Flash Flood in Portage County, Ohio

Water entered the basement crawl space of a residence and overflowed two ground level rooms built on a slab near West Twin Lake north of Kent, Ohio. Radar estimated around 2.5 to 2.75 inches of rainfall in a 60-90 minute period, which equates to a 100 year recurrence interval.

Thunderstorms developed along a slow moving frontal boundary during the afternoon, as weak low pressure moved northeast across the lower Great Lakes region. During the early afternoon hours, mixed layer CAPE values of 2000 j/kg helped fuel thunderstorm development as effective deep layer shear increased to 20-30 kts. Storms were weakly organized and slow moving, producing isolated damaging wind gusts. High rainfall rates were common with these storms, as precipitable water values approached 1.5 inches, with an area of training thunderstorms centered over Portage County causing flash flooding.