Heavy Rain, Flash Flood Threat From Parts of the South to the East Coast This Week

Brian Donegan
Published: July 6,2017
In classic early-July fashion, thunderstorms with heavy rainfall have been affecting a swath from the South to the East Coast this week, leading to localized flash flooding in a number of locations.
The potential for more heavy downpours will continue on Thursday as waves of low pressure ripple along a stalled front while intercepting a humid air mass.
(MORE: View National Interactive Radar Map)

Current Radar and Alerts

Severe flooding inundated homes and roads in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday night. The National Weather Service said that more than 3 inches of rain fell in the city in a short period of time.
Downtown Butler saw floodwaters rise several feet high, trapping vehicles and prompting water rescues.
Heavy rain caused some road flooding southwest of Washington, D.C. early Thursday morning. The flood reports were mostly in Prince William, Fauquier and Stafford Counties.

Rainfall Forecast

A corridor of slow-moving thunderstorms with locally heavy rain will soak areas from the mid-Atlantic states to the Ohio Valley and Tennessee Valley on Thursday.
Parts of those regions may pick up 1 to 3 inches of rainfall, with locally much higher amounts where thunderstorms or clusters of storms stall for a period of a few hours.
The National Weather Service has issued a flash flood watch into Thursday evening for parts of the Washington, D.C. metro area.

Rainfall Forecast

Severe thunderstorms will likely flare up in the upper Midwest, but should progress quickly enough to keep the flash flood threat low.
(MORE: Severe Weather Threat Thursday in Upper Midwest)

Additional Flooding Reports

Locally heavy rainfall also led to flash flooding in Hamilton County, Tennessee, Wednesday afternoon, where several inches of water were flowing across yards and streets in the towns of East Brainerd and Ooltewah.
Torrential downpours affected southeast Oklahoma on Wednesday morning, where radar estimated that 4 to 6 inches of rain had fallen in Pushmataha and Choctaw counties. Some road flooding was reported in southeast Oklahoma, extreme northeast Texas and far southwest Arkansas.
MORE: Plains Severe Weather, South Flooding

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