A Flood Watch covers a wide stretch of Appalachia through Wednesday evening. Slow-moving storms are expected to dump heavy rain on ground already soaked from recent weeks.
Three separate National Weather Service offices issued the watch. Together they cover parts of Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia and Tennessee.
Eastern Kentucky: The Widest Watch
The NWS Jackson office issued the largest watch of the day. It runs from 1 PM through this evening.
Twenty counties are included, stretching from Johnson and Martin in the northeast to Bell and Harlan along the Tennessee border. Cities affected include Hazard, Pikeville, Harlan, Whitesburg, London and Corbin.
Numerous showers and thunderstorms are expected this afternoon and evening. Locations hit by repeated downpours face the highest flash flood risk.
Southern and Western West Virginia
The NWS Charleston office extended its own watch through this evening. It covers Wayne, Lincoln, Mingo, Logan, Boone, McDowell, Wyoming and Raleigh counties.
Cities in the zone include Beckley, Williamson, Logan, Man and Mullens. Soils here are already compromised from recent rainfall.
That saturation raises the risk. Even slow-moving storms could push small streams and creeks out of their banks.
A second, smaller watch from the same office covers Lawrence County, Kentucky, plus Buchanan and Dickenson counties in southwest Virginia. It runs on the same timeline, through this evening.
Southwest Virginia: Lee and Wise Counties
The NWS Morristown office posted a watch for Lee and Wise counties. It also runs from 1 PM through this evening.
Norton, Wise, Big Stone Gap and Coeburn are among the towns included. Numerous showers and thunderstorms are expected there too, with the same flash flood concern.
What to Do Before Storms Arrive
Never drive through flooded roads. Water depth is hard to judge, and it takes surprisingly little to sweep a car away.
Anyone near small creeks or hollows should stay alert this afternoon and evening. Water can rise fast in narrow valleys.
Keep an eye on later forecasts. Be ready to act quickly if a Flash Flood Warning is issued for your area.
Relief is coming. Dry, cooler weather moves in Thursday and should last through the weekend.
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