Flood — Caldwell, North Carolina

2020-10-29 · near Whitnel, Caldwell, North Carolina

Event narrative

Although heavy rain tapered off across Caldwell County during the morning, stream gauges indicated continued runoff from the heavy rain resulted in high water conditions persisting along Johns River as well as Lower Creek in Lenoir through the afternoon. Multiple roads remained inundated, particularly in the Collettsville areas.

Wider weather episode

Tropical moisture and heavy rain overspread western North Carolina throughout the 28th through the morning of the 29th as the center of Tropical Storm Zeta moved quickly from the mouth of the Mississippi River into the southern Appalachians. Strong winds developed across portions of western North Carolina during the morning, downing hundreds of trees across the area. Multiple trees fell on structures and vehicles. Upslope flow into the Blue Ridge escarpment enhanced rainfall rates such that widespread totals of 3 to 5 with locally higher amounts inches occurred over about a 24 hour period. This resulted in development of flash flooding across portions of the southern mountains and northern foothills.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (35.9030, -81.5180)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 926351. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.