Flash Flood — Kanawha, West Virginia

2010-05-17 · near Sissonville, Kanawha, West Virginia

Event narrative

This area had received heavy rain 5 days earlier on the 12th. Another round of showers fell on the 14th. The ground was wetter than normal. Rain estimates of 2 to 3 inches fell in an hour.

The most impact was along small tributaries to Rocky Fork, including Fishers Branch. An unnamed tributary creek along Route 501 flooded backyards and around homes east of Cross Lanes. Near the junction of Route 501 and 622, 2 homes were severely flooded on a private road called Valley Hill Drive. A private culvert could not handle the water. The water could only flow around the culvert on one side. The high water knocked down fences, went over the road and straight through 2 rental homes. Water was several feet deep in those 2 homes.

Rocky Branch flooded sections of Route 622. The headwaters of Martins Branch flooded a few homes, outbuildings and garages. Numerous streams between Pocatalico and Sissonville flooded, including Legg Fork. The Pocatalico Community Church had several feet of water in its basement. Even Flinn Elementary School got a few inches of water inside the building. The school is not near a stream. The principal said, normally it's not even a possibility that we'll get flooded. We weren't prepared for all of this water. The downpour over the wet soils caused runoff to flow down an urbanized hillside. A drain outside the school was clogged, allowing the water to come inside.

Wider weather episode

Multiple rounds of convection affected West Virginia from late Sunday afternoon on the 16th into Tuesday afternoon the 18th.

Initially, an easterly flow into the southern and central mountainous counties, helped trigger showers and thunderstorms late Sunday afternoon. Rains of 2 to 3 inches fell around Beavers and Glen Morgan in Raleigh County, plus near Meadow Bridge in Fayette County, causing minor flash flooding.

On Monday the 17th, a strong mid level low was over Indiana with its surface reflection in Ohio. The associated front moved into West Virginia during the afternoon. Short lines of thunderstorms formed parallel to their movement. Local downpours caused flash flooding when these short lines trained over the same creek basins. Some large hail occurred in Wyoming County.

On Tuesday, as the mid level low crept closer, scattered thunderstorms did form during the afternoon. Some minor flooding occurred during this final round of convection.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (38.5300, -81.6300)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 229357. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.