Flood — Salem (c), Virginia

2024-09-25 · near Salem (c), Salem (c), Virginia

Event narrative

Heavy rainfall, combined with poor drainage, caused standing water around 2.5 feet deep to pool along Kessler Mill Road. No damage was reported to the road, which was open to traffic after the water receded.

Wider weather episode

A nearly stationary front that extended south from West Virginia into Western Virginia and North Carolina Piedmont served as the focus for thunderstorm development during the afternoon of September 25. Some clearing allowed for an increase in instability, but not quite enough to support widespread severe thunderstorms. Favorable upper level divergence was also present over the area as an upper low closed off over the Middle Mississippi Valley, and allowed for scattered storms to strengthen and cause isolated instances of wind damage. Southeasterly windflow around high pressure off the Atlantic coast brought deep moisture to the central Appalachians, which supported heavy rain within the thunderstorms. Some storms produced rainfall rates of three to four inches per hour, and passed repeatedly over the same locations.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (37.3166, -80.0354)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1219077. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.