Storms should fade away by early Sunday afternoon
A car is stuck near the corner of Cowden Street and Tanglewood Avenue in Midtown on April 5. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian)
Cars try to navigate a flooded Poplar Avenue in Midtown on April 5. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian)
Cars go around a downed tree on Cooper Street in Midtown on April 5. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian)
Cars parked along Belvedere Street in Midtown get stranded by heavy flooding April 5. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian)
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By the time Memphians wake up Sunday, April 6, the worst of this spate of terrible weather should be over.
That’s the word from the National Weather Service, which has been staffing its operations center around the clock since these thunderstorms — accompanied by high winds and some of the worst flash flooding Memphis has seen in years — rolled in Wednesday, April 2.
The flash flood warnings that have been nearly constant of late are expected to expire around 4 a.m. Sunday, and other than a few light showers, the worst of the rain will likely disappear by sunrise, NWS meteorologist Mike Johnson said, although a few scattered showers could linger through early afternoon.
The high should reach 54, but the day will likely be overcast. The week will remain dry until at least Thursday, when there’s another chance for rain.
Much of the flash flooding that plagued the city throughout Saturday has already receded, Johnson said. Since the ground is completely saturated, though, any rain early Sunday could cause more problems, Johnson added, but they are expected to be less severe than Saturday’s.
In all, since the storms began Wednesday afternoon, more than 10 inches of rain has fallen at Memphis International Airport, Johnson added, with almost a fifth of that falling just between 2 and 3 p.m. Saturday afternoon.
Unlike earlier with these same storms, Memphis Light, Gas and Water hasn’t had as much trouble with power outages. Earlier Saturday, more than 2,200 customers were without power; that number had been whittled to less than 1,700 by late Saturday.
Erik Proseus, a meteorologist with MemphisWeather.net, said this is some of the worst flooding the city has seen in recent years.
“It’s been many years since many of these areas have experienced the type of flooding that’s occurring,” Proseus said. “There was a very, very heavy rain event back in May 2010 and another one in 2015 that had substantial flooding.”
“This one is a pretty large regional flooding event, so there is a lot of water in places that it normally isn’t, all the way from Northeast Arkansas through Northwest Tennessee down through the Memphis area, so it’s a fairly widespread event,” he added.
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Tornado flash flood National Weather Service thunderstormsJody Callahan
Jody Callahan graduated with degrees in journalism and economics from what is now known as the University of Memphis. He has covered news in Memphis for more than 25 years.
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