CTfloodingrisk high with another round of heavy rain forecast for Sunday
Jul. 15—"We're almost looking at 24 hours where there's a flash flood threat," Pederson said Saturday morning.
A flood watch has been issued for the entire state through Sunday. A flood warning remains in effect for communities along the Connecticut River.
Areas in northwest Connecticut are at greater risk of excessive rainfall, Pederson said.
But any flooding depends on how the storms develop, meteorologists say.
"[The] problem is any shower or thunderstorm could have pretty heavy rainfall with it, and the other thing is the ground right now, it's just so saturated," weather service meteorologist Alan Dunham said. But he noted flooding depends on where the storms form and how long they stay in the area. In some situations, storms begin "training," or following the same path, he said.
"There could be flooding problems," Dunham said in a phone interview Friday. "Right now, we just can't forecast that type of thing that far ahead — the potential is certainly there, but I can't tell you exactly where or when."
A slow-moving storm July 9 and 10 caused widespread flooding in Connecticut. The storm greatly impacted Vermont and New York's Hudson Valley. A Barre, Vt., man drowned in his home amid the flooding, while a woman in Fort Montgomery, N.Y., was swept away by floodwaters and drowned.
In Connecticut, the storm dumped up to 9 inches of rain in places. Runoff from the storm made its way down several rivers, causing flooding throughout the week. In Glastonbury, the floodwaters caused a section of a dock with boats tied to it to break loose, sending the crewless vessels floating free downriver before they were recovered.
Monitoring sites in Connecticut showed river levels decreased Friday after cresting earlier in the week. But forecasters predict the river levels could rise again by early Monday in Hartford and Thompsonville.
"Most of the Connecticut River is out of flood stage now except for Hartford and south, but they're still pretty elevated out there," Pederson said. "If you add anywhere from 1 to 4 inches of rainfall, I wouldn't be surprised to see that river go back into the flood stage."
In the northwest, where Sunday's rain is expected to have a greater impact, the Housatonic River is predicted to flood early the coming week. At Falls Village, the Housatonic is forecast to swell to 8.2 feet Monday, about a foot above flood stage and higher than the 7.7 feet the river reached Tuesday. Just to the south, in Gaylordsville, the river is expected to reach just below the flood level it reached early last week.
Speaking ahead of Friday evening's storms, Dunham said people should pay attention to the weather.
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"If those showers are starting to develop and you live in a flood-prone area, you should be prepared to take action," he added.
