The latest winter storm, which dropped a quick 4-5 inches of snow along the Front Range yesterday afternoon, raced eastward and brought flooding rains to eastern Kentucky and much of West Virginia. Of course, the heavily dissected terrain of the Appalachian Plateau exacerbates flooding along streams in that region.
South of the flooding zone, strong thunderstorms raked the Southeast while, north of the rain belt, an ice storm created havoc from the southern Great Lakes to the Atlantic Coast. Farther north and behind the storm, heavy snow will fall.
February has long been characterized by flooding in the Ohio Valley. Heavy precipitation, in various forms, falls on frozen ground, producing rapid runoff and stream flooding. Climate change will likely augment both the intensity of precipitation and the severity of flooding.
