Flood — Swain, North Carolina

2013-01-15 to 2013-01-16 · near Big Cove, Swain, North Carolina

Event narrative

Flooded locations in and near the Cherokee Indian reservation included the Parkwary entrance (US441), the Saunooke Bridge, which connects Big Cove Road to Newfound Gap Road, Meetinghouse Road and Whitewater Drive. Big Cove Road was also flooded in the Piney Grove area along Rabun Fork. Mt. Noble Road was damaged by mudslide. Oconaluftee Island Park was flooded for a while by the Oconaluftee River in Cherokee, though damage to the park was minimal. Several roads were damaged by flash flooding and landslides, resulting in a federal disaster declaration.

Wider weather episode

A deep long wave trough developed over the western states around January 10th. The trough gradually moved east over a period of several days. As it approached the eastern states, it took on a positive tilt, with the surface cold front stalling across the south Appalachians for several days. Heavy rain periodically fell from late on the 13th through the evening hours of the 17th. The trough eventually filled, but not before a trailing southern stream upper low brought a last shot of heavy rain to the region during the overnight hours over the 17th. The rain changed to snow in some areas before ending. Perceptible water (PW) amounts were upwards of 300 percent of normal. In fact, PW readings at Atlanta and Greensboro were among the highest on record for January. Over a four day period, rainfall amounts ranged from 4 to 10 inches across the southern Appalachians. The heaviest totals were recorded across the southwest mountains, including the Smokies, Snowbird and Nantahala Mountains. Several automated rain gauges recorded 8 to 10 inches of rain in the headwaters of the Nantahala and Oconaluftee Rivers. The prolonged heavy rain resulted is several landslides across the North Carolina mountains. Roads and homes were damaged by these debris flows. While several instances of stream and main-stem river flooding were reported, the prolonged nature of the rainfall kept the flooding from becoming more extensive or damaging than it otherwise would have been.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (35.5910, -83.2800)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 431923. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.