Flood — Rockingham, North Carolina

2024-08-09 · near Leaksville Arpt, Rockingham, North Carolina

Event narrative

The Dan River at Wentworth (WENN7) crested at 19.09 feet (16,500 cfs) at 4:45 AM EST, just above the minor flood stage of 19.0 feet. This flood was about a 50-percent annual exceedance probability event (2-year ARI) per USGS StreamStats. The flooding impacted mainly low spots along the river with minimal impact noted.

Wider weather episode

The remnants of Hurricane Debbie moved north toward the area on August 8th, 2024. A strong southeast flow of wind on the system's northern extent, along with wet soils due to heavy rainfall, helped to cause downed trees and power lines over portions of North Carolina. Winds gusted to at least 30 to 35 mph in parts of the area with stronger gusts suspected close to 45 mph. The strong winds continued into the morning hours of August 9th, 2024. In addition to the strong winds, two funnel clouds were observed in Rockingham County. The highest rainfall totals were observed in Yadkin, Surry and Stokes Counties, where three to five inches were recorded, amounts that were generally 10-year to locally near 25-year average recurrence interval (ARI) events per NOAA Atlas 14 Point Precipitation Frequency estimates. Rainfall amounts for most of the remainder of northwest North Carolina were under three inches and generally less than 10-year ARI events. There were long breaks in between rainfall bands, some lasting two to three hours, which helped diminish the flooding threat. Another factor that decreased the flash flooding potential were antecedent soil conditions and streamflows that were near normal, but still recovering from drought conditions occurring earlier in the summer. As a result, bands of heavy rain did cause several first and second order streams to flood rapidly out of their banks, making nearby roads impassible for several hours until the water receded. The Dan River at Wentworth barely exceeded flood stage by less than a tenth of a foot for a little over three hours before quickly receding.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (36.4569, -79.8193)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1214889. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.