Flash Flood — Chester, South Carolina

2020-02-06 · near Leeds, Chester, South Carolina

Event narrative

Newspaper reported multiple streams overflowed their banks, inundating, and in some cases washing out multiple roads in western Chester County after up to 5 inches of rain fell in 24 hours, with much of that falling during the morning and early afternoon of the 6th.

Wider weather episode

Unusually high levels of moisture for early February combined with a slow-moving frontal system to produce an extended period of moderate to heavy rainfall across Upstate South Carolina from the morning of the 5th until the early morning hours of the 7th. Intense rain rates associated with bands of heavy rain showers and embedded thunderstorms developing along the front during the morning and afternoon of the 7th resulted in rather widespread flash flooding. A tornado also developed during this time in the Spartanburg area. Total rainfall of 3 to 6 inches resulted in flooding persisting along some main stem rivers and larger streams well into the 7th.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (34.5877, -81.3974)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 879189. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.