected the Lower Brazos River watershed. Most of the flooding occurred in the Rio Grande River basin causing 13 deaths and $50 million in damages. A major flood event occurred in Central Texas after 30 inches of rainfall in a few hours. The Little River experienced the fifth largest discharge in its history. Flooding also occurred in the South Fork San Gabriel watershed and the Mill Creek watershed. Property damage of $750 million and 29 deaths were reported primarily in the Colorado and Guadalupe river basins.
Central and South Texas flood of October 1998 A tropical connection of moisture from Hurricane Madeline intercepted a stationary frontal zone, leading to extreme rainfall. Between October 17 and 18, rain totals of up to were recorded across central and southern
Texas, which led to the flood of record in southern Texas. A total of 31 perished during the event, 17 of which were found in flooded vehicles. Damage approached US$750 million (1998 dollars).
Hurricane Floyd floods in North Carolina – September 1999 The antecedent conditions to
Hurricane Floyd included the passage of
Tropical Storm Dennis through the Mid-Atlantic states during the first week of September. Only 10 days later, the combination of a stalled frontal zone, strong dynamics aloft, and a hurricane moving up the East Coast led to excessive rainfall from
North Carolina northward up the
Eastern Seaboard between September 14 and 17, with amounts of near being reported near
Wilmington, North Carolina, and falling farther up the coast. It was the most damaging flood in the history of
North Carolina. In
New Jersey, the
Raritan River and other rivers went over their banks, causing flooding in
Bound Brook and
New Brunswick, among other places. In
New Hampshire, the storm flooded
Belknap,
Cheshire, and
Grafton counties. ==See also==