Strong wind gusts and more rain – the latest on Helene’s impacts

Alerts Issued for Our Region

• High Wind Warning continues until 8 PM for McDowell, Bland, Floyd, Mercer, Summers, Giles, western Greenbrier, Tazewell, Wyoming, Raleigh, southeast Fayette, southeast Nicholas, and northwest Pocahontas counties until 8 PM. Wind gusts up to 60 mph will blow down trees and power lines. Widespread power outages are expected.
• Wind Advisory continues until 8PM for northwest Fayette, northwest Nicholas, eastern Greenbrier southeast Pocahontas counties. Gusty winds up to 55 mph will blow around unsecured objects.

• Flood Warning for the Clinch River near Richlands affecting Tazewell County until late Saturday morning. Minor flooding is forecast. Flood stage is 10 feet and the forecast crest is expected to be at 10.5 feet this evening.
• Flood Warning for Bland, Giles, Tazewell and Mercer counties. Flooding is ongoing with 1 to 3 additional inches of rain expected through Friday.
• Flood Warning for Giles County until 9 PM Friday. Flooding is ongoing with 1 to 3 additional inches of rain expected through Friday.
• Flood Warning continues for the New River in Giles, Summers, Monroe, and Mercer counties. MAJOR flooding is forecast.
• Flood Warning until 6:15 PM for Bland and Tazewell counties. Life threatening flash flooding of creeks and streams is expected.
• Flood Warning continues until midnight for McDowell County.
• Flood Watch continues through Friday evening for McDowell, Summers, Greenbrier, Bland, Giles, Tazewell, Mercer, Monroe, Wyoming, Raleigh, southeastern Fayette, southeastern Nicholas and Pocahontas counties. Excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations. Area creeks and streams are running high and could flood with more heavy rain.

Friday is a one-two punch of rain and wind. Helene will likely still be a tropical storm as the storm approaches our region from the south during the morning before cutting west of our area into Kentucky. As the storm does so, our winds will pick up, with wind gusts as high as 35 mph in the valleys and as high as 55 mph in the mountains. This will create the risk for a few trees to come down, which will result in a few scattered power outages.

In addition, we’ll have a six hour wind between mid-morning Friday and mid-afternoon Friday where steady to heavy rain will work back into the region, as Helene moves nearby. During this timeframe, one to two inches of new rain is expected to fall over that six hour period, which will likely create new concerns for flash flooding with streams and creeks because of how saturated our soils now are. Thunderstorms forming in bands on the eastern side of the system could produce severe weather, with isolated tornadoes being our main threat due to the abundant wind shear present in the atmosphere. The Storm Prediction Center has placed our region in a marginal level one risk for this threat for severe weather.

By the mid-afternoon, our rain will begin to wrap up as Helene’s bands cut to our north and west. Aside from the weather still being a bit breezy, high school football games look fine, though the fields will be very wet and wind gusts as high as 25 mph will still be possible. Highs on Friday will struggle to reach 70 degrees.

The steadiest rains from Helene for our region will occur during the morning hours, with showers becoming more scattered by the afternoon. In addition, our wind will begin to relax as Helene continues to weaken and also move away from the region. Highs on Friday will be around 70 degrees. In total, from tonight through Friday evening, our southern counties in Virginia and in southern West Virginia along the border will see the heaviest rain, with two to three inches of new rain expected. Farther north, along I-64 from Beckley to Lewisburg, we’ll see one to two new inches of rain, with slightly less values farther north. Locally heavier amounts are possible. This is great news for our drought, but with our soil very much compacted, there will be a lot of runoff with rainfall, so local high water issues will continue to be watched through Friday afternoon.

Saturday continues the risk for an isolated shower or two, but most of the day will be dry with partly to mostly cloudy skies. Helene’s remnants will be back to our west across western Kentucky, which will slide east for the second half of the weekend. High temperatures Saturday will be in the low to mid 70s.

Sunday sees Helene’s remnants scoot back to the east toward our region. By this point, the remnants will be much weaker, but scattered showers are still a good bet, along with abundant clouds, which will hold high temperatures down into the low 70s. There will be a few breaks, but it’s not exactly a great end to the weekend weather-wise.

Monday will continue to provide the risk for a few showers with Helene’s remnants close by to our east. It’ll be a noticeably cooler day, as we pick up a northerly breeze from the position of that low pressure system, with highs only in the upper 60s.

Tuesday keeps a few showers around with a cold front crossing. We won’t see much rain from this system, but it’s a reinforcing shot of cold air that’ll be the headliner for midweek, along with the return of a drier weather pattern. Highs on Tuesday will be in the upper 60s.

Wednesday sees a return in abundant sunshine as high pressure noses in from the north. With a northerly breeze still present, we’ll keep conditions cool with highs in the mid to upper 60s, which is below average for this time of year. Overnight lows will drop back into the 40s.

Thursday will see more sunshine across the region, as a dry stretch of weather returns, with high temperatures once again in the mid to upper 60s and overnight lows in the 40s.

Looking ahead in your extended forecast, we will be DRY. High pressure is in control and another dry stretch of weather is on the way. Mostly sunny skies will persist Friday through Sunday with highs returning into the low 70s.

TONIGHT
Still breeze. Mostly cloudy. Lows in the low 60s.
SATURDAY
Isolated showers. A lot of dry time. Highs in the low to mid 70s.
SUNDAY
Showers likely. Highs near 70.
MONDAY
More scattered showers. Highs near 70.
TUESDAY
Scattered showers. Cooler. Highs in the upper 60s.
WEDNESDAY
Mostly sunny. Highs in the mid to upper 60s.
THURSDAY
Mostly sunny. Highs in the mid to upper 60s.
FRIDAY
Mostly sunny. Highs in the upper 60s.
SATURDAY
Mostly sunny. Highs near 70.
SUNDAY
Mostly sunny. Highs in the low 70s.

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