CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Drier, warmer weather was on tap for the Mountain State during the Memorial Day Weekend, but that wouldn’t be until after a wet close to a soggy week.
High water was reported on Thursday morning in areas that included northwestern, central and southern West Virginia following rounds of rain, some of it heavy, over a span of days.
“In the atmosphere, we had this big storm system that kind of just came to a halt to our west across Tennessee and Kentucky,” explained Robert Hart, lead forecaster with the National Weather Service in Charleston.
“That was partially due to Tropical Storm Arthur that affected the eastern Carolina coast earlier in the week. It, basically, put the brakes on any weather systems moving across the area.”
Because of that stalled storm system, rain was continually moving into West Virginia from the south and east.
“That storm system should start to kick out of the area later in the day Friday,” Hart said.
As of Thursday morning, Flood Warnings from the National Weather Service were posted for portions of Kanawha, Wood, Roane, Clay and Jackson counties.
Problem areas at that time included the Mud River and the Pocatalico River.
Pendleton County was under a Flood Watch.
There were Flood Advisories for Mercer County and Monroe County.
The posted Flood Watches and Warnings were expected to change through the day Thursday and into Friday because of localized flooding issues.
The latest information was posted HERE.
After that, “Memorial Day Weekend is looking like it’s going to really start to warm up to much more seasonal temperatures, if not even above normal for this time of year,” Hart said.
“(We’ll see) Plenty of sunshine for the holiday weekend.”
Some areas in West Virginia could see 80-degree highs by Sunday or Monday with rising humidity.
There were chances for storms in the afternoons.