Recap of significant flash flooding in the Memphis metro - June 29, 2014 #memflood

A once-in-a-generation rainfall event resulted in significant flooding across portions of the metro on Sunday. Thunderstorms containing torrential rain began entering the area during the wee hours of the morning (between 1-2am) and continued nearly unabated in waves for nearly 10 hours, resulting in rainfall totals of about double the typical monthly totals for the month of June. Local rivers and tributaries to the Mississippi River quickly rose and created an urban flooding scenario as water backed up into streets and low-lying areas, including a mobile home park west of the airport, where 100 trailers were flooded and rescues were performed.

Several atmospheric factors came together to produce the copious rainfall amounts we saw locally. These included a very moist atmosphere with precipitable water (PW - the amount of water in a column of air) values of over 2" (or nearly a "worst case" for this time of year), a southwesterly flow of about 45-50 mph into the lower levels of the region, blowing over a stationary outflow boundary positioned just to our south which helped generate lift and storm initiation, and finally unstable air just south of the boundary which also provided some lift (see below). Storms continuously developed just west of the metro and trained over the same areas for many hours.

Strong flow into the storm from the southwest, overriding a boundary just south of the metro, contributed to significant precipitation rates, as forecast by the Weather Prediction Center during the event on Sunday morning.

Below is a map of radar-estimated rainfall amounts for the weekend, highlighting the areas from west of the city, across Shelby and Fayette Counties where rainfall amounts were highest. Following that, the departure from normal precipitation for the past week, dominated by the weekend precipitation.

Two-day storm total precipitation based on radar estimates, ending late Sunday afternoon

Departure from normal precipitation for the past seven days. Note the swath of 4-10" departures across the metro and into east-central AR.

A radar screenshot (below) taken early Sunday morning shows the mass of storms between Memphis and Little Rock in the storm initiation zone with waves moving east from that area paralleling I-40 into Shelby and Fayette Counties. At this time, Flash Flood Warnings (green boxes) were in effect from Little Rock to Arlington, TN, which subsequently were extended further east into Fayette and northern Marshall Counties.

At one point yesterday morning,Flash Flood Warnings were in effect from Little Rock to Arlington, then got extended east even further!

Selected rainfall totals for this event:

June 29th rain totals

• Memphis Int'l Airport - 5.87"
• MemphisWeather.net in north Bartlett - 4.69" (est.)
• Agricenter in Cordova - 6.13"

June 28-29th rain totals

• Memphis Int'l Airport - 7.09"
• MemphisWeather.net in north Bartlett - 6.06"
• Agricenter in Cordova - 7.48"
• West Memphis, AR airport - 6.86"
• Collierville - 5.77"
• Germantown - 6.99"
• Somerville - 3.95"
• Olive Branch - 5.94"
• Pleasant Hill, MS - 5.66"
• Madison, AR - 10.80"

As far as records go, Memphis International Airport broke a daily record for rainfall on Sunday with 5.87". In addition, that total is the seventh highest daily rainfall amount in Memphis recorded history (dating to the 1870s)! The June total at Memphis will be 13.40", which makes this month the 2nd wettest June on record, trailing only June 1877 which recorded 18.16" of rain.

    

The Mississippi River experienced a slight rise Sunday morning, but that was largely due to the effects of the larger tributaries dumping huge amounts of water in the river. The Mississippi River is primarily affected by rainfall upstream, not in the immediate area, but the fact that it was relatively low allowed the tributaries like the Wolf River, Loosahatchie River, and Nonconnah Creek to effectively flow into it, therefore the flooding that occurred along these bodies of water abated fairly quickly once the rain stopped (within a few hours). Had the Mississippi River been several feet higher (say at spring levels in the 25-32 foot range), the tributaries would not have drained as efficiently and flooding along their banks would have been much worse and more prolonged.

The Mississippi River gauge in downtown Memphis rose almost two feet between 3am and 3pm Sunday due to excessive flow from the area tributaries into the river.

The Wolf River at Hollywood Street in Frayser climbed Saturday with storms in the area, then jumped more than 10 feet again Sunday and is receding much more slowly.

The Nonconnah Creek near Memphis Int'l Airport rose about 22 feet Sunday, but had fallen back to pre-storm levels by 3am Monday. This gauge is very near the mobile home park that was flooded.

Nonconnah Creek at Winchester Road rose 4 feet on Saturday afternoon then another 14 feet on Sunday morning, falling back to pre-storm levels by Monday morning.

The Loosahatchie River in Frayser also rose about 15 feet Sunday and has dropped a few feet but remains very high on Monday.

A similar situation on the Loosahatchie River at Brunswick Road, which is just below flood stage on Monday

Overall, this once-in-a-generation storm caught most forecasters off guard until it was in progress, but it was definitely a learning event. We're thankful that, despite people being displaced and losing possessions, no lives were lost and no major injuries were reported. Let's hope we don't see anything like this again in a long time!

How were you impacted by the flooding on Sunday? You can find more pictures and video of the mobile home park flooding in the timelines on our social channels listed below.

Erik Proseus
MWN Meteorologist

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Memphis tech community loses one of its great leaders

Earlier this evening, I was reading my Twitter feed and came across the following tweet from a friend in the Memphis tech scene:

The light that burns twice as fast burns half as long. Tech & startup champion, dedicated family man, biz owner & friend. #RIP @davebarger
— Elizabeth Lemmonds (@elizlemmonds) June 16, 2014

I read it a couple of times, first not thinking I had read it right, then understanding - but not believing - what I was reading.

This past weekend, Memphis unexpectedly lost (as Elizabeth aptly points out) one of the great champions of the thriving, yet still growing, tech community in Memphis. Dave Barger Jr. was an entrepreneur, the founder and CEO of LunaWeb, Inc. But perhaps as importantly as that job, he was dedicated to "raising the tech tide in Memphis" by providing multiple outlets for small business owners, those in social media and marketing, and "techies" in general to hone their skills and network with others in the area. Dave's passion for raising the bar in Memphis from a technology perspective matched well with his generosity as he gave freely of his time, and dollars, to see that vision come to fruition.

There are many Memphians whose lives he touched. This is my story of Dave. A little over two years ago, in early 2012, Dave recognized MemphisWeather.net and Cirrus Weather Solutions as a fledgling start-up, appreciated the service that was provided, and decided he would be vocal about his support. Keen to the power of social media, Twitter in particular, he saw that MWN had early-adopted the use of the #memstorm hashtag and asked to incorporate our content into a new mobile-friendly website he wanted to build - memstorm.com. I readily agreed, and within 2 days memstorm.com was born as severe storms rolled through the area. Dave provided early visibility for our social media presence and for that I am grateful.

It doesn't end there though. Not long after, Dave believed enough in what we were doing to put some of his company's advertising dollars into MWN's web presence with banner advertising that promoted upcoming tech camps and meet-ups - and then renewed the contract a couple of times. This small but important "boost" in revenue provided the necessary funds to begin development of the StormWatch+ mobile app that is now available nationwide in the App Store and is protecting people across the U.S. from severe storms.

Continuing to invest in the MWN brand, he then invited me to be a speaker at the inaugural "TechCamp Memphis" event that he was organizing for the social/tech community, asking me specifically to speak about using social media as a method of crisis communication - again because of how quickly the #memstorm fire had spread. Though we haven't spoken personally in perhaps a year or so, Dave continued to tweet me once in a while and recognize the work that I was doing. That is who Dave was - a person with a mission to support and mentor, in any way he could, those who were attempting to make a difference in Memphis.

There are many who seem to pride themselves in tearing down this city and reminding us constantly of our differences and struggles. Dave was the antithesis of those naysayers. He found movements and people that were starting off down the right path and encouraged them.

Dave Barger, you will be greatly missed in this city and by the people that you have touched. Godspeed.

Erik Proseus
Meteorologist, MemphisWeather.net
Founder/Owner, Cirrus Weather Solutions, LLC