Flood in Mercer County, West Virginia

The Bluestone River near Spanishburg, WV (SPNW2), rose above the minor flood stage of 12.0 feet to 13.81 feet by 11:59 pm on the 31st. The river was still rising heading into the early hours of February 1st, and would eventually crest at 15.10 feet at 5:40 am EST. Flooding from the river inundated Highway 19/Beckley Road at multiple locations. Water may have surrounded homes on Soaring Eagle Lane and Little Sparrow Drive.

A deep low pressure system moved from the Four-Corners region east across the Gulf Coast states. This resulted in deep moisture flow riding a southwesterly 50-knot low level jet from the Gulf through the central Appalachians and the upper Ohio River Valley beginning early on the morning of the 31st, with precipitable water values rapidly increasing into the 1.1 to 1.2 inch range by sunrise across most of the lower Mid-Atlantic. These values are roughly two standard deviations above normal for late January. Snow cover prior to the event was confined to the higher terrain of western Greenbrier County into Pocahontas County, with snow-water equivalent totals ranging from 1.1 to 1.8 inches. Melt water from these locations would flow either into the Greenbrier River or the Meadow River. Steady rainfall entered southeast West Virginia around midnight Friday morning and, after a break, persisted through around 7 pm Friday evening before exiting to the east. Storm total rainfall amounts with this event ranged mainly from 1.75 to 2.50, though with locally higher and lower amounts. Multiples stream gages across southeast West Virginia were reporting flows in the Below Normal range of the 10th to 24th percentile of 28-day average streamflows prior to the arrival of rainfall, though soil moisture was in the normal range. D0: Abnormally Dry conditions were in place per the US Drought Monitor.