Flood — Galax (c), Virginia

2014-07-03 · near Galax, Galax (c), Virginia

Event narrative

Urban flooding reported in several locations around Galax with a few street closed as up to 1.50 inches of rain fell in a less than 3 hours.

Wider weather episode

A cold front slowly pushed across the area during the afternoon and evening and interacted with deep moisture from Hurricane Arthur tracking up the east coast. This triggered widespread thunderstorms activity with some high winds, hail and heavy rainfall. A Flash Flood Watch was issued early on the 3rd and showers and thunderstorms by mid-afternoon prompted the issuance of several Flood Advisories (FLS) mainly in urban areas including Roanoke and Buena Vista. A Small Stream FLS was issued by late afternoon across parts of Wythe and Grayson counties where radar estimated over 3 inches of rainfall in some basins. An Urban Flood Warning was issued for the City of Galax, where there were reports of some urban-type flooding. As the area of heavy rainfall shifted further east a Flash Flood Warning (FFW) was issued for parts of Patrick, Henry, Floyd and Franklin counties at 513 PM. Later information was received that a road was completely washed out by flood waters in eastern Floyd County in an area of 2 to 4 inch rainfall.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (36.6664, -80.9197)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 535278. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.