Flood — Galax (c), Virginia

2018-10-10 · near Galax, Galax (c), Virginia

Event narrative

The stream gage on Chestnut Creek at Galax (CCKV2) crested at 9.77 feet (4860 cfs) in the evening hours of the 10th. Minor flood stage is 7 feet. Several roads were closed, including Chestnut Drive at this stage. This was the highest stage since Novenber, 2003 (11.91 ft.) at this gage and was between a 10- and 25-year flood event (0.10-0.04 annual chance flood) per USGS information.

Wider weather episode

The remains of Hurricane Michael were preceded in parts of western Virginia by a so-called Predecessor Event (PRE) which brought moderate to heavy rainfall across several counties early on the 11th of October. A deep moisture plume surged north on the periphery of the subtropical ridge over the southeast with the very high precipitable water producing high rainfall rates. The heaviest rainfall from the PRE was concentrated in upper and middle portions of the New River basin and the far upper Dan basin where the amountsl ranged from 2 to 6 inches with isolated higher amounts in the 24 hours ending at 700 AM local time.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (36.6477, -80.9180)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 788357. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.