Kara M. Watson R. Russell Lotspeich Stephen J. Cauller Jeremy S. White Shaun Wicklein Samuel H. Austin 2018 <p>Heavy rainfall occurred across central and southern West<br>Virginia in June 2016 as a result of repeated rounds of torrential<br>thunderstorms. The storms caused major flooding and flash<br>flooding in central and southern West Virginia with Kanawha,<br>Fayette, Nicholas, and Greenbrier Counties among the hardest<br>hit. Over the duration of the storms, from 8 to 9.37 inches of<br>rain was reported in areas in Greenbrier County. Peak streamflows<br>were the highest on record at 7 locations, and streamflows<br>at 18 locations ranked in the top five for the period of<br>record at U.S. Geological Survey streamflow-gaging stations<br>used in this study. Following the storms, U.S. Geological Survey<br>hydrographers identified and documented 422 high-water<br>marks in West Virginia, noting location and height of the water<br>above land surface. Many of these high-water marks were<br>used to create flood-inundation maps for selected communities<br>of West Virginia that experienced flooding in June 2016.<br>Digital datasets of the inundation areas, mapping boundaries,<br>and water depth rasters are available online. </p> application/pdf 10.3133/ofr20171140 en U.S. Geological Survey Characteristics of peak streamflows and extent of inundation in areas of West Virginia and southwestern Virginia affected by flooding, June 2016 reports