Many in Bradford rejoiced to be free from the freezing temperatures and snow storms last week, as the temperatures reached as high as 50 degrees.
But as many locals already know, with warming temperatures and melting snow comes rising waters that cause flooding throughout the area, and that is exactly what happened.
Once the flood waters receded, the frigid, snow-filled weather returned to pack more snow onto streets, sidewalks and driveways city wide.
Meteorologist Craig Evanego from the National Weather Service in State College said once the warm weather went away last week, McKean County saw a build up of 5 to 6 inches of snow over the weekend. Warren County saw even more snow with 6 to 9 inches packing on over the weekend.
When asked what caused the temperature to drop again so abruptly, Evanego said it was a combination of lack of sunlight and the fresh snow bringing down the ground temperature.
But locals should hold on to their warm hopes — warmer weather is coming.
“Wednesday will be the last day of this kind of cold weather,” Evanego said. “It’ll warm up again throughout the week, and by the weekend we’ll see temperatures in the mid to high 40s.”
Evanego added that by Jan. 22, there will be rain and warm temperatures again — which could cause more flooding.
“It’s not clear up to this point how much rain we’ll get or how warm it’ll be,” Evanego said.
With freezing temperatures following a flash flood, water mains are a big worry for locals as they tend to leak and break, but Steve Disney of the Bradford City Water Authority said all has been fine so far.
Distribution crews, workers for the city’s water authority that repair broken water mains, were not needed to be called out to work as of Sunday afternoon, according to Disney.
“All of our calls have only required service crews so far, which handle easier-to-fix situations,” Disney said. “Things like frozen meters and service lines, all things we’re used to handling around this time of year.”
Disney added that the water treatment plant doubles as an official weather station, which gives the city’s water authority the preparation time needed to face any kind of extreme weather situation.
“We know when it gets cold like this to make sure that all of our service equipment is in working order and is ready to be used,” he said.
The Bradford City Fire Department may also have been on the job a lot more often lately, but Captain J.D Tehle said it’s been just another day at work for the fire crew.
“All we have to do is make sure our equipment is ready to be put into action as soon as possible,” Tehle said. “Then, we’re ready for whatever comes.”
