Flash Flood — Frederick, Maryland

2018-05-15 · near Ft Detrick, Frederick, Maryland

Event narrative

Significant flash flooding occurred during the evening of May 15th from the city of Frederick southwestward toward Braddock Heights and Jefferson. The amount of damage shown here is total damage not already accounted for in other reports.

Wider weather episode

A cold front slowly sagged southward through Pennsylvania during the afternoon hours of May 15th. A line of storms spread ahead of this front, causing a widespread 1-3 inches of rain across North Central and Northeast Maryland. The western end of this line stalled, producing 3-6 inches of rain in a relatively short period of time in Frederick and extreme southeastern Washington Counties, prompting numerous water rescues and causing somewhat significant damage. The front stalled, and the next evening (May 16th), a second round of extreme rainfall struck much of the same area, with 3-6 inches of rain observed again in Frederick and southeastern Washington Counties. Renewed flooding ensued which continued into the morning hours of May 17th.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (39.4399, -77.3957)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 758577. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.