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At least 22 dead after 17 inches of rain in Tennessee:
Up to 17 inches [(43 cm)] of rain fell in Humphreys County in less than 24 hours Saturday, appearing to shatter the Tennessee record for one-day rainfall by more than 3 inches, the National Weather Service said.
[...] At the beginning of a news conference on Tropical Storm Henri’s impact on New England, President Joe Biden offered condolences to the people of Tennessee and directed federal disaster officials to talk with the governor and offer assistance.
[...] A flash flood watch was issued for the area before the rain started, with forecasters saying 4 to 6 inches of rain was possible. The worst storm recorded in this area of Middle Tennessee only dropped 9 inches of rain, said Krissy Hurley, a weather service meteorologist in Nashville.
“Forecasting almost a record is something we don’t do very often,” Hurley said. “Double the amount we’ve ever seen was almost unfathomable.”
Recent scientific research has determined that extreme rain events will become more frequent because of man-made climate change. Hurley said it is impossible to know its exact role in Saturday’s flood, but noted in the past year her office dealt with floods that used to be expected maybe once every 100 years in September south of Nashville and in March closer to the city.
(Score: 2) by istartedi on Monday August 23 2021, @06:36PM
Climate change angle aside, slow-moving storms are a fascinating thing. This one was actually more predictable than some of them. One time in Virginia I watched a typical Summer thunderstorm from a distance. The lightning was beautiful. The air was unusually clear. I watched it on my lunch break (I worked 2nd shift so my lunch was at night and there must have been moonlight too because I remember seeing the cloud even when there was no lightning). Anyway, I went back in after lunch and forgot about the show.
Later after work I found out that this pop-up thunderstorm had not moved for several hours, and dropped six inches of rain that night. It caused some local flooding, but because it was highly localized it didn't last long. I was flabbergasted by that rain total though. Just out of the blue, that much rain. It must have been crazy for the people that were under it.
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