00:00Several of our team members, Jacob Hinson and Liz Danko, were very helpful in gathering up all this data for us and looking at the number of flash flood reports.
00:09And we appreciate that background research because we have felt that there have been lots of flash flooding here in recent months.
00:17And the numbers pulled by the AccuWeather team based on the reports from the government on flash flooding really confirm that.
00:24Look at this hockey stick on 2025 and we're going to look at this red line here at the top.
00:30This started out with near the historic average, but a quick ramp up in these reports so that you could see that it's year to date well above the other years in the last 10 years with more than 4,800 reports of flash flooding.
00:46Each of those reports can risk lives and also result in property damage.
00:51So we have had a tremendous amount of flash flooding that has unfortunately resulted in lots of tragedy so far this year.
00:57All right. One way to look at it.
00:59But when we compare it to the last 10 years, how above average has this year been?
01:05Very. Look at this 70 percent above the 10 year historic average.
01:11That is the number of reports that we've had through mid-July this year.
01:15So that's a huge number and that's why many people feel like you've been hearing a lot about flash flooding in the news.
01:21There's been several big events and lots of more localized events that have contributed to that number.
01:26Look at last year was up 30 percent, nearly 30 percent based upon this time of the year.
01:33But it's not been every year lately, back to 2022 and 2023, actually below average in terms below the 10 year average in terms of the number of flash flooding reports.
01:44So while flash flooding is becoming more of a problem on average in a warmer atmosphere, it's not been every year as the stats show.
01:52But it's certainly been this year.
01:53All right. We are scientists. We love data. We love information.
01:56But what can people who are watching do with this information?
02:00Well, flash flooding is very dangerous.
02:01And we've talked about that, especially for people that are in low-lying areas or along creeks, streams or rivers.
02:08And when flash flood warnings are issued, that's extremely important to move out of those, safely move out of those low-lying areas to higher ground.
02:16And that could be just a hill or a nearby hill or a little bit higher elevation to get away from that water threat.
02:22It's also not the place you want to be in a car during a flash flood.
02:27So avoid travel if you can do that.
02:29Flash flooding remains in increasing danger.
02:31We can't stop it. That's very important.
02:33But time after time after time, people taking immediate action based upon those timely warnings, that proactive action, save lives.
02:42And we want to just encourage people to do that, to act immediately based upon flash flood warnings that are issued.
02:48And, of course, public officials and business leaders must take those flash flood warnings and enact safety plans in order to keep people safe.
02:58And that could vary what needs to happen based upon the specifics of the business or the community.
03:02But taking action by those local officials is really critical to save lives during a flash flood because you may have only minutes to react.
03:11And, John, with no coincidence, we have more flash flooding that we are going to be monitoring as we head into the weekend.
03:16This is a dangerous situation that we've been talking about here for days ahead of other known sources at AccuWeather
03:22because we want people to be prepared from parts of Iowa through Missouri in toward the Ohio Valley
03:28and over toward the Appalachians and even the Mid-Atlantic, especially the higher elevations of portions of Virginia,
03:34even into North Carolina as well.
03:37This is going to be an area with repeated rounds of heavy thunderstorms this weekend.
03:42And that would be concerning enough, but look at what we have another factor on the map here,
03:47which is abundant moisture from the tropical rainstorm.
03:51A part of that moisture is being drawn north into this very active jet stream pattern,
03:56and that means multiple rounds of heavy thunderstorms.
03:59If you're in any of these areas, especially in low-lying areas or in steep terrain,
04:03please be especially ready to take action based on flash flood warnings.
04:06Thanks.
