ATLANTA — A weather system that has parked itself over the region for days is now threatening to dump dangerous amounts of rain across the Southeast, with forecasters warning that Friday could bring the worst flooding risk of the week along the coast.
The Weather Prediction Center says a stalled frontal boundary is expected to trigger repeated waves of heavy rainfall stretching from the Tennessee Valley all the way to the Southeast coastline. Because the front isn’t moving, the same towns and neighborhoods could get hit by downpour after downpour instead of the storm passing through quickly.
Coastline Under the Most Serious Warning
The immediate coast of Georgia and South Carolina has been placed under a Moderate risk — the highest level issued in Friday’s outlook. Forecasters say there’s at least a 40 percent chance that rainfall in this zone will be heavy enough to overwhelm drainage systems and trigger flash flooding.
Wider Stretch Also at Risk
A larger Slight risk zone covers ground from the Tennessee Valley down through Georgia and into the Carolinas, following the path of the stalled front. Communities here face at least a 15 percent chance of sudden, locally intense rainfall capable of flooding roads and low-lying areas.
Surrounding that band, a Marginal risk area extends into parts of the Mid-Atlantic and the Carolina coast, carrying a lower but still real 5 percent flooding chance. A separate Marginal zone, unrelated to the Southeast system, has also been issued for New Mexico and West Texas.
Threat Expected to Linger Into Saturday
What worries forecasters most isn’t the intensity of any single storm cell — it’s the fact that the front refuses to shift. That means communities already soaked once could see it happen again before the system finally clears out, with the flooding threat expected to stretch into Saturday morning.
Residents in the affected corridor are being urged to stay alert for sudden changes in weather and avoid driving through flooded roadways.