FLASH FLOODING IN FORECAST AFTER WEEKEND OF HEAT
National Weather Service: Heat gives way to rain
The Lehigh Valley will go from scorching heat over the weekend to a flash flood warning Monday, as a cold front ushers in thunderstorms and cooler temperatures, the National Weather Service said.
The temperature Monday is forecast to reach a high of 84, which may not sound so cool, but is a reprieve from the weekend.
Temperatures reached 94 degrees Saturday and 96 Sunday, said Sarah Johnson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service at Mount Holly, New Jersey.
An excessive heat warning remained in effect through 10 p.m. Sunday.
It still wasn’t hot enough Sunday to break the record of 101 set in 1980, Johnson said, though the heat index made it feel more like 110 degrees.
A cold front will slowly make its way into the area Monday morning. That will provide a break from the heat, but the chance for showers and thunderstorms increases.
Johnson said there’s also the chance storms could bring damaging winds.
The storms could bring 1-3 inches of rain Monday, said meteorologist Ed Vallee of Empire Weather, who provides local forecasts for The Morning Call.
“We will get some pretty heavy rainfall, especially later in the day tomorrow and tomorrow night,” Vallee said Sunday.
A flash flood warning is in effect from 8 a.m. Monday through 8 a.m. Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.
Rain was far from residents’ minds Sunday, however, when they were still looking for creative ways to get wet and stay cool.
In Easton, for the second day in a row, officials turned eight fire hydrants in the city’s four neighborhoods into sprinklers for children (and adults) to splash in.
The Easton Department of Public Works in conjunction with Easton Suburban Water Authority installed custommade sprinkler attachments for the fire hydrants last week in preparation for the heat, Mayor Sal Panto Jr. said.
“I think it’s a fun idea because it gives kids something else to do besides the pool,” College Hill resident Kathleen Zigubu said.
She took her sons, 8-year-old Greyson and 5-year-old Caleb Harrison, to a hydrant sprinkler at March Elementary School on Sunday.
“It’s really hot out here,” Greyson said as he ran through the water with a dozen other children from the neighborhood.
“It’s burning hot,” said his friend, Alec Prentice, 6.
On Saturday, the city’s Heil and Eddyside pools closed to all but those with memberships after they reached capacity.
College Hill resident Erin Chudolij said she planned to visit one of the pools Sunday but was afraid it would be too crowded, so she took her three children to March Elementary, where they splashed in the sprinkler instead.
“I love it. I think it’s such a fun thing for the city to do,” she said.
Panto said he was unaware of any heat-related incidents in the city Sunday afternoon.
Some people elsewhere in the Lehigh Valley required treatment, said Erin Greene, a spokeswoman with Lehigh Valley Health Network, who said the hospital treated several people Saturday and Sunday for heat exhaustion that required intravenous fluids.
“In some cases they have been outside too long, not taking in enough fluids,” she said.