Flood — Tazewell, Virginia

2025-01-31 · near Richlands Arpt, Tazewell, Virginia

Event narrative

The Clinch River at Richlands (RLRV2) rose to an estimated 11.2 to 11.5 feet on the evening of the 31st, though an exact crest is uncertain given the gage went out of service during the flooding event. Water was observed covering the ball fields at Critterville Park. Homes off of Alleghany Avenue and 4th Street, as well as along 1st Street, were observed surrounded by water. Some evacuations were conducted as a precaution, however there were no reports of flood waters from the Clinch River entering homes or causing vehicles to become stranded.

Wider weather episode

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 the Alleghany Highlands, with localized snow-water equivalent totals ranging from 1.1 to 1.8 inches. Steady rainfall entered central and western 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 the upper James River basin 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.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (37.0830, -81.8372)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1232366. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.