ROANOKE, Va. – While we see scattered bands of heavy rain move through areas south of 460 through Saturday evening, the main event holds off until late Sunday and Monday.
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Gusty winds will be likely, especially west of the Blue Ridge Sunday, as Florence begins to ride up the Appalachians.
This will send a slow-moving swath of heavy rain into the area. Sunday afternoon, we'll see pockets of heavy rain with the worst weather expected Sunday night into mid-day Monday.
Our rainfall forecast has not changed since Tuesday night, as we foresee most of the area picking up 2 to 5 inches of rain. That may not seem like a lot, but it's enough for flooding issues. The highest rain totals will likely be in a small area near Carroll, Grayson, Patrick, Wythe, Floyd and Pulaski Counties.
Flash flooding is our main concern Sunday night into Monday, with mudslides being possible due to our terrain. This could lead to road closures, and perhaps even a few school schedule changes Monday.
Both Sunday and Monday, the threat for a tornado is low but not zero. Anything that develops could quickly drop a weak spin-up, so we'll keep a close eye on that for you.
Lastly, the heavy rain and our terrain may not bode well for some area rivers. This is especially the case for the New River, Roanoke River and Dan River according to the National Weather Service in Blacksburg.
How bad the river flooding gets ultimately depends on just how much rain we actually receive. You can find information for any river in our area at this link.