The Susquehanna River is seen at the Market Street Bridge in Wilkes-Barre in this file photo from January. Luzerne County is officially under a flood watch starting Thursday at noon and extending until Friday at noon. The flood watch was issued by the National Weather Service’s Binghamton office at 3 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon.
Times Leader file photo
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It’s shaping up to be a rainy Christmas, as the latest forecasts from the National Weather Service are calling for 1-3 inches of rainfall starting on Thursday and carrying over into Friday morning.
Luzerne County is officially under a flood watch starting Thursday at noon and extending until Friday at noon. The flood watch was issued by the National Weather Service’s Binghamton office at 3 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon.
The watch is also in effect for Bradford, Lackawanna, Wayne, Pike, Susquehanna and Wyoming counties.
Heavy rainfall is expected to start on Thursday and continue through Thursday night into Friday morning.
With much of last week’s snowfall, which dumped over a foot of snow in most of Luzerne County’s municipalities, still on the ground, the rain is expected to melt much of that snow.
Between the 1-3 expected inches of rain and the melted snow, urban and flash flooding is a possibility. River flow could also increase and cause water levels to rise above flood stage.
The National Weather Service also reminds residents in the areas under flood watch to monitor later forecasts and remain alert for changing watches and warnings ahead of the expected rain on Thursday.
Anyone living in areas that are prone to flooding should be prepared to take action should flooding occur.