Heavy Rain — Roanoke (c), Virginia

2018-05-17 to 2018-05-18 · near (roa)woodrum Fld Roa, Roanoke (c), Virginia

Event narrative

Roanoke Airport (ROA) set a daily rainfall record for May 17 with 2.71 inches. The old record was 1.43 inches in 1922. Official records at Roanoke date back to 1912.

Wider weather episode

A weak frontal boundary located near the I-64 corridor provided the focus for repeated thunderstorm activity through the evening across several counties. A broad area of low pressure over the southeastern U.S. pulled very high moisture into the region allowing the slow-moving storms to be efficient rainfall producers. Rainfall amount were generally 2 to 4 inches, with isolated higher totals indicated by radar in the heavier cores occurring over a several hour period.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (37.3300, -79.9800)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 749184. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.