When the remnant moisture from Tropical Storm Lee combined with a stalled cold front last week, the rain came at a very heavy and steady pace.
Rainfall totals ranged anywhere between from 2 inches to 9 inches across Southwest and Central Virginia, and a tornado touched down in southern Carroll County.
Some flooding was reported, especially toward the mountains, but thankfully, because we were so dry, the rivers held all the water pretty well.
Before the heavy rain, most of the area was more than parched, with rainfall totals well below seasonal levels across the board.
Rainfall deficits looked like this: Roanoke, -1.87 inches; Lynchburg, -4.31 inches; Blacksburg, -0.71 inches, and Danville, an astonishing -7.78 inches.
But after the storm passed through, Roanoke and Blacksburg actually had a rainfall surplus. Lynchburg and Southside remained in the negative, although the numbers were a little more respectable.
The rain drastically improved dry conditions which just last week showed a significant portion of the area under a moderate drought.
This week, extreme southern portions of Southside are still in that category (including Danville), while much of the area is reporting no drought.
This could be a sign of what’s to come, because the short range outlook has most of the East Coast in an above-normal precipitation category. We’ll see what happens.
Haniewich is chief metereologist for WSLS Channel 10. His column is published every Wednesday.
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