A flood watch will be in effect from Monday afternoon through Monday evening for 16 counties in East Tennessee, where showers and thunderstorms are expected to bring very heavy rain and the chance of isolated flash flooding.
The watch includes Claiborne, Cocke, the Smoky Mountains, Granger, Hamblen, Hancock, Hawkins, Jefferson, Johnson, Northwest Carter, Northwest Cocke, Northwest Greene, Southeast Carter, Southeast Greene, Sullivan, Unicoi and Washington counties. Rainfall rates of one to three inches per hour are possible, enough to push water quickly into rivers, creeks, streams and other low-lying, flood-prone spots if storms train over the same area.
The timing matters because Sunday is still being described as a day to enjoy before wetter weather moves in Monday. The shift comes after a dry stretch, and the greatest concern is not a steady rain but the kind of bursts that can dump a lot of water in a short time. In places that see repeated or prolonged heavy rain, isolated flash flooding becomes more likely.
For residents and travelers, that means low-water crossings, road shoulders, smaller streams and drainage areas can turn dangerous fast once the storms arrive. The threat is tied to the line of showers and thunderstorms expected to move into the region Monday, and the watch gives counties a window to prepare before conditions worsen.
What remains unknown is how much rain any one county will actually get. The watch does not guarantee flooding, but it does mark a period when the atmosphere will be capable of producing it, and the Monday afternoon-to-evening window is the one to watch most closely across East Tennessee.
