Happy Monday and welcome to another edition of the Beyond The Forecast weather newsletter!
Scattered storms are in the forecast this afternoon; but luckily, we shouldn’t receive nearly as much rain as some areas at home and elsewhere in the country got Sunday.
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Let’s start in Dallas, Texas. The city was in an extreme drought as recently as Aug. 9, so they needed some rain. Unfortunately, the rain that fell Sunday was too much.
Between seven and eight inches of rain fell in a few short hours, causing numerous flash floods. Swift water rescues were still occurring by Monday morning.
To put into perspective just how much rain that is, Roanoke had only received around seven inches in the past MONTH AND A HALF.
Here at home, heavy rain caused flooding in Nelson County. There was so much damage that Nelson County Schools decided to cancel classes today.
Here’s a photo of the situation in Lovingston on Sunday afternoon from Chrissy Huber.
Flashing forward to Sunday evening, Carroll County was soaked by storms. Highway 52 was impassable in spots between Galax and Fancy Gap due to the flooding.
The National Weather Service (NWS) in Blacksburg tells us it was a 100-year rain event in Hillsville and a 50-year rain event in Gladesboro. Nearly five inches of rain fell in just a few hours!
Blacksburg set a new daily rainfall record for Aug. 21 with 1.71″ of rain recorded, smashing the old record of 1.13″ from 1956.
Here’s a list of rain totals from a few more locations around the area.
You may remember similar flooding events in St. Louis, Kentucky and Yellowstone National Park recently.
Climate Central tells us that rainfall intensity is increasing across the country. They say 90% of the 150 U.S. cities analyzed now experience more average rainfall per hour than in 1970.
Warmer air can hold more moisture, which leads to heavier rain and flooding. We’ll see if this trend continues as we try to get a handle on climate change in the coming years.
After today’s storms let up, we’re heating up in the days ahead. Tuesday is likely to be the hottest day in our area since early August! Meteorologist Chris Michaels has everything you need to know in our daily forecast article.
You can always get specific forecast details for your zone, whether it’s the Roanoke Valley, Southside, the Highlands or elsewhere around Southwest and Central Virginia, anytime at WSLS.com/weather. Know your zone!
In case you missed it, we’re posting great weather and science content on WSLS.com. Here are a few links from the past week to check out:
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-- Justin McKee