Flash Flood — Lincoln, North Carolina

2021-08-16 · near Sine, Lincoln, North Carolina

$500

Property damage

Event narrative

Spotter provided video evidence of a tributary of the South Fork Catawba River overflowing its banks onto River Rd after 3 to 5 inches of rain fell over north central Lincoln County in just a few hours.

Wider weather episode

Increasing moisture and southeast upslope flow well in advance of landfalling Tropical Cyclone Fred resulted in development of numerous showers across the high elevations of the Balsams and surrounding hours during the overnight and early morning hours. Heavy rain showers moving repeatedly over the same locations resulted in locally very high rainfall amounts of as much as 12 inches in just a few hours. This resulted in the most significant flash flooding along the upper French Broad River in almost 20 years. Additional flash flooding developed in Lincoln County later in the day after a small area of excessive rainfall developed over the Piedmont.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (35.5270, -81.2790)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 982356. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.