CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The wet trend will continue into the weekend in much of West Virginia and the accumulation of rain is starting to cause concern over low level flooding.
The National Weather Service has posted flood watches for much of southern West Virginia through Friday and may revise that to other areas. A system is bringing precipitation today to the southern coalfields and coupled with rainfall from Wednesday, there is a chance for flooding.
“Another batch of rain is coming in and passing through the southern half of the state later on this afternoon and evening,” said Meteorologist Dave Marsalek of the National Weather Service Charleston. “We’ve got a lot of areas that have seen a lot of rain over the last 24 to 36 hours. A lot of full creeks, streams, and culverts really can’t handle too much more rain.”
Although rain is in the forecast, it won’t be substantial according to Marsalek but it will be widespread which is almost as bad.
“One of the things that can get over looked is how much area is getting hit at once,” he explained. “If it’s hitting every single basin across the area, that’s just that much more contribution to creeks, streams, and some of the main stem rivers as well.”
Those who live near a low lying stream are advised to keep an eye on that stream or if you are in a flood prone area be prepared.
Plans for the long holiday weekend are looking soggy as well with rain in the forecast for Saturday and at least part of Sunday over a wider area of West Virginia.