Thundery downpours to spark flash flooding risk in southeastern US
Drenching downpours amidst a severe weather outbreak can trigger renewed flooding in some locations of the Southeast and initiate flash flooding in others this weekend.
AccuWeather’s Bill Wadell reported live from Alabama on the evening of March 15 as severe storms led to tornadoes and flooding.
The same storm system that unleashed a dangerous outbreak of severe weather, including tornadoes, on Friday and Saturday also ushered in numerous instances of flooding across places that were deluged by torrential rain a month earlier. The flash flooding risk will extend into other locations in the southern and eastern United States through Sunday night as well.
Cities in the Tennessee Valley were drenched with rain. Locations like Nashville, Tennessee, picked up 3.75 inches of rain on Saturday. In Muscle Shoals, Alabama, located roughly 60 miles west of Huntsville, Alabama, collected 6.01 inches of rain in just 24-hours.
Nearly a month ago, a similar setup dropped 2-8 inches of rain centered on Kentucky in several hours. The runoff triggered flash flooding on streams and significant rises on rivers, leaving low-lying areas under water for days.
Drone footage captured the widespread flooding that caused many fatalities in southwestern Kentucky on Feb. 16.
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Another zone farther to the east is expected to face flooding problems through Sunday night.
A cold front will unload a zone of drenching downpours and locally severe thunderstorms from the mid-Atlantic to the northeast Gulf coast.
At the very least, the activity will lead to some urban flooding issues and travel disruptions across the Interstate 81 and 95 corridors and will affect the major metro areas from Charlotte to Raleigh, North Carolina; Richmond, Virginia; Washington, D.C.; Philadelphia; and New York City.
The worst conditions along I-81 and part of I-77 will linger through the afternoon, while much of I-95 in the Northeast can expect the worst conditions Sunday evening and night.
Where a lack of rain has led to drought and a surge in wildfires of late, the downpours will help ease the situation.
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