Flash Flooding and Heavy Rain in North Carolina, May 26 to 27, 2024

Name: Flash Flooding and Heavy Rain in North Carolina, May 26 to 27, 2024
Start: 2024-05-26T06:00
End: 2024-05-27T06:00
Location: North Carolina

May 26 to 27, 2024 · NWS RNK · 5 events in 1 county or zone

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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $25,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 5

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.

Flash flooding was observed across central Ashe County, including in the Towns of West Jefferson and Warrensville, due to heavy runoff from about three inches of rain falling within one hour per multiple personal weather stations within the area. The three inches of rain during one hour has between a 50 and a 100-year ARI (Average Recurrence Interval) per NOAA Atlas 14 Point Precipitation Frequency estimates. Rainfall rates from personal weather stations in the area were measured at times to be anywhere from three to as high as six inches per hour. On Tuesday, June 18, 2024, NC Governor Roy Cooper signed a state disaster declaration for the town of West Jefferson that suffered damages this event.

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 May 26, 4:22 AM EST, 1 hour 38 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 26, 4:22 AM EST, 1 hour 38 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, May 26, 3:30 AM EST, 2 hours 30 minutes before

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In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 26, 5:50 AM EST, 10 minutes before

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The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 123 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 10:55 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 heavy rain, 2 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Rain, Ashe

When: May 26, 6:00 AM EST to May 27, 6:00 AM EST
Where: Ashe County, 1.94 mi NW of Wagoner
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 36.416, -81.429

The Cooperative Weather Observer at Jefferson 2 E, NC (JFFN7) measured a 1-day total of 3.90 inches of rainfall, the result of thunderstorms training across the area. Radar indicates that much of the rain fell within about a 1-hour period, though multiple rounds of rain passed across the station. This is the 3rd highest 1-day total occurring during the month of May for this station, but still does not rank in the top 30 1-day totals for JFFN7.

Heavy Rain, Ashe

When: May 26, 4:55 PM EST to 5:55 PM EST
Where: Ashe County, 0.36 mi SSE of Smethport
Reported by: Mesonet
Coordinates: 36.415, -81.498

A personal automated weather station (Weather Underground:KNCWESTJ54) measured 3.19 inches of rainfall during 60 minute period, the result of thunderstorms training across the area. This rainfall amount during this duration has a 100-year average recurrence interval per NOAA Atlas 14 Point Precipitation Estimates.

Heavy Rain, Ashe

When: May 26, 4:55 PM EST to 5:55 PM EST
Where: Ashe County, 0.74 mi SSW of Jefferson
Reported by: Mesonet
Coordinates: 36.410, -81.485

A personal automated weather station (Weather Underground:KNCWESTJ86) measured 3.11 inches of rainfall during 60 minute period, the result of thunderstorms training across the area. This rainfall amount during this duration has a 100-year average recurrence interval per NOAA Atlas 14 Point Precipitation Estimates.

Flash Flood, Ashe

When: May 26, 5:45 PM EST to 9:00 PM EST
Where: Ashe County, 0.34 mi NW of Smethport to 0.54 mi N of Smethport
Cause: Heavy Rain
Property damage: $25,000
Reported by: Storm Chaser
Coordinates: 36.424, -81.504

A YouTube video captured by storm chasers depicts multiple roads flooded by at least six inches of flowing water in the town of West Jefferson, including N. Jefferson Avenue, and W. Main Street. A small creek running under N. 6th Avenue near Badger Funeral Home was flooded one to two feet out of its banks, making the road impassible. Some vehicles became trapped on the flooded roads, with the occupants requiring swift water rescue assistance to escape to higher ground.

Flash Flood, Ashe

When: May 26, 5:48 PM EST to 8:30 PM EST
Where: Ashe County, 1.38 mi SSW of Warrensville to 1.7 mi S of Warrensville
Cause: Heavy Rain
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 36.452, -81.529

Multiple roads just south of the Town of Warrensville were flooded and impassible by heavy rainfall accumulations of between 2 and 3 inches during a 60 to 90 minute period. This included Highway 88. No damage was reported in the Warrensville area during this heavy rain event.

What these are

Heavy Rain: Rainfall totals unusual for the place and season that did not produce a flood.
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

Every storm in North Carolina in 2024 Every state in 2024 This day in weather history Warnings 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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 1176310, 1176247, 1176250, 1176075, 1176475.