On January 11-12 an amplified upper trough over the south central states along with a slow-moving frontal boundary brought heavy rainfall of 4 to 5 inches in about 36 hours across much of Watauga County. 20 inches at Sandy Flats IFLOWS (SDRN7).
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Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS RNK wrote it up.
On January 11-12 an amplified upper trough over the south central states along with a slow-moving frontal boundary brought heavy rainfall of 4 to 5 inches in about 36 hours across much of Watauga County. The highst gauge report was 5.20 inches at Sandy Flats IFLOWS (SDRN7). The Boone COOP had (records back to 1980) recorded 3.00 for the 24-hour period ending 12z (7AM) on January 12th which was the 3rd highest one-day January rainfall at this site. Including the previous Boone COOP with records back to 1929, it ranked as the 4th highest daily January rainfall at Boone. The county was in a Moderate Drought category on the U.S. Drought Monitor preceding this event, which may have lessened the severity of flooding that occurred.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Blacksburg, VA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 11, 8:17 PM EST, 3 hours 43 minutes earlier.
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</html>The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
The Watauga River at Sugar Grove (SGWN7) USGS gauge crested at 7.04 feet (Minor flood stage - 6 ft.) early on the 12th. Several low-water bridges and roads near the river were flooded and closed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in North Carolina in 2018Every state in 2018This day in weather historyWarnings in North Carolina, January 2018
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 737749.