A Flood Watch remains in effect until 12 a.m. on Aug. 10, with moderate to heavy rainfall from current Tropical Storm Debby increases in coverage over the area Thursday into Friday, increasing the risk of flooding, especially along and east of the Blue Ridge, according to the National Weather Service (NWS) in Blacksburg.
As the storm pushes to the northeast by Friday night, cooler and drier air arrives by Saturday, and will bring more tranquil weather for the start of the week, according to the NWS update posted shortly before noon on Thursday.
At 11 a.m., forecasters said TS Debby was 80 miles southeast of Charlotte, North Carolina. The northwest edge of rainfall shield extended from Amherst, VA to Boone, NC. The storm is moving slowly leading to prolonged 1-2inch/hour rainfall amounts for the next 3 to 12 hours as the storm moves north.
Increasing wind gusts are forecast, based on current observations across southern Virginia and Northern North Carolina. However, the tropical storm will gradually weaken, with the wind threat mainly on Thursday and diminishing Thursday night.
Due to the combination of wind and saturated ground, there have been numerous trees reported down and the numbers of power outages is increasing, according to the NWS.
