Flood in Vinton County, Ohio

High water was observed across several roads in northeast Vinton County, including State Route 677.

A low pressure system traversed the Great Lakes Region on the night of June 17th, then continued across southern Ontario into southern Quebec on the 18th. This system lifted a warm front north through the area during the early morning hours of the 18th, then pulled a cold front southeast into the area during the day. Meanwhile, a strong shortwave trough helped steer a strong jet over portions of the middle Ohio Valley and central Appalachians.

Rain started to spread across southeast Ohio and over into western and north central West Virginia the evening of the 17th. Severe thunderstorms and heavy downpours then tracked across this same area overnight before sinking southeast the morning of the 18th. While the bulk of precipitation departed southeast Ohio and northern West Virginia by mid morning, the lingering front combined with a feed of moisture from a Gulf system allowed showers and a few storms to persist across Northeast Kentucky, southern West Virginia, and southwest Virginia through the 18th. Precipitation finally came to an end on the morning of the 19th.

The heaviest rainfall occurred in Vinton and Athens counties, where three to five inches of rain resulted in flash flooding and impacted local roads and stranded several vehicles. Flooding continued in Athens through mid afternoon on the 18th while portions of Vinton County continued to experience flooding into the morning of the 19th. One to three inches of rain fell across parts of Washington, Jackson, and Meigs Counties while the rest of southeast Ohio generally received an inch or less. Severe thunderstorms also produced damaging winds that downed trees and powerlines across southeast Ohio during the morning of the 18th.