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| A house torn apart by this morning's flood in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. Photo from Vermont State Police via Facebook. |
And it's not over. A flood watch has been hoisted for Wednesday, covering all but the southernmost two counties of Vermont.
There's a lot to cover, and we'll take it all piece by piece:
THIS MORNING
We're already staggering again from this morning's Northeast Kingdom calamity. The incredible statistics keep rolling in.
Matthew Cappucci at the Washington Post picked up the story of the renewed Vermont flooding and came away with data on just how incredible the storm in Caledonia and Essex counties really was.
"This also qualifies as a 'thousand-year rain event' for St. Johnsbury, meaning that rain that heavy has only a 0.1 percent chance of falling in any given year, according to data from the National Weather Service.
The threshold for a thousand-year rain event in St. Johnsbury is 4.32 inches in three hours, or 5.43 in six hours. St. Johnsbury got 5.8 inches in three hours and 7.96 inches in six hours, outpacing even those extreme thresholds."
This is also only the second time in memory that the National Weather Service has issued a flash flood emergency warning. That type of alert is extremely rare and is only issued when there's an extreme threat to life and property.
The only time we know of that a flash flood emergency warning was issued was during the cataclysmic flooding of July 10-11.
That no known deaths have been reported out of the Northeast Kingdom today is probably a matter of both luck, and flood weary residents of the region "knowing the drill" of what to do when flash floods hit.
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| Flood damage in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont this morning. Photo by Vermont State Police via Facebook. |
After all, this is at least the third serious flash flood up there in about a year. Lyndonville Zoning Administrator John Prue told Vermont Public that this is the fifth catastrophic flood to strike the town since last July.
It turns out that the Northeast Kingdom wasn't the only place affected by flash flooding. Contrary to my reporting this morning, some damage reports are coming out of Rutland County from yesterday afternoon's very local but intense storm.
A half-mile stretch of Quarterline Road in Rutland was washed out late Monday afternoon, according to a National Weather Service report, and I'm sure a few more local roads were damaged.
TODAY
Strong to severe storms blossomed in eastern New York this afternoon and blustered into parts of western Vermont.
The scale of the damage this afternoon as of this evening is far, far, far less than what we saw in the Northeast Kingdom this morning. But we still don't need it.
A tree collapsed onto a mobile home in Colchester, not far from Lone Pine Camp Ground. More trees came down along North Avenue in Burlington. Another tree fell on Route 7 in Winooski.
As of 6 p.m., no new flooding had been reported from today's batch of storms. They hadn't reached the Northeast Kingdom yet, but were generally heading in that direction, which is a problem. NOAA's Weather Prediction Center tells us all of Vermont is at risk for a few instances of flash flooding through at least 10 p.m. tonight.
Which isn't great news. Especially given what's coming tomorrow.
WEDNESDAY
A flood watch for most of Vermont is in effect for tomorrow afternoon and evening due to an expected wave of storms producing torrential downpours. NOAA's Weather Prediction Center is maintaining a level 2 out of 4 flood risk for the eastern half of Vermont, but noted this afternoon that this is a high end level 2, so there could be several instances of flash flooding.
We don't yet know where the heaviest rain will set up tomorrow, so we don't know exactly where the worst flash flooding will hit, if it develops. Of course, the Northeast Kingdom is under the greatest threat, since it wouldn't take much to set off renewed flash flooding there.
Parts of eastern Rutland County need to be watched carefully, too.
However, be weather aware as flash flooding could develop suddenly anywhere in the region. Best chances for flash flooding are between about 1 p.m. tomorrow afternoon through about midnight.
BEYOND WEDNESDAY
Hot and humid weather will once again interfere with flood cleanup Thursday and Friday. We're still at risk for torrential thunderstorms both days, but they should be few and far between.
Some forecasts ramp up the flood threat again later Saturday and Sunday, so we'll need to keep an eye out for that.
It doesn't end, does it?
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