St. Clair, Madison counties remain under flood warnings. Is more rain on the way?
It appears the worst of Tuesday’s storm is over in the metro-east, but St. Clair and Madison counties remain under a flood warning until 5 p.m., according to the National Weather Service of St. Louis.
Ben Herzog, a meteorologist with the NWS of St. Louis, confirmed the flash flood warnings for St. Clair County and Madison County expired at 3 p.m. Tuesday and that those will not be reissued.
However, according to Melissa Mainhart, also a meteorologist with the NWS, both of those counties remain under a flood warning until 5 p.m.
“At that point, we’ll re-evaluate and see what types of impacts they’ll be having for the area and decide whether to re-issue the flood warning or cancel it altogether,” she said Tuesday afternoon.
Nearby Monroe County was not under a flood warning.
As far as the flood warnings for Clinton and Washington counties, Herzog said those will expire at 4 p.m. and likely will not be re-issued. Mainhart also confirmed that.
“We’ll let those two flood warnings expire,” Herzog said. “Some roads will still be flooded, but the thing causing the flooding will be ending and hopefully those flood waters will be receding.”
Mainhart explained the difference between a flash flood warning and a flood warning.
“A flash flood warning is for water that is moving into an area quickly. That’s more descriptive of this morning,” she said. “A flood warning is for flooding that’s happened but hasn’t yet receded. The fact the water is not rising or adding to the flooding means we’re not looking at the floodwaters coming up higher. The water might be receding slowly, but it’s not moving and we’re not gaining any more water.”
Regarding rain totals, as of Tuesday afternoon, the NWS had collected these figures:
- Caseyville: 8.5 inches
- Lebanon: 7 inches
- Fairmont City: 6.25 inches
- 2 miles northeast of Granite City: 5.39 inches
- Belleville: Anywhere from 5.3 inches to 6.33 inches in and near the city
“We’ve been collecting actual measurements from people on the ground all day,” Herzog said.
More rain headed toward the metro-east?
Moving forward, he added the metro-east likely will see more rain Wednesday morning. Herzog does not expect anywhere near the same amounts, but, after Tuesday’s storms, any rainfall could be impactful.
“It would not take much to cause problems for people. So be careful if you go out tonight,” he said.
Herzog gauged the rain will move into the metro-east around 2 a.m. Wednesday and end around 9 a.m. As of Tuesday afternoon, he said the highest chance for heavier rain is in Madison County, but stressed that the wiggle room between there and St. Clair County is only 10-15 miles.
“It’s pretty difficult to pin down exactly where the rain will fall. We don’t have that kind of accuracy at this point so that could shift,” he said. “Again, it does not look like we’ll get near as much as last night or that it’ll last nearly as long. But, again, it’s not going to take that much to create more problems.”
Herzog again issued this precaution, “If people do come across flooded waters don’t drive through them.”
The National Weather Service recommends keeping plugged into the forecast as it develops at www.weather.gov. Their Facebook page is www.facebook.com/NWSStLouis.
This story was originally published July 26, 2022 at 4:04 PM.