Heavy rainfall to be double-edged sword across southern US into early next week

By Renee Duff, AccuWeather meteorologist

Despite helping to ease drought conditions, tropical downpours will raise flooding concerns and ruin outdoor plans as over a month's worth of rain is unleashed across the South into early next week.

The same storm system that linked up with tropical moisture and dumped more than a foot of rain in portions of the south-central United States is crawling eastward.

While drier conditions have spread into waterlogged Oklahoma City and Houston, flooding dangers are expanding into other metro areas, such as Atlanta; Nashville; Tallahassee, Florida; Columbia, South Carolina; and Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina.

Widespread repeating downpours will hit these cities and neighboring communities each day into at least Monday. Those with outdoor plans this weekend should be preparing for a full washout.

"There is the potential for 4-8 inches of rain and locally higher amounts to near a foot centered over the southern Appalachians and Piedmont areas," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said.

The middle and upper Gulf Coast states can also receive rainfall amounts of more than half a foot into early next week. 

Such totals are more than double and close to triple typical June rainfall in some areas.

Outside of Florida, rainfall for the month of June averages 3.5-5.5 inches across the Southeastern states.

While the rainfall is good news for those tired of watering lawns and gardens amid abnormally dry to severe drought conditions, heavy rain falling too quickly and over the same areas can trigger flash flooding. 

"Enough rain to trigger small stream flooding cannot be ruled out in the Appalachians and perhaps farther to the east across Virginia and North Carolina," Sosnowski said. Debris flows are also possible in the higher terrain.

Motorists planning on traveling through the affected region should allow plenty of extra time for travel, as some roads and bridges may become impassable.

Never attempt to drive through a flooded roadway. Instead, turn around and find a safer alternate route.

Poor visibility due to heavy rain and standing water can lead to very slow travel, including on large stretches of interstates 10, 20, 22, 40, 55, 59, 65, 75, 85 and 95.

Air travelers should be ready to face potentially significant flight delays at airports serving cities such as Atlanta, Nashville and Charlotte.

While the heaviest rainfall will stay north of the Florida Peninsula, an uptick in drenching thunderstorms can have amusement park goers running for cover at times.

RELATED: 
Rain threatens to put a damper on 2019 CMA Festival in Nashville 
How will weather play out at the 151st Belmont Stakes? 
How dangerous is it for untrained bystanders to perform water rescues? 
Preparing for the costliest weather disaster in the US: How to stay safe before, during and after a flood

Localized severe storms may pose further risks to lives and property.

"Isolated tornadoes and waterspouts can occur on a daily basis near and just offshore of the Gulf Coast," AccuWeather Meteorologist Brett Rathbun said.

Several tornadoes caused damage in Louisiana on Thursday, including one in Baton Rouge.

Gusty, locally damaging thunderstorms can be embedded within the downpours elsewhere across the South through the weekend.

The wet conditions are forecast to slowly expand into the Northeast early next week, but not before the region basks in its first fully dry weekend in months.

Drier air will begin to eat away at the downpours across the lower Mississippi Valley from Sunday into Monday, but the rainy weather will stubbornly hold on farther east.

"It may take until next Tuesday or Wednesday for the rain to finally move out of the region," Sosnowski said. "A second storm may move slowly northward across the region during the middle and latter part of next week."

Download the free AccuWeather app for the latest forecast for your area. Keep checking back for updates on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.