Flash Flood — Henderson, North Carolina

2024-01-09 · near Mills River, Henderson, North Carolina

Event narrative

County comms and stream gauges reported flash flooding developed across Henderson County after 3 to 6 inches of rain fell across the area in about 12 hours. Multiple roads were inundated and closed throughout the county due to a combination of poor drainage and small stream flooding. This included Boylston Creek, which overflowed at least one road. Mud Creek near downtown Hendersonville flooded areas near S Church St and S Main St as well as parks and greenways along the stream. Bat Fork Creek also overflowed its banks and inundated Airport Rd, New Hope Rd, as well as runways at the Hendersonville Airport. Additionally, Cushion Creek overflowed its banks in the Fletcher area, inundating Jackson Rd and Howard Gap Rd.

Wider weather episode

A major/complex frontal system brought widespread rain with embedded thunderstorms to western North Carolina, mainly during the afternoon of the 9th. Widespread rainfall amounts of 3 to 5 inches (with locally higher amounts) in around 12 hours resulted in numerous reports of flooding. Isolated severe thunderstorms also resulted in a number of damaging wind gusts reports over the Piedmont, along with an EF1 tornado that impacted portions of Catawba and Iredell Counties.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (35.3930, -82.5850)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1159549. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.