Flood — Pocahontas, West Virginia

2024-01-09 to 2024-01-10 · near Thorny Creek, Pocahontas, West Virginia

Event narrative

The Knapp Creek gage near Huntersville rose above its bankfull level of 9 feet on the evening of January 9th. The creek crested around 9.6 feet during the night, resulting in minor flooding of farmlands, fields, and out buildings next to Knapp Creek and Browns Creek Road. The creek lowered back into its banks before dawn.

Wider weather episode

During the early morning hours of January 9th, precipitation spread into the area in advance of a low pressure system. Rain then continued into Tuesday as the passing system ushered a front across the area during the day.

The highest rainfall amounts, up to two inches, occurred over the northeast West Virginia mountains. Melting snow contributed additional moisture that ultimately allowed local waterways to rise out of their banks. Flooding impacted multiple roads from late afternoon into the night, and both the Knapp Creek gauge at Huntersville and the Tygart Valley River gauge near Mill Creek rose above bankfull level that evening. Rain transitioned over to snow in the higher terrain overnight, with flooding gradually receding by the early morning hours on the 10th.

In the northwest part of the state, rainfall amounts around an inch to an inch and a half were enough to allow water levels to rise on the smaller creeks and streams. The gauges on Middle Island Creek near Middlebourne and Little both exceeded bankfull thresholds, resulting in flooding of adjacent low-lying areas during the latter half of the day. Flood waters slowly receded, eventually falling back into their banks on the 10th.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (38.2188, -80.0489)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1148032. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.