Flash Flooding in Virginia, March 20 to 21, 1998

An area of deep low pressure over the southeastern U.S. moved slowly into the southern middle Atlantic region over a 24-hour period, then off the coast by evening of the 21st. The low, which entrained deep moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, aided in dumping storm total rainfall of 1 1/2 to 2 inches in the piedmont, with 2 to 3 inches in the Shenandoah Mountains and the Blue Ridge. The rain, falling onto saturated soil during a winter of wet weather, produced widespread small stream and creek flooding which closed over 100 roads in northern and central Virginia.A portion of one of these roads, federal highway 50 in Frederick Co, was closed by a rock and mud slide near Gore. Road closures, mostly secondary, included 23 in Culpeper Co, 13 in Orange Co, 11 each in Madison and Shenandoah Co, and 10 in Clarke Co. Water was reported up to car windows in Monterey (Highland Co). A water rescue was necessary at Snickersville Gap (Loudoun Co) when a vehicle became stranded early on the 21st.Minor river flooding (Rappahannock River) in southern Stafford Co occurred later that weekend; in all, portions of River Road were closed an estimated 20 percent of the time from January 1 through March 31, 1998. Closures were much more frequent in 1998 then for the same period in 1997.