Flood Watches have been posted for Thursday and Thursday Night for all of central and eastern Kentucky, southern Ohio and extremem western West Virginia....

Flash Flood watches have been posted for western Kentucky, western Tennessee, southern portions of Missouri, Illinois and Indiana, most of the state of Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma...


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Flash flooding is a little bit different then flooding, hence the different watches posted by the National Weather Service. A Flash flood watch is posted when heavy rains fall during a short period of time. The rapid runoff causes quick water rises in low lying areas, areas of poor drainage, creeks and streams. A flood watch means the potential is there for flooding based on current forecasts. The danger in a flash flood watch is how quickly the flooding can develop. So residents living ni the Ohio Valley and Mississippi River Valley need to be aware of the latest forecasts throughout the day.


THE SETUP
A frontal boundary has stalled out over the state of Kentucky, southern Indiana, southern Illinois and southern Missouri. A series of disturbances will ride along this boundary bringing very heavy periods of rain to the area over the next 24 to 36 hours. Latest QPF numbers continue to show between 3 and 5 inches of rain by Friday afternoon along the Ohio River with isolated amounts to 6 inches. Along with the heavy rains could come a few heavy thunderstorms as well. This is why some of the forecasted rainfall amounts are a little up in the air right now. If your location is one that receives a heavy thunderstorm you will more than likely be on the high end of the anticipated rainfall amounts. If you do not pick up any convective activity you will more than likely be on the lower end of things. Nonetheless, all residents within the watch areas need to keep it tuned to ther local news sources this afternoon and tonight.

This is the same areas that have been completely inundated with heavy rains over the past several weeks. Over a foot of rain fell across this area about two weeks ago raising all creek and stream levels and flooding some of the major rivers including the Ohio. It will not take much to aggrevate the situation again as the ground is already saturated. If you plan to travel within this area be prepared for closed roadways by tonight becuase of flooding, especially near rivers, creeks and streams. The saying "turn around dont drown" applies here. It only takes just a few inches of rapidly flowing water to swift your vehicle away.

I will continue to update throughtout day.

-CS