Flash Flood — Montgomery, Virginia

2024-09-30 · near Houchins, Montgomery, Virginia

Event narrative

Runoff from heavy rainfall over nearly saturated soil caused a portion of Roanoke Street to be flooded and impassible for a brief period of time. Rainfall rates at times were close to four inches per hour, with rainfall totals of around 1.5 inches falling in a 90 minute period. Crest Unit Streamflow peaked at 464 cfs/mi^2 at around 4:30 pm EDT.

Wider weather episode

Multiple rounds of showers and thunderstorms associated with the remnant moisture of Tropical Storm Helene passed across the region, producing localized heavy rainfall across soils that were already moist from previous rainfall. Rainfall rates in several of the storms that developed ranged from between three and five inches per hour and, in a few cases, were higher. Creeks that were already high from recent rainfall did not need much additional runoff to be forced out of their banks and flood nearby roads.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (37.1400, -80.3600)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1219138. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.