NWS announces flash flood warning in Luzerne County

EYEWITNESS WEATHER (WBRE/WYOU) — The National Weather Service (NWS) announced a flash flood warning is in place in Luzerne County.

At 8:31 p.m., the NWS said doppler radar indicated thunderstorms would produce heavy rain in Luzerne County and that two to three inches of rain had already fallen as of 9:47 p.m.

The flash flood warning would be in effect until 1:00 a.m. Thursday, authorities report.

The NWS says flash flooding could impact the following areas.

• Muhlenberg
• Harveys Lake
• Sweet Valley
• Huntington Mills
• Lehman
• Dallas
• Orange
• New Columbus
• Pikes Creek
• Fern Brook

Areas impacted could experience flash flooding of small streams and creeks, highways, streets and underpasses, and urban areas along with other low-lying and poor drainage areas, according to the NWS.

Authorities say to not drive into flooded roads and to turn around.

At 4:45 p.m., the NWS previously said a tornado warning was in effect until 5:30 p.m. in northern Bradford County after a severe thunderstorm capable of making a tornado was spotted over Sylvania moving at 35 miles per hour.

The NWS says the storm would be near the following areas.

• Troy and Springfield around 4:50 p.m.
• Wetona around 4:55 p.m.
• East Smithfield around 5:05 p.m.
• Athens around 5:10 p.m.
• Sayre, Waverly, and South Waverly around 5:15 p.m.
• Litchfield and Litchfield around 5:20 p.m.

Officials urged residents in the impacted areas to take cover now and to move to a basement or an interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy building.

The NWS says to avoid windows and if you are outdoors, in a vehicle, or in a mobile home to move to the closes substantial shelter and protect yourself from flying debris.

Authorities say flying debris would be dangerous to those without shelter and mobile homes will be damaged or destroyed. Tree damage is also likely and damage to roofs, vehicles, and windows will occur in the impacted area, according to the NWS.

A Tornado Watch is in effect for most of central and eastern Pennsylvania until 11:00 p.m.

A couple of tornadoes have the potential to develop with strong-to-severe thunderstorms for the next several hours. In addition, damaging winds and tropical downpours are possible.

Showers and thunderstorms will track through central and northeastern Pennsylvania this evening.

Since there is a lot of moisture and humidity for the atmosphere to work with, any shower or storm may produce downpours.

The threat for thunderstorms for central PA will be this afternoon and then progress eastward into eastern PA for the evening.

By midnight, most, if not all, of the rain and storms will be done.

Quiet weather returns for Thursday and Friday with the chance of an isolated shower each day.

You can stay current on all the latest weather alerts and track the storm using the Eyewitness Interactive Radar .

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