Alle-Kiski Valley residents struggled to cope Friday with a double-dose of March madness -- a late winter storm followed by unrelated flash flooding.
Warmer, drier weather is expected next week, however.
A cold front from the Midwest was responsible for Friday morning's ice and snow, according to Bob Coblentz, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh.
Between 2 and 4 inches of snow fell on the Valley, with more than 10 inches falling farther east, Coblentz said.
The front passed through just three days after unseasonably warm air from the South saturated the ground with rain and snowmelt, said Coblentz.
By chance, the rainstorm hit at the same time river waters began to swell due to the saturated ground, he said.
"Once it's saturated, there's really no way for the water to go but into the drainage systems," said Coblentz. "There's no room to absorb."
Coblentz said the Allegheny River rose about 6 feet Thursday night, cresting early Friday morning.
The river rose most dramatically at Dam 3 in Harmar, according to Karen Auer of the Army Corps of Engineers.
The river's average depth at Lock 3 is about 11 feet, with flood stage at 17 feet, Auer said.
The river reached 17.6 feet before receding around noon, she said.
Several municipalities experienced flooding along roadways bordering the river, and at least two docked boats were torn from their moorings.
Lowe and Edgecliff roads in the Braeburn section of Lower Burrell were closed due to flooding, said Guy Cunningham, Lower Burrell public works foreman.
The water receded by noon, but the roads remained closed while crews swept away silt and crushed asphalt the floodwaters left behind, Cunningham said.
The Allegheny River also jumped its banks in the Schenley section of Gilpin.
Schenley resident Bob Serena said the river rose more than 5 feet at Lock 5, swamping the dam.
The rising waters at Schenley's Creek Valley Campground caused residents to seek higher ground.
"There was only a couple of inches of flooding in the few houses in the campground," said Randy Brozenick, director of Armstrong County's Department of Public Safety. "The trailers moved out (Thursday) night."
River Road in Rayburn Township, north of Kittanning, had to be closed.
The 100 block of Arch Street in Verona also was flooded, said Verona Police Chief Guy Truby.
In addition, two boats at the Allegheny River Boat Club along Arch Street were ripped from their moorings, he said. The boats, a 50-foot houseboat and a mock pirate ship, were recaptured at Brilliant Boat Club along Washington Boulevard in Pittsburgh, according to Don O'Conner, a member of the Allegheny River Boat Club.
By contrast, boats at the Steel City Rowing Club were grounded while the floodwaters receded.
Practices were canceled due to unsafe conditions, said Executive Director Dori Tompa.
"Our docks and parking lot are covered in mud," Tompa said. "A few inches of water crept in to the edge of the bathroom.
"It's been much worse before, like when (Hurricane) Ivan hit; (today) it reached a level where it began making us nervous," she said. "But the water began to recede this morning like it was predicted to.
"We were fortunate this time."
