Incessant rain may bring flooding

Looming rain clouds gave way to steady showers throughout the day Tuesday, requiring students to… Looming rain clouds gave way to steady showers throughout the day Tuesday, requiring students to evade puddles on their way to their first post-Labor Day classes and brings caution about flooding to the area.

With Tropical Storm Lee stalled along the Appalachians in Pennsylvania and West Virginia and promising only more rain through Sunday, the National Weather Service issued a flood advisory Tuesday morning through Friday afternoon for the Ohio River near Pittsburgh.

Lee’s remnants will bring between 1.4 and four inches of rainfall to the Pittsburgh area in the next two days.

For Pitt students, the advisory means packing an umbrella through Sunday and avoiding low spots prone to flooding.

The National Weather Service’s web site said that the Ohio River is expected to rise above 18 feet Wednesday afternoon, flooding the Monongahela River Parking Wharf downtown.

If rainfall is heavier than expected and the river reaches 22 feet, the flooding will reach the 10th Street Bypass, according to the National Weather Service.

PennDOT has also taken notice of the weather pattern encompassing most of Pennsylvania, urging motorists to use their headlights and common sense when driving in rain.

“Motorists should never attempt to drive over flooded roadways,” Scott Christie, PennDOT Deputy Secretary for Highway Administration, said in a press release sent out Tuesday. “Floodwaters are usually much deeper than they appear.”