All-Time Record Floods Slam Schuylkill River, Perkiomen Creek

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PA — In the latest piece of extreme weather to hit the greater Philadelphia region, the barrage of rainfall leftover from Hurricane Ida Thursday caused the Schuylkill River and Perkiomen creek to flood to all time-historic high levels.

At 6:15 a.m., the National Weather Service confirmed that the Schuylkill had reached 26.85 feet in Norristown, eclipsing the previous record of 25.10 feet from June 1972. The Perkiomen, meanwhile, hit 20.62 feet at Graterford, beating last summer's record of 19.3.

As of 9:30 a.m., the most recently recorded observation from the US Geological Survey indicated that the Schuylkill's level had slightly fallen by 8:30 a.m., to 26.6 feet.

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In Norristown, Thursday's flood puts last summer's Tropical Storm Isaias to shame. The river soared to one of its all time heights in Norristown during that storm as well: 20.55 feet.

The flooding was historic across the Schuylkill's length in Montgomery County and into Philadelphia, where the river was at 16.23 feet at 8 a.m., just shy of the all time record of 17 feet.

"Major" flood stage is reached when the river hits 19 feet in Norristown. It's normally at around 8 or 9 feet, meaning it's roughly triple its normal crest Thursday morning.

This is a breaking story. Check back for updates as they become available.