Abundant precipitation in 2011 resulted in the formation of nine new sinkholes and many other, smaller subsidence features associated with a coal fire in Centralia, PA. Additionally, fire vent temperatures decreased following prolonged precipitation associated with Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee. Just over 185-cm of precipitation were measured for central Pennsylvania, which is nearly twice the annual amount and represents the wettest year on record. Precipitation infiltrated the soil and bedrock, and interacted with hot bedrock in the subsurface location of the coal fire. Steam and other gases moved along the pillar structures, through mined-out coal areas, and escaped at the surface exhaust vents along the fire front. Surface regolith and bedrock softened and with the increased water weight, collapsed, producing subsidence features. As a result, sinkholes up to 1.8-m deep and 26-m wide formed. Some of these features have coalesced, forming even larger ellipse-shaped troughs. These subsidence features were mapped along the Bottom, Middle, and Top splits of the Buck Mountain coal from the Llewellyn Formation (middle to upper Pennsylvanian). Aerial thermal infrared images (TIR) reveal the sinkholes and fractures occur in alignment with three thermal anomalies associated with gas and heat release. This may indicate that mined-out coal beds act as conduits for heat circulation or that multiple beds of anthracite coal are on fire in the subsurface in Centralia. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.