Flash Flood — Albemarle, Virginia

2018-05-30 · near Farmington, Albemarle, Virginia

Event narrative

Two cars were swept off Old Ballard Road at Ivy Creek. The occupant of one vehicle escaped and was rescued. The second vehicle was observed to repeatedly toss and overturn in the raging floodwaters. The two occupants of that vehicle could not be rescued and were found dead.

Wider weather episode

Upslope winds on the east side of the Blue Ridge just north of an approaching warm front aided in producing torrential rainfall and catastrophic flooding in parts of Central Virginia. Rainfall amounts of 4-10 inches occurred north and west of Charlottesville. Later in the evening, heavy rain developed in northern Virginia, with 1-3 inches in the southern and western suburbs of Washington DC, as well as again near Harrisonburg. This produced another round of flooding and some flash flooding that actually continued into June 1st. June Storm Data will contain those details when available.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (38.0659, -78.5679)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 760004. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.