West Virginia, 2019

Flooding and Heavy Rain in West Virginia, January 19 to 20, 2019

January 19 to 20, 2019 · NWS RNK · 4 events in 2 counties and zones

50 inches.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
4

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS RNK wrote it up.

A more substantial system developed January 19-20 with low pressure developing over the Tennessee Valley and producing rainfall of 1 to 2 inches combined with modest snowmelt of up to 0.50 inches.

What forecasters said that day

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 19, 6:23 AM EST, 37 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 19, 6:23 AM EST, 37 minutes before
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The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 flood, 1 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Rain, Greenbrier

When
January 19, 7:00 AM EST to January 20, 7:00 AM EST
Where
Greenbrier County, 0.5 mi WSW of Alderson
Reported by
COOP Observer
Coordinates
37.727, -80.658

The COOP station at Alderson (ALDW2) measured 2.35 inches for the 24-hours period ending 700 AM local time on the 20th. This was the highest 24-hour amount in the month of January on record at this site. The old January daily record was 2.10 inches on January 31, 2013. Nearly continuous precipitation data extends back to 1945 at this station.

Flood, Greenbrier

When
January 19, 8:28 PM EST to 11:30 PM EST
Where
Greenbrier County, 0.88 mi NW of Grassy Meadows to 0.74 mi NNW of Grassy Meadows
Cause
Heavy Rain / Snow Melt
Reported by
911 Call Center
Coordinates
37.830, -80.730

Grassy Meadows Road was flooded near were it crosses Patterson Creek and the Meadow River.

Flood, Greenbrier

When
January 19, 10:00 PM EST to January 20, 1:00 AM EST
Where
Greenbrier County, 0.3 mi ESE of Caldwell to 0.33 mi ESE of Caldwell
Cause
Heavy Rain / Snow Melt
Reported by
911 Call Center
Coordinates
37.779, -80.395

The Caldwell Tunnel on WV Highway 63 flooded and was about to be closed.

Flood, Summers

When
January 19, 11:13 PM EST to January 20, 2:13 AM EST
Where
Summers County, 0.69 mi N of Jumping Branch to 0.68 mi N of Jumping Branch
Cause
Heavy Rain / Snow Melt
Reported by
911 Call Center
Coordinates
37.660, -80.980

Several inches of water was reported flowing over Beagle Club Road at the intersection with WV Route 3 at Jumping Branch.

What these are

Heavy Rain
Rainfall totals unusual for the place and season that did not produce a flood.
Flood
Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in West Virginia in 2019Every state in 2019This day in weather historyWarnings in West Virginia, January 2019

Sources

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: 802382, 802365, 802377, 802408.