Flood-weary Alabama to North Carolina to dry out by start of 2016

By Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist

December 31,2015; 10:33AM,EST

 

 

The caboose in a series of storms with heavy rain will finally part ways in much of the interior South starting on New Year's Eve.

Floodwaters run high on the Chattahoochee River in Georgia

The last storm in the series left its calling card by way of torrential downpours and flooding in Alabama, the western part of the Florida Panhandle, northern and central Georgia, upstate South Carolina and central North Carolina spanning Tuesday into Wednesday.
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According to AccuWeather Expert Senior Meteorologist Dan Kottlowski, "The storm has unloaded 1-2 inches of rain on saturated ground, along and near the Interstate-85 corridor on Wednesday, on top of excessive rainfall during the past month."
Frequent storms have delivered 5-10 inches of rain, on average from New Orleans to Atlanta and Charlotte, North Carolina, during December. A few locations have received 12-18 inches of rain. In some cases, this is two to three times the average rainfall for the month.
Rain and thunderstorms will settle farther to the southeast on Thursday, New Year's Eve.

Flash, urban and small stream flooding will wind down as the storm track settles across the Gulf of Mexico prior to the end of 2015 and during much of the first week of 2016.
"Areas from northern Mississippi to central and northern Alabama and Georgia and especially the Carolinas can expect an extended period of dry weather that encompasses much of the first week of January," Kottlowski said.
In addition to the drier air settling in, much cooler conditions will be in store for much of the region.

Temperatures will settle back to near average levels this weekend. The average high from Birmingham, Alabama, to Atlanta and Raleigh, North Carolina, is in the lower to middle 50s.
Minor to moderate flooding will continue in unprotected areas of some of the rivers in the wake of the storms.
As the atmosphere reloads in the Southwestern states next week, storms will plenty of moisture will return to the interior South toward the middle of January.
It is conceivable the air becomes cold enough for a couple of snow events over the southern Appalachians and vicinity as January progresses.