CINCINNATI, Ohio — Residents across the Ohio Valley are facing a serious flash flooding threat beginning Thursday night and lasting through Friday as a stalled weather system locks into place over the region, setting the stage for repeated rounds of heavy rain that forecasters warn could overwhelm drainage systems and trigger dangerous flooding across multiple states.
A stationary boundary — a weather feature where warm and cold air masses stop moving and hold their position — will anchor itself across the Ohio Valley starting late Thursday, June 26. Unlike a moving storm system that brings rain and clears out, stationary boundaries force storms to repeatedly travel over the same areas, stacking rainfall totals dangerously fast in a short window of time.
Forecasters are tracking widespread rainfall totals of 1 inch or more across the region, but isolated pockets are expected to see significantly higher accumulations reaching 3 to 4 inches. The highest totals are projected for Cincinnati at approximately 1.78 inches and Lexington at 1.70 inches through early Saturday morning, with Louisville expected to receive around 1.55 inches and Charleston around 1.11 inches…