Meteorologists are predicting major flooding will impact Louisville and other parts of Kentucky later this week following another round of severe storms set to make their way into the area starting Wednesday.
A combination of conditions will bring prolonged rainfall to Louisville and other parts of Kentucky, creating favorable conditions for widespread flooding, including the possibility of moderate flooding on Ohio River and major flooding on smaller streams, according to the National Weather Service in Louisville’s latest forecast.
Thunderstorms and showers are expected to start in Kentucky Wednesday evening, followed by a “frontal boundary” that will linger above the commonwealth, NWS meteorologist CJ Padgett said.
“That’s going to set up a zone for repeated heavy rainfall through the weekend,” he said. “So there is an increasing chance for widespread flooding for at least this week, and especially into the weekend.”
Louisville is currently forecast to receive 6-10 inches of rain over the next seven days. Parts of west Kentucky are predicted to get the worst of the rainfall, with areas near Paducah and Owensboro predicted to receive 10-15 inches of rain over the same period.
“This is not going to be a short rain event. This is going to be prolonged, a very persistent type of rain event over the course of several days that’s going to add up to significant rainfall amounts,” Padgett said.
While the highest rainfall amounts are poised to impact areas west of the Interstate 65 corridor, areas east of the interstate are still expected to receive significant rainfall amounts that make flooding a concern.
The current forecast comes after deadly flooding impacted Kentucky in February.
Padgett said that this week’s possible flooding differs in that rain is expected to last for several days, whereas the February event poured several inches of rain on areas across the commonwealth in the matter of 48 hours.
“It’s not going to be as much flash flooding, but it is going to be widespread river flooding, and we’ll see possibly road closures from this just due to the amount of water,” Padgett said. “That’s going to be running off into the creeks and streams and overflowing the banks.”
Contact reporter Killian Baarlaer at kbaarlaer@gannett.com or @bkillian72 on X.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville weather: Major flood risk to move into area this week
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