North Carolina, 2024

Flash Flood in North Carolina, May 18, 2024

May 18, 2024 · NWS GSP · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Scattered, slow-moving thunderstorms developed across the mountains and foothills of North Carolina during the afternoon and evening. One of the storms developed over the city of Marion and produced flash flooding.

Where it happened

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

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$20,000
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

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 GSP wrote it up.

Scattered, slow-moving thunderstorms developed across the mountains and foothills of North Carolina during the afternoon and evening. One of the storms developed over the city of Marion and produced flash flooding.

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 91 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:43 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, McDowell

When
May 18, 4:45 PM EST to 6:30 PM EST
Where
McDowell County, 1.07 mi NW of Cross Mill to 0.28 mi NNW of Cross Mill
Cause
Heavy Rain
Property damage
$20,000
Reported by
Emergency Manager
Coordinates
35.692, -82.042

Emergency management reported numerous roads flooded in the city of Marion due to a combination of severe urban/poor drainage and small stream flooding after 3.5 to 4 inches of rain fell in just a couple of hours over a localized area right over the city. Youngs Fork overflowed its banks and inundated bridges at Shop Dr and Currier Ave. Water from Youngs Fork also entered the crawlspaces of adjacent mobile homes on Currier Ave. Unnamed tributaries also flooded Finley Rd, Miller Ave, and Roby Conley Rd, where floodwaters approached the front porch elevation of one home.

What these are

Flash Flood
Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in North Carolina in 2024Every state in 2024This day in weather historyWarnings in North Carolina, May 2024

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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 1186880.