Flash Flood in Cuyahoga County, Ohio

Heavy rain and thunderstorms moved across Cuyahoga County during the morning hours of the 7th. The first reports of flash flooding occurred in Berea and then quickly expanded into Brookpark. Several roads, including State Route 237 through Berea, were closed. As the heavy rain continued, major streets across Cleveland became flooded. In downtown Cleveland, flash flooding occurred along streets just north of Superior Avenue, especially near the intersection with Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. In this area, seventeen people had to be rescused from their vehicles, and a total of thirty five rescues were performed on other streets throughout downtown Cleveland. Approximately thirty eight residences and two businesses sustained major flood damage. Rainfall reports across Cuyahoga County from this event ranged from 1.74 inches in North Royalton to 3.74 inches in Westlake. The majority of the rain fell in a four hour time period between 7 am and 11 am.

A frontal boundary stretched from west to east across northern Ohio during the early morning hours of the 7th. This frontal boundary was associated with low pressure centered over the Plains. Through the day on the 7th, this boundary moved north allowing a warm and humid airmass to set up over the region. Thunderstorms developed across the area during the morning hours of the 7th, and again during the afternoon and evening hours.