Flash Flood — Polk, North Carolina

2018-05-29 to 2018-05-30 · near Valhalla, Polk, North Carolina

Event narrative

County comms and the media reported that flash flooding developed across western Polk County for the 2nd time in less than two weeks, after 4 to 6 inches of rain fell throughout the 29th into the 30th, with much of that occurring over a couple of hours during the evening. The most significant flooding was along Brights Creek west of Lake Adger, which overflowed its banks and flooded multiple bridges, effectively cutting off the Brights Creek community for a brief time. Highway 64 was closed due to flooding along the North Pacolet, where a mobile home park was also evacuated. Additional closed roads included Green River Cove Rd, Holbert Cove Rd, and Warrior Drive (due to a tributary of the North Pacolet).

Wider weather episode

A very moist southeast flow developed northeast of subtropical cyclone Alberto, which made landfall across the western Florida Peninsula on the 28th and moved north across Alabama throughout the 29th. Resultant upslope flow into the southern Appalachians resulted in development of widespread heavy rain showers across western North Carolina throughout the 29th, with activity being most concentrated along the eastern escarpment of the Blue Ridge. By the time the showers tapered off during the 30th, total rainfall of 7-10 inches occurred along the Blue Ridge. This resulted in fairly widespread flash flooding followed by an extended period of high stream flow, with McDowell County being the hardest hit area.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (35.2170, -82.2950)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 760042. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.