National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Tracking Severe Thunderstorms and Excessive Rainfall in the Southern U.S.; Winter Storm to Impact the Northern U.S.

A storm system will shift from eastern Texas into the lower Mississippi Valley Monday with additional threats of severe thunderstorms and heavy to excessive rainfall which may bring flooding. A Flood Watch remains in effect. In the northern U.S., a storm will bring heavy snow and gusty winds over parts of the northern Rockies, northern Plains, and Upper Midwest Monday into Wednesday. Read More >

Overview

A tropical air mass shifted into the area Tuesday, September 20th and for days, interacted with a stationary front to produce numerous rounds of storms. The storms had heavy rainfall rates of 1-3 inches per hour and repeated over the same locations in some areas. Rainfall totals of 3-7 inches were reported across the entire area from Tuesday night through Friday morning. However, there were some localized much higher amounts of 9-11 inches. 

While 3-7 inches of rain can cause flooding, the unusual amount of rain that fell over the past month (2 to 3 times normal), created very wet soils and amplified the flooding. This water loading of the soils caused an unusually high number of mudslides. A high percentage of the rain that fell ran across the surface instead of soaking in, causing flooding on every river in the area. Damage to infrastructure (such as roads and bridges), farm crops, homes, and businesses was also widespread. 

Regional Precipitation 72 hour Totals
72 hour precipitation totals
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