Wildest weather moments of 2021 across the greater Philadelphia area

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Remember back when crippling tornadoes and devastating floods weren’t a thing across the Delaware Valley?

Yeah, me neither.

This past year was a doozy for record-breaking weather moments. As if Philly’s sweltering triple-digit heat wave over the summer wasn’t enough of a monstrosity, the months that followed really put the region in a tizzy.

Historic floods, a deluged and muddied Schuylkill, tornadoes up to 150 mph — and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

A wild stretch of weather led to serious flooding in parts of lower Bucks County, Northeast Philadelphia and South Jersey in mid-July, which the National Weather Service (NWS) dubbed a “100-year flood.”

Parts of the Philadelphia region saw 6 to 10 inches of rain within three to four hours. About 9 inches fell in Bucks, and roughly 70 people had to be rescued by boat from their homes or their cars, as they found themselves trapped in rising water.

Not long after the “100-year flood,” a tornado touched down in Bucks County. A car dealership in Trevose took the brunt of the damage. The showroom windows were blown out, and the roof peeled off. The high winds also damaged cars in the lot and collapsed the service center.

A TikTok user posted a gnarly video from inside the dealership as the tornado swept through.

Up until that point in the year, there were 29 tornado warnings across the region, 14 of which took place on this one night in July.

To put it in perspective, three to four tornado warnings during a busy storm in the summertime would be incredibly active.

Then came Hurricane Ida.

The first days of September were unprecedented and included most of the worst weather moments of the year.

The remnants of Ida plowed the region with historic flooding, rising the Schuylkill River to its highest level in 152 years. The crest reached 16 feet, making it the second-highest crest of the river in Philadelphia’s recorded history. The last time it was nearly that high was Oct. 4, 1869, at 17 feet.

The overwhelmed Schuykill bled onto the Vine Street Expressway — catching attention-seekers’ eyes, of course — flooded streets and homes, and shut down Aqua Pennsylvania plants in the region.

Once the water receded, Manayunk was covered in inches of mud. Much of Main Street was closed off for some time while businesses cleaned up and repaired any damages.

Within the short span of Ida’s wrath, NWS reported a whopping 16 tornado warnings.

NWS confirmed seven tornadoes actually touched down, six of which in the greater Philadelphia region, ripping apart buildings from Burlington County, New Jersey, to Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

The strongest of the seven tornadoes hit Mullica Hill, New Jersey. It was declared an EF-3 and traveled about 13 miles, according to NWS. At its peak, it was 400 yards wide with winds of 150 mph.

Only four previous tornadoes in New Jersey have ever reached an EF-3 stage. The state has never seen an EF-4 tornado.

The EF-3 spared some homes but ripped apart dozens of others, leaving not much left behind. Officials said it was the strongest tornado across the entire state in 20 years.

Notably, one of the largest dairy farms in New Jersey, Wellacrest Farms, took a direct hit from the tornado, and hundreds of its cows got loose. Amazingly, the farm only lost three out of the 1,400 animals.

Our flooding saga didn’t stop with Ida.

Near the end of October, heavy rain and wind pelted the area overnight. A recent nor’easter caused the already-elevated Delaware River to flood during high tide, bringing it to near-record flood levels. It crested at about 10.4 feet, just under the all-time record of 10.6 feet.

A lot of South Philly was underwater, including Christopher Columbus Boulevard by the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, which caught many drivers off guard.