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Overview

Four-day (96-hour) rainfall amounts ending at 800 AM EDT on May 22nd ranged from 3 to over 12” in the most favored locations. Some of the 11-inch+, 4-day rain totals in Roanoke County were within the 200-year recurrence interval (9.78” to 11.8”).

The flooding that ensued was almost all in the form of river flooding that took several days to develop. Nearly every major river basin saw some flooding, but the most notable occurred in the New River basin where crests ranged from the 4th to 8th highest on record at the Virginia gaging stations along the river. Stages on the upper New were higher than in October 2018 when the remains of Hurricane Michael transited the region.

At Galax, it was the highest stage in 25 years, since January 1995 when the river hit 15.23 feet. At Ivanhoe, it was the highest stage in over 40 years, since November, 1977 when the gage reached 28.08 feet. The incredible rainfall, runoff and numerous debris flows produced widespread damage to roads in the region with VDOT reporting over $5 million in damages.

Of note as well during this period was that Philpott Dam on the Smith River which was completed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1952 reached the highest pool elevation in its period of record, reaching 985.31 feet on May 22nd. This was the first time the emergency spillway elevation of 985 feet had been reached. The previous high lake level was 983.06 feet in June 1972 during Hurricane Agnes.

Rainfall Analysis from May 20-22nd 2020
Total Rainfall from This Event
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