Raleigh woke up Wednesday, July 22, to a swampy start: mostly cloudy, muggy skies and temperatures already in the low 80s at Raleigh–Durham International Airport, with a summer high near 92 expected this afternoon. A slow-moving frontal boundary is parking over the region and will fire off repeated rounds of showers and thunderstorms through Thursday, setting up a real risk of urban and flash flooding in low-lying neighborhoods.
Flood Watch Through Thursday
The National Weather Service in Raleigh has issued a Flood Watch for central North Carolina starting this evening (Wednesday, July 22) and continuing into Thursday evening (July 23). According to NWS Raleigh, waves of storms could drop 2 to 4 inches of rain across many spots, with locally higher totals possible. The greatest threat for flash flooding runs from tonight into Thursday morning as storms repeatedly track over the same areas.
Timing And Local Impacts
Showers and thunderstorms are expected to ramp up late this afternoon and into the evening, then continue on and off through Thursday. Gusty southwest winds this afternoon may peak around 8 to 14 mph with gusts up to 25 mph. The City of Raleigh stormwater team tracks flooding with stream gauges and 16 monitoring cameras, including spots along Glenwood Avenue, Crabtree Valley Avenue and Capital Boulevard, to help officials time road closures and public alerts during heavy rain.
Drivers should skip the usual low-lying shortcuts and avoid underpasses; even shallow moving water can be dangerous and is more than enough to stall a car and trap you in a hurry.
Prep Steps For Tonight
Keep phones charged and build in extra time for travel tonight. If you live in a low-lying neighborhood or near creeks, move belongings off the floor and be ready to head for higher ground if water starts to rise. The National Weather Service puts the chance of showers and thunderstorms tonight at about 90%, with new rainfall amounts between 1 and 2 inches possible overnight and larger totals on Thursday. Flash-flood warnings could follow if storms train over the same locations.
Plan to check updated forecasts from NWS Raleigh and look for local road-closure maps and camera views from city resources as the rain settles in.
This updates our July 20 coverage of late-night flash flooding across the Piedmont; see our late-night flash flood alarm report for previous warnings and overnight impacts. We will update this story as forecasts change and local agencies post road closures or flash-flood warnings.
