Flooding in the Mid-South
Last week, from 2-6 April 2025, multiple rounds of precipitation and severe weather impacted the Mid-South region of the United States. The National Weather Service (NWS) Weather Prediction Center (WPC) provided an estimated precipitation map that incorporates the total rainfall that occurred over the span of 96 hours (from 8am EDT, 2 April 2025 through 8am EDT, 6 April 2025). Refer to the map below via social media. The map highlights the significant precipitation that occurred over the Mid-South, where precipitation maxima (~10 to 15 inches, expressed in the brighter magenta colors) can be seen near or within several metropolitan areas (e.g., Little Rock, AR, Memphis, TN), in addition to southeastern Missouri and the western Kentucky regions. The influx of precipitation has also led to moderate and major flood stages along rivers that are located within the region. A handful of photos and videos of the event were captured by The Weather Channel.
A 4-panel of the Advected Layer Precipitable Water (ALPW) product observed a portion of the event from 3-5 April 2025. Refer to the ALPW animation below. During this time period, the ALPW surface-850mb, and 850-700mb layers show rich, low-level moisture advecting from the Gulf into the southern U.S. Meanwhile, the ALPW 700-500mb layer (and the 500-300mb layer) observe plumes of high level moisture that originated from the Eastern Pacific, transported over Mexico and advected towards the Mid-South region, aiding in significant, widespread precipitation.
4-Panel of ALPW from ~00Z, 3 April 2025 to 00Z, 5 April 2025
A before (1 April 2025) and after (7 April 2025) image comparison of the VIIRS Flood Map product captured the flood extent over the Mid-South at 375-m spatial resolution. The daytime product shows the widespread areas of inundation (i.e., seen in light green, yellow, orange, and red pixels, and expressed in floodwater fraction percentage from 0 to 100%) over several states that include Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana.
VIIRS Flood Map Before/After Comparison over the Mid-South
