The weather lull won't last, as storms may bring another round of flooding to Bucks County
Bucks County just can't seem to catch a weather break.
The relatively calm Thursday weather will give way to another storm this weekend, which has caused the National Weather Service in Mount Holly to issue a flood watch alert, beginning Friday evening and lasting throughout Saturday.
With an inch of rain and gusty winds in the forecast, there is concern for flooding and downed wires and fallen trees since the ground is already saturated from earlier storms. Rivers and creeks are also high.
"One to two feet of inundation above ground level possible in low-lying areas near shorelines and tidal waterways," read a portion of the flood watch alert from the weather service. "At this level, widespread roadway flooding occurs along tidal waterways. Some roads become impassable. Minor damage to vulnerable structures may begin to occur."
The flood watch alert warns of possible flooding in Lower Bucks County and areas in New Jersey, including Burlington, Camden, Gloucester and Mercer.
Here's everything else to know about the storm to come this weekend.
New storm will again raise water levels of Delaware River, Neshaminy Creek
Alex Staarmann, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said the flood watch is mainly for tidal waters, and not specifically for the Neshaminy Creek at Langhorne nor the Delaware River at Trenton.
Still, Staarmann said the water levels of both could rise with the storm.
"The Delaware River at Trenton is currently in action stage and will remain in action stage for the foreseeable future," Staarmann said. "The Neshaminy Creek at Langhorne is forecast to crest just below flood stage during the storm, but there is certainly the possibility of flooding, depending on the rainfall throughout the day Saturday."
The Delaware River at Trenton's flood stage is 20 feet, and it reached 17.31 feet Thursday morning.
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The Neshaminy Creek at Langhorne floods at 9 feet, and on Thursday morning the water level of the creek was roughly 5 feet, having receded from a high of nearly 14 feet from the Tuesday storm.
Windy, mixed-bag forecast for Bucks County through MLK Day
All in all, Bucks County will experience a dull, rainy and windy start to the weekend, before the storm begins to clear out Saturday afternoon.
"We expect about an inch of rainfall over the course of this storm," Staarmann said. "And it looks like there will be wind gusts around 30-40 mph on Friday.
"Winds will pick up on Saturday, with gusts in the 30-35 mph range."
The full forecast from the National Weather Service bears out the details:
Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 44. Southwest wind 5 to 10 mph.
Thursday overnight: Mostly clear, with a low around 32. West wind 5 to 10 mph.
Friday: A chance of rain after 5 p.m. Increasing clouds, with a high near 44. Light and variable wind becoming east 5 to 10 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Friday overnight: Rain. Low around 42. Breezy, with an east wind 15 to 20 mph becoming south after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 35 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between three quarters and 1 inch possible.
Saturday: A chance of rain before 1 p.m. Partly sunny, with a high near 52. Breezy, with a west wind 15 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 35 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
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Saturday overnight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 29.
Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 37.
Sunday overnight: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 22.
MLK Day: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 35.
Monday overnight: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 21.
In its extended outlook, the weather service is forecasting a chance of snow on Tuesday.
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: A storm this weekend may bring a fresh round of flooding; what to know
