Flood in Bath County, Virginia

The stream gauge at Back Creek at Sunrise (SUNV2) crested at the Moderate Flood Stage of 10.01 feet (4,370 cfs) at 8:00 pm EST, the highest level observed at this gauge since 2008. This crest was less than a 5-year event per USGS StreamStats estimates for this gauge. No impacts of the flooding were reported, perhaps due to the rural nature of land use surrounding the gauge.

Slow-moving thunderstorms trained across southern Highland County, forming in an environment of CAPE exceeding 2,500 J/Kg and Precipitable Water of around 1.5 inches. The storms produced 2.5 to 4 inches of rainfall amounts over a 2 to 3-hour period, with rainfall rates at times reaching 5 to 6 inches per hour. Steep terrain in the Back Creek basin aided in creating efficient runoff to cause the stream gauge at Back Creek at Sunrise to rise to 10.01 feet, exceeding Moderate Flood Stage set at 10 feet. This is the highest this gauge has risen since 2008. FLASH estimated that rainfall just upstream from the stream gauge was over 3 times greater than 1-hour Flash Flood Guidance. CREST Unit Streamflow was estimating over 1,000 cfs per square mile, whiile CREST 1-hour Average Return Interval estimates put this rainfall at well over a 200-year event.