News

Alberto to soak us again

By Bill Moss, Published: May 28, 2018

Subtropical Storm Alberto, which is on course to make landfall in the Florida Panhandle on Memorial Day, is likely to bring heavy rain, flooding and potentially landslides to the already saturated southern Appalachian mountains, the National Weather Service and local emergency managers said.

Over the course of the next three days Henderson County area could see an additional 5-8 inches of rain, Henderson County Emergency Management Director Jimmy Brissie said in an advisory Monday morning. The heaviest rain should be Tuesday.The heaviest rain is forecast for the upslope of the Blue Ridge Escarpment and the French Broad River is likely to flood again, the National Weather Service said.

"Flash flooding of streams and creeks may develop very quickly under these circumstances," the National Weather Service said. "Landslides will be quite possible — especially in mountainous terrain known to be prone to landslides, and even along some steep slopes where landslides have not occurred for many years."

Here's the local forecast from the NWS:

Monday: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. Patchy fog before 11am. High near 75. Northeast wind around 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Monday night: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. Patchy fog after 9pm. Low around 64. East northeast wind around 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.
Tuesday: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. Some of the storms could produce heavy rainfall. Patchy fog before 10am. High near 75. Southeast wind 6 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between three quarters and one inch possible.
Tuesday night: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. Some of the storms could produce heavy rainfall. Low around 65. South southeast wind around 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New rainfall amounts between 1 and 2 inches possible.
Wednesday: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. High near 77. South wind around 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%.
Wednesday night: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm before 3am, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 3am. Cloudy, with a low around 65. Chance of precipitation is 70%.
Thursday: A chance of showers, then showers and thunderstorms likely after 8am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 80. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Thursday night: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 64.
Friday: A chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 9am. Partly sunny, with a high near 82. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
Friday night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 65. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
Saturday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 83.
Sunday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 79.