Flood — Lawrence, Ohio

2025-02-17 to 2025-02-19 · near Hanging Rock, Lawrence, Ohio

Event narrative

The Ohio River at Ironton exceeded a bankfull level of 52 feet on the night of February 17th, then rose to a crest around 53 feet the following afternoon. The river slowly returned to its banks early on the morning of the 19th. While out of its banks, flooding occurred along low areas of Storms Creek.

Wider weather episode

Light precipitation started to arrive the evening of the 14th, then more substantial rain spread across the area overnight into the 15th as a warm front approached from the south. While precipitation coverage eroded from southeast Ohio and northwest West Virginia during the afternoon, moderate to heavy rain continued to trail across northeast Kentucky, southern West Virginia, and southwest Virginia. This precipitation band lifted north with a front during the night, then a passing low pushed additional showers through with a cold front on the 16th. Rain turned to snow as cold air moved in behind the front, then light snow showers lingered into the 17th.

Rainfall amounts in southeast Ohio ranged from one and a half to two and three quarter inches. Widespread flooding led to many road closures across southeast Ohio.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (38.5424, -82.6955)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1235267. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.