Flood — Washington, Ohio

2025-05-30 to 2025-05-31 · near Bloomfield, Washington, Ohio

Event narrative

The Little Muskingum River at Bloomfield rose above a bankfull level of 16 feet on the night of May 30th. After rising to a crest of around 18 feet, the river slowly receded and returned to its banks the next morning. Route 26 near the intersection with Route 260 flooded along with adjacent fields while the river was out of its banks.

Wider weather episode

A warm front lifted into the area on the night of May 29th and remained present overhead until being ushered east by a low the evening of the 30th. Behind this system, a cold front approached from the north and slowly descended southward through the Ohio Valley on the 31st.

Rounds of rain moved across the area on the 30th, with some additional showers lingering overnight. Around an inch of rain fell across southeast Ohio during this time. Soils had become increasingly saturated during rounds of rain in addition to storms that occurred earlier in the month. Thus, even somewhat lesser rainfall amounts were enough to cause flash flooding across portions of Gallia, Meigs, Lawrence, and Washington counties.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (39.5628, -81.2100)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1256269. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.