Heavy Rain in Stokes County, North Carolina

A personal weather station (Weather Underground: KNCWALNU10) recorded a 24-hour rainfall amount, ending at 11 pm EST on the 17th, of 6.41 inches. This 24-hour total is about a 25-year Average Recurrence Interval event per NOAA Atlas 14 Point Precipitation Frequency estimates.

A stationary front draped east to west across northern North Carolina provided the focus for training showers and thunderstorms during the evening of the 17th. Winds were from the east along the North Carolina & Virginia state border around high pressure centered over New England. The easterly windflow carried moist Atlantic air across Stokes and Rockingham Counties, with precipitable water values ranging from 1.5 to 1.7 inches during the evening. Several rounds of showers and storms passed across the area, with rainfall rates times exceeding four inches per hour per rain gage data and MRMS (Multi-Radar/Multi-Sensor System) estimates. This caused flash flooding of several local waterways, with at least two roads washed out in Stokes County, as well as a water rescue of stranded motorists.