Flood — Lincoln, West Virginia

2025-01-31 · near Sweetland, Lincoln, West Virginia

Event narrative

The Mud River gage near Griffithsville exceeded a bankfull level of 12 feet on the afternoon of January 31st. The river crested around 12.2 feet and then receded below bankfull again that evening. While the river was out of his banks, flooding of fields and low areas along the river occurred.

Wider weather episode

An advancing low pressure system set forth ample amounts of lift and moisture to round out the month of January. Widespread rainfall first entered into the southwestern coalfields of West Virginia on the morning of January 31st, and continued to invade northeastward and up into the higher terrain of the state. Local creeks and streams quickly spilled out of their banks on that day in conjunction with high water issues sprouting within low lying spots as culverts backed up. The southern half of the state encountered the bulk of the flooding impacts from this system, where over an inch and a half of rain fell. Several mainstem rivers also saw a response to the inundation of water, including the Mud River, the Clear Fork River, and the Tygart Valley River. Despite the rain coming to an end on the evening of January 31st, these rivers remained out of their banks into the start of February.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (38.2604, -82.0535)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1230452. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.