Free and clear

Center Street Bridge, Oil City, Feb. 19

​While February 2026 was drier than normal, part of the region faced flood warnings. The flood threat wasn’t due to precipitation it was from ice on the move.
​
For the first half of February, area waterways were packed with ice. This didn’t cause a problem until early morning on Feb. 19. 

​The ice on Oil Creek had started to back up to the creek’s banks within Oil City. Officials monitored the ice jam all day as water levels fluctuated.

According to social media reports, things really started moving at 5:50 p.m. when ice on Oil Creek in Rouseville broke loose and created an imminent flood threat for Oil City.
​
The United States Geological Survey’s data showed a spike in the levels on Oil Creek in Rouseville as the ice jam let loose. Water levels reached 8.40 feet at 6 p.m. on Feb. 19.

​Minor flood stage for the creek at Rouseville was listed at 11 feet.  

​The night of Feb. 19, the water was reported on the rise and people were urged to leave the bridges and residences along Seneca Street.

However, just as evacuation plans were underway, the ice buildup pushed out into the river.

​Water levels on Oil Creek began to fall, reports said. The creek fell to 4.33 feet by Feb. 21.
​
As creek levels dropped, the Allegheny was on the rise on Feb. 21, according to the USGS’ gauge at Franklin. The level was reported at 10.02 feet early that morning. The action stage for the river at this point was listed at 13 feet.

However, on Feb. 20, Emlenton faced a flood threat. Social media reports said that at 9:30 p.m. an ice jam in Emlenton broke.

Oil Creek, Feb. 19

Oil Creek, Feb. 19

Ice on Allegheny River in Oil City, early February

Courtesy of waterdata.usgs.gov

Courtesy of waterdata.usgs.gov

The ice was moved downstream toward Foxburg and Parker, according to reports. The USGS’ gauge at Parker showed a dramatic uptick in Allegheny River levels as the ice and water rushed out. The gauge reported that the river was at 21.69 feet at 3 p.m. Feb 20.

​The extra water pushed river into minor flood stage. The river then dropped to around 10 feet after 8 p.m.

Ice on Allegheny River in Oil City, Feb. 19

​After all the commotion, it seemed that communities in the region were spared major damage from the ice jams.
WPXI’s Scott Harbaugh reported on his Facebook page on Feb. 24 that Riversedge Campground in Armstrong County sustained damage.
“Ice jam flooding brought the river way out of its banks destroying many summer homes at the campground. The owners are working as hard as they can to make sure, they'll be ready to open for the start of the season in April,” the post said.

Ice on Oil Creek, Feb. 19

​A little closer to home, the ice movement did take a toll on Oil City’s ice control device.
The Oil City Firefighters reported on Feb. 23 that they were “aware that one of the device’s pontoons has broken off. Its location has been identified, and we are actively working with the appropriate agencies to safely retrieve it.”

​Further east, it was a few days later before the ice action amped up. Reports said an ice jam had formed along the Susquehanna River in Luzerne County. The jam was causing many tributaries to back up, and a flood advisory was posted on Feb. 24.
​
Reports said that the jam forced the frozen water upward to create ice mountains 

Ice on Oil Creek, Feb. 19

A Feb. 28 post on the Saluda Standard Sentinel website, explained the formations.
“Officials and observers say the phenomenon occurred when moving ice along the river became clogged, creating a jam that trapped water and pressure underneath. As the pressure increased, large sections of ice were driven vertically, erupting into jagged mounds that in some places rival the height of a single-story building,” the post said.

​An internet search found that the ice cleared out around March 3.
Locally, the rivers and creeks in the region were mostly free of the ice a few days after the jams. There were still some large chunks along the banks, but they, too, disappeared with warmer weather.

Ice on Allegheny River in Oil City in early February

​There was some ice cover on the neighbor’s pond in Pinegrove Township on March 5 and by March 6 it was ice-free.

Meanwhile, weather stats reported a deficit in precipitation for February.
​
The accumulation for Jan. 1 to Feb. 28 was at 3.43 inches, which was below the normal 5.93 inches, according to National Weather Service data. 

Ice on Oil Creek, Feb. 19

The total precipitation for the month was .64 inches, which was well below the average of 2.66 inches. 

Nonetheless, the drought issue seemed to have improved by March.

​ A U.S. Drought monitor report released Thursday, March 19, still had most of Venango County in the abnormally dry category.

​However, Forest County was upgraded from the moderate drought label to abnormally dry.

The snow total for the month was 6.1 inches.

That number was also below the normal of 11.5 inches, according to weather service data. 

​From Feb. 1 to Feb. 10 the snow depth was reported to be between 7 and 8 inches.

​The depth fell to zero by the end of the month.

While February wasn’t as snowy as normal, it was colder. The average temperature was 35.4 degrees, which was below the normal of 36.3 degrees.

The lowest low was -8 degrees on Feb. 9. According to weather service data, the lowest low for that date was -13 on Feb. 9, 1948.
​
The highest high for February 2026 was 59 degrees on Feb. 21, which fell short of a 70-degree high on that date in 2018. 

​As meteorological spring began both Pittsburgh and Erie reported in on this year’s winter weather.
A post by Dakota Hunter on Erie News Now’s Facebook page said that the city was low on snow this winter. 

​“Meteorological winter is December, January, and February. Throughout those three months, our average temperature (highs/lows combined) was 26.3, down about 4 degrees. While we had quite a bit of snow, we were actually in a deficit of over 16 inches for the winter season.

​Remember, our ‘seasonal snow’ sits at 69.4 inches, which is data that is taken from July 31 to June 30,” Hunter posted.

​A graphic included in the post explained that in the winter of 2024 the city’s average temperature was 28.8 degrees and there was a total of 72 inches of snow.
​
The National Weather Service in Pittsburgh posted on its Facebook page that the city had experienced its coldest winter since 2014-2015, based on mean average temperature. 

​A graphic from the post showed that the average temperature was 28.3 degrees, which was 3 degrees lower than normal.

​The total snowfall of 44.5 inches was reported as 11.8 inches above normal. However, the post also revealed that Pittsburgh, too, was low on precipitation with a 1.84-inch deficit from the normal. 

Meanwhile, area waterways were free of ice and should hopefully stay that way until next winter.

However, spring storms have left them a little more muddy than clear at times.

However, if folks still want to see some ice there's an art exhibit titled "Prism in the Frost" that started March 25 and runs until April 14 at the Exchange on Seneca Street in Oil City.

​There will no doubt be some cool pieces on display. 

That’s just the nature of things ‘round here.