Flash Flood — Roanoke (c), Virginia

2020-04-13 · near Roanoke, Roanoke (c), Virginia

Event narrative

There were several reports of flash flooding around Roanoke City including a car that was submerged in flood waters covering the intersection of Walnut Avenue and 4th Street. The intersection was closed. Social media photos showed flooding on Franklin Road at Wonju Street. A mudslide at a car dealership caused two cars to slide into the resulting sinkhole with some damage to the vehicles.

Wider weather episode

A strong cold front extending from a complex surface low pressure system, brought intense thunderstorms which produced damaging winds and very heavy rain on April 12-13. The heavy rains resulted from a deep plume of tropical moisture lifted northward ahead of the cold front. Heavy rain began during the evening of April 12th and exited the region shortly after sunrise on the 13th, lasting roughly a 12-hour period. Between 1.5 and 4 inches of rain fell across the mountains and foothills, with isolated 5-inch amounts along the Blue Ridge. The intense rainfall rates and rapid runoff caused widespread flash flooding of small creeks and streams. Virginia Department of Highways (VDOT) reported very significant damage to road infrastructure across numerous counties with damage totals exceeding $1.2 million.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (37.2478, -79.9460)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 885990. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.