Blog · October 14, 2026 · Pennsylvania
Lackawanna County Flood Zone Map, Pennsylvania: a practical guide
The zone on FEMA's map affects insurance, building and resale near Glenburn.
Main page: Lackawanna County, PA GIS & Parcel Viewer (official map link, county facts and neighboring maps).
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Before an offer near Scranton, pull up the Lackawanna County flood zone map: FEMA's zone label affects insurance, building rules and resale. Covered here for Lackawanna County: locating a parcel on FEMA's map, decoding A, AE and X, and pairing it with the Lackawanna County GISViewer Parcels.
Checking the Lackawanna County flood zone map step by step
In and around Lake Scranton, the official source is FEMA's Flood Map Service Center: enter the street address, and pick the FIRMette or map view. Rural land near Clarks Summit with no street number is still easy to locate: zoom in from Interstate 84 then click the parcel area.
The viewer Lackawanna County publishes
Your first stop is the Lackawanna County GISViewer Parcels; it maps every assessed parcel in the county, Eagle Lake included. Without an address in hand, follow Interstate 84 on the aerial and select the outline. If the land is near Carbondale, copy the parcel ID from that panel; every records desk in the county asks for it first.
Sections, lots and bearings
Rural deeds near Mount Cobb commonly use metes-and-bounds descriptions, a series of courses and distances from a starting point. Platted lots around Carbondale usually use lot and block from a recorded plat instead, which is simpler to follow. Write down the legal description for the tract near Chinchilla for any title or survey request.
Field tips
Most viewers work in a phone browser, useful out on a road near Archbald Pothole State Park, but coverage can be spotty out of town. A saved image of the lot near Scranton and its lines is a good backup.
Deeds, plats and who keeps them
For a home near Lake Scranton, the map is an index, not the title: deeds, plats and easements for parcels in the county sit with the Recorder of Deeds. Closer to Mount Cobb, use the instrument number listed on the parcel record and the lookup takes minutes.
What the zone letters mean
Zone AE comes with a base flood elevation, which plain A zones lack; that elevation drives building rules near Lackawanna State Park. On ground around Clarks Green, a shaded X area is moderate risk, between the 1% and 0.2% annual chance floods; unshaded X means minimal mapped risk.
Beyond the mapped zones
Small streams around Blakely may not have detailed mapping, so look for water marks and debris lines. Wet ground around Archbald Pothole State Park is a separate issue from flood zones; check the National Wetlands Inventory mapper for a first look.
When a parcel crosses a boundary
The county touches Luzerne County, Monroe County, Susquehanna County, Wayne County, and Wyoming County, all with their own assessor records, especially near Scranton. A tract near the line by Chinchilla can show up in two county records, so check the neighboring map before you assume the acreage. For property near Lake Scranton, the Platbookmapper state page links each bordering county map for Pennsylvania.
Matching the zone to the lot lines
FEMA doesn't draw property lines, so pair it with the Lackawanna County GISViewer Parcels to confirm you have the right parcel near Chinchilla.
Getting answers from the right desk
If the acreage or value on a parcel near Archbald Pothole State Park looks off go to the county assessment office, since that office keeps the assessment data. Building or septic questions for a lot near Lake Scranton go to planning, building or health offices, depending on whether the land is inside town limits.
A short flood checklist
If the land is near Archbald, ask the listing agent for any Elevation Certificate before closing; getting a quote early avoids surprises.
Insurance, lenders and building
For a home near Clarks Summit, get the Elevation Certificate if one exists: it compares the building to the BFE. Building or adding on near Chinchilla in a mapped zone can trigger elevation rules; ask the local floodplain administrator before you plan.
Getting your bearings
Scranton is the county seat, home to the main records offices. Other places on the map include Carbondale, Archbald, Blakely, and Clarks Green, where town lots give way to larger tracts. Roughly 216,123 people live in Lackawanna County (Census estimate, 2023) spread over roughly 459 square miles. The county was formed in 1878, so old deeds can run back a long way around Lake Scranton. Places such as Lake Scranton and Lackawanna State Park make handy reference points on the map.
Quick answers
What is a LOMA near Big Bass Lake?
For a home near Clarks Summit, a Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA) from FEMA can remove a structure on naturally high ground; a surveyor's elevation data supports it.
Can a flood zone near Clarks Summit change?
Around Archbald, FEMA revises flood maps panel by panel as new studies finish, so look at the panel date.
What is a base flood elevation near Dalton?
In most cases, the base flood elevation is the water level expected in the 1% annual chance flood; surveyors near Mount Cobb use it often.
When is flood insurance required around Archbald?
For a home near Eagle Lake, it's typically required only for structures in high-risk zones with federally backed loans, in communities that take part in the NFIP.
Is the parcel map a survey near Clarks Green?
If the land is near Chinchilla, parcel lines are tax drawings, not surveys, so a fence may sit off the line
Open the official Lackawanna County, PA parcel map See it in the Platbookmapper directory
Not a survey. County GIS and tax parcel maps are assessment and planning layers. They are not a substitute for a recorded plat, deed, or licensed survey, especially for fences, setbacks, or boundary disputes.