State College/Penn State¶
Climatology: State College/Penn State has a humid continental climate, with distinct seasons including a hot summer and a cold winter. The surrounding mountains is influencing the region with stronger winters and consistent summers. Average precipitation approximately 2 to 4 inches with ample snowfall.
Ecology: The surrounding of Penn State has diverse vegetation including hardwood forests and meadows with a variety of wildlife. Penn State is known for its agriculture programs which have influenced the local ecology with its environmental and animal management practices.
Communities and Infrastructure: State College/Penn State is a well-developed college town with the university and the Downtown State College along with solid homes, restaurants, roads, etc.
Penn State's Hurricane Ivan in 2004¶
According to Penn Live, the remnants of Hurricane Ivan dumped from 4 to 7 inches of rain in central Pennsylvania September 18-19, 2004. The excessive rain from the hurricane caused flash floods as evidented by these images:
State College’s Memorial Field filled with water on Friday. Kathy Derge Gipe Photo provided to Centre Daily
The Cumberland Valley football team lines up to play defense halfway in water against the State College Area High School offense at Memorial field in State College, Pa., Friday, Sept. 17, 2004. Rain from Hurricane Ivan steadily flooded the field throughout the first half which was postponed at halftime. (AP Photo/Centre Daily Times, Nabil K. Mark)
1985 October - 2023 September Time Series Water Analysis¶
The following discharge plot shows daily streamflow average near Penn State from 1985 to 2023. There are several spikes, notably 1996, 2004, and 2008, which correlates with these hurricanes: Tropical Storm Fran (September 1996), Hurricane Ivan (September 2004), and Tropical Storm Hanna (September 2008).
Maximum annual stream discharge (produced from daily average) showing 2004 being the worst year with most impacted water in recent times.
The flood return periods are calculated for the period 1985-2022 as follows:¶
| discharge_cftps | exceedance_probability | return_period | |
|---|---|---|---|
| datetime | |||
| 1985-01-01 | 191.0 | 0.947368 | 1.055556 |
| 1986-01-01 | 596.0 | 0.289474 | 3.454545 |
| 1987-01-01 | 352.0 | 0.684211 | 1.461538 |
| 1988-01-01 | 243.0 | 0.815789 | 1.225806 |
| 1989-01-01 | 403.0 | 0.578947 | 1.727273 |
| 1990-01-01 | 291.0 | 0.763158 | 1.310345 |
| 1991-01-01 | 219.0 | 0.868421 | 1.151515 |
| 1992-01-01 | 232.0 | 0.842105 | 1.187500 |
| 1993-01-01 | 771.0 | 0.105263 | 9.500000 |
| 1994-01-01 | 734.0 | 0.157895 | 6.333333 |
| 1995-01-01 | 344.0 | 0.710526 | 1.407407 |
| 1996-01-01 | 1130.0 | 0.052632 | 19.000000 |
| 1997-01-01 | 412.0 | 0.552632 | 1.809524 |
| 1998-01-01 | 447.0 | 0.513158 | 1.948718 |
| 1999-01-01 | 631.0 | 0.184211 | 5.428571 |
| 2000-01-01 | 174.0 | 1.000000 | 1.000000 |
| 2001-01-01 | 177.0 | 0.973684 | 1.027027 |
| 2002-01-01 | 550.0 | 0.342105 | 2.923077 |
| 2003-01-01 | 621.0 | 0.236842 | 4.222222 |
| 2004-01-01 | 1620.0 | 0.026316 | 38.000000 |
| 2005-01-01 | 519.0 | 0.368421 | 2.714286 |
| 2006-01-01 | 313.0 | 0.736842 | 1.357143 |
| 2007-01-01 | 368.0 | 0.657895 | 1.520000 |
| 2008-01-01 | 787.0 | 0.078947 | 12.666667 |
| 2009-01-01 | 212.0 | 0.894737 | 1.117647 |
| 2010-01-01 | 593.0 | 0.315789 | 3.166667 |
| 2011-01-01 | 625.0 | 0.210526 | 4.750000 |
| 2012-01-01 | 476.0 | 0.473684 | 2.111111 |
| 2013-01-01 | 383.0 | 0.631579 | 1.583333 |
| 2014-01-01 | 499.0 | 0.421053 | 2.375000 |
| 2015-01-01 | 247.0 | 0.789474 | 1.266667 |
| 2016-01-01 | 209.0 | 0.921053 | 1.085714 |
| 2017-01-01 | 395.0 | 0.605263 | 1.652174 |
| 2018-01-01 | 740.0 | 0.131579 | 7.600000 |
| 2019-01-01 | 447.0 | 0.513158 | 1.948718 |
| 2020-01-01 | 497.0 | 0.447368 | 2.235294 |
| 2021-01-01 | 598.0 | 0.263158 | 3.800000 |
| 2022-01-01 | 505.0 | 0.394737 | 2.533333 |
Without assuming a normal distribution, based on data spanning from 1985 to 2022, 2004 Hurricane Ivan is a 38-year flood event for the Penn State/State College region.¶
Data Source¶
https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/inventory?site_no=01546400 (Daily Data)
Citation¶
U.S. Geological Survey, 2023, National Water Information System data available on the World Wide Web (USGS Water Data for the Nation), accessed [September 19, 2023], at URL [http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/].