Historic, life-threatening flooding to follow tornadoes and severe thunderstorms

AccuWeather

From much of Arkansas up through the Mississippi Valley and into the Ohio Valley, repeated rounds of heavy rain this week may lead to once-in-a-lifetime flooding.

Transcript

00:00John, we've been discussing all day that, yes, even though we are tracking tornado-worn storms

00:04that are producing large hail and frequent lightning, it does look like the most widespread

00:08and impactful risk we're going to be tracking is going to be that for devastating and possibly

00:13deadly flash flooding. That's right, Damian. That's going to be the most widespread risk.

00:17Certainly lots of dangers from the large hail, the damaging thunderstorm winds, and the tornadoes,

00:22which are all going to be significant here. But the longer-lasting and more widespread threat

00:28likely will be what can be historic and life-threatening flooding. You'd see on the

00:33water vapor loop here, we're looking sort of at an x-ray of the atmosphere and the amount of

00:37water vapor and moisture in the atmosphere. Those blues and greens are deeper areas of moisture,

00:42and you can see that starting to line up now across parts of the central United States.

00:47And over the next several days, this is going to be the same kind of weather pattern as repeated

00:52rounds of tropical moisture are drawn northward, and we deal with persistent downpours over the

00:58same areas. That's why we're so concerned about the flooding risk here. And Damian,

01:03some places may receive what they would typically receive in four months just in a few days.

01:08That's right. That's why we're going to see that devastating flooding here looking forward.

01:12And we just updated our map here as we go throughout today, tomorrow, and even as we

01:16head into the weekend. As you mentioned, John, we're going to see waves of intense rainfall,

01:22so kind of break down why this is going to be such a dangerous impact here for all these people

01:26living in these highlighted regions. Right. And the biggest corridor here is going to be from the

01:31area from much of Arkansas, the Ozarks of southern Missouri and northwest Arkansas up through the

01:38Mississippi Valley and up the Ohio Valley. So that includes portions of Kentucky, southern Indiana,

01:44southern Illinois, Missouri, also Kentucky, Tennessee, and Arkansas here. And these are

01:50the areas that are going to receive those repeated rounds of heavy rainfall over saturated ground.

01:55The ground isn't going to be able to absorb any more of that water. It's going to run off.

01:59And the initial problems are going to be along creeks, streams and other low-lying areas.

02:04And then that's going to evolve into a major river flooding issue that can last for days

02:09after the rain even ends. So one of the things that we've been highlighting with this situation

02:13is that people may live in a community in this part of the country. You may have lived in the

02:18community for 25, 30, 40 years and never seen water where you're going to see high water and

02:24rapidly rising water in this particular situation. That's why I want everybody in this area to

02:29download the AccuWeather app, turn on push notifications. We deliver those warnings

02:33through the AccuWeather app faster on average than any other source. And we've had many people tell

02:39us that save their life by getting that advance warning and moving to higher ground in a flash

02:43flooding situation. And John, for some of these areas, yes, even if we are going to be seeing some

02:48of that major river flooding, that could, as it says there on that map, lead to widespread roads,

02:54even bridge washouts here because of all the rainfall we're expected to see.

02:59That's right. And in fact, that's going to result in perhaps major interstates being closed over a

03:03large multi-state area. That can be a major factor here. And of course, always, if you

03:09encounter a flooded roadway while you're driving, turn around, seek another route because you never

03:15know how deep that water is and how fast it's moving. There are so many lives lost in vehicle

03:21incidents related to high water. That's being aware of turning around and finding another route

03:27is a way to stay safer. All right, John. So we just highlighted this map right here. This is our

03:31AccuWeather exclusive rainfall forecast. And you can see that that darkest shade of green right

03:36there in the middle of that area you've been highlighting, that's where we're expected to see

03:39over, not up to, but over a foot of total rainfall. Damien, that's right. That's 12 to 18 inches during

03:47that Wednesday to Saturday night time period with an AccuWeather local storm max of 21 inches,

03:52which means that that's the maximum conceivable value in any of these locations. It is extremely

03:58rare for us to make a forecast with this high amount of rainfall expected outside of a tropical

04:04storm or hurricane. So obviously, there's a whole different weather situation, but think of the

04:08impacts here are like receiving three different tropical rainstorms moving through this area

04:14within a week. That's what it may feel like. And again, we're concerned there could be

04:18flash flooding that can escalate from a dangerous situation to a true life-threatening emergency in

04:23a matter of minutes. That's right. AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist John Porter, thank you so

04:28much for your insight and for joining us. We'll make sure we check in with you here coming up.

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