The threat of flash flooding returned to North Carolina on Thursday, only days after Tropical Depression Chantal dumped heavy rain across the central part of the state, flooding homes and highways and leading to dozens of rescues.
The National Weather Service issued a flood watch Thursday for central North Carolina that’s in effect until 2 a.m. Friday, with heavy rain and thunderstorms in the forecast for Thursday.
A watch is a heads-up that flooding could occur. People living in the area are encouraged to monitor the forecast and be on the lookout for flash-flood warnings, which mean flooding is imminent or already happening. Laura Helock, a meteorologist with the Weather Service office in Raleigh, N.C., said multiple warnings were issued on Wednesday and there were reports of localized flooding.
The risk of flooding comes as heavy rainfall and scattered thunderstorms are expected across southeast Virginia, central North Carolina and a portion of northern South Carolina Thursday into early Friday. The Weather Prediction Center has issued a slight risk — level 2 out of 4 — for excessive rainfall that could lead to flooding. Rainfall totals could exceed two inches with up to four inches possible in some spots.
“We still have a lot of moisture across the East Coast, generally from the southern mid-Atlantic into the Carolinas,” said Marc Chenard, a meteorologist with the Weather Prediction Center.
The risk of flash flooding is highest in central North Carolina, where soil is saturated after heavy rain fell on Wednesday and where Chantal dumped rain on Sunday. The areas around Greensboro, Raleigh and Fayetteville have recorded rainfall from two inches to more than 10 inches within the past seven days, which is 200 to 600 percent of normal, the Weather Service said.
Early Thursday afternoon a few showers were bringing light rain to central North Carolina, though the weather was expected to intensify into the afternoon.
“I can see some lightning and some thunderstorms to our north right now,” Ms. Helock said. “Things will intensify to the west around Winston-Salem first, maybe around rush hour, and then move eastward.”
Ms. Helock said the storm activity on Thursday was likely to be more scattered rather than a “full line of storms moving into the area.”
“We should see less rain than yesterday and less than over the weekend,” she said.
Amy Graff is a Times reporter covering weather, wildfires and earthquakes.
The post North Carolina Braces for More Heavy Rain and a Continued Risk of Flooding appeared first on New York Times.
