Tropical Rainstorm Delivers Historic Rainfall Across North Carolina

While it never developed into a named storm, the tropical rainstorm that came onshore Monday in the Carolinas was responsible for dumping historic amounts of rain across the region. Here is a look at the eye-popping rainfall amounts as well as what forecasters are monitoring next in the Atlantic basin.

Historical Rainfall Event Hits North Carolina

Over 20 inches of rain was unleashed across North Carolina's Brunswick and New Hanover counties over the weekend and into the start of the week. Rainfall rates of 4 to 5 inches per hour quickly overwhelmed drainage systems and triggered widespread flooding across North Carolina and beyond.

Several roads were still closed across the southeastern corner of North Carolina as of Tuesday morning, including the heavily trafficked US 17 and NC 211. These roads are the primary routes in and out of Southport and the beach communities in Brunswick County.

The worst of the impacts hit the region on Monday afternoon. Dozens of cars were swept away by the raging floodwaters. The town of Oak Island, located approximately 25 miles southwest of Wilmington, North Carolina, declared a state of emergency on Monday as roads became impassable.

Over 3 feet of water covered the parking lot that serves the Brunswick County courthouse in Bolivia, North Carolina. The community of Carolina Beach was also largely cut off thanks to the massive flooding. An elementary school in the town was forced to close early as floodwaters trickled into classrooms.

A record 19.94 inches of rain was recorded at a weather station in Southport, North Carolina over a period of 24 hours on Monday. This rain was amplified due to the soggy weekend not related to the tropical rainstorm preceding its landfall. A nearby rain gauge in the area of Boiling Spring Lakes measured 19.28 inches of rain Monday, bringing the total accumulation since Saturday to 22.34 inches.

As of Tuesday, the most significant of the rain and the wind is impacting areas to the north and northwest of its center. The system will continue to push farther inland through Tuesday, sending the rain as far west as the eastern and middle portions of Kentucky and Tennessee.

The timing of the full moon this week will also translate to higher tides for the southeastern coastline even though the height of the storm has passed.