Weather watchers are keeping a close eye on the tropical storm remnants of Hurricane Debby as it moves north.
That storm dumped heavy rain and caused widespread flooding throughout the southeast, and heavy rains and flooding are likely late this week in both Vermont and northern New York.
Scott Whittier is a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Burlington. He joined Vermont Public's Mary Williams Engisch on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the weather outlook. This interview was produced for the ear. We highly recommend listening to the audio. We’ve also provided a transcript, which has been edited for length and clarity.
Mary Williams Engisch: Scott, thanks so much for chatting with us for a sec here. It seems like every time it rains, people in our region tense up — some areas experiencing flooding from heavy rains three or even more times in the past year. What can you tell us about what is headed our way this time?
Scott Whittier: Yeah Mary, the remnants of what was Hurricane Debby — and now will be what we call post-tropical Debby — is expected to move through our area Friday night, early Saturday morning.
Generally, when these storms turn post-tropical, the heaviest, the wettest rainfalls are along and west of the track. Right now we're expecting the track to move across approximately the Champlain Valley. So that actually means the heaviest threats will be more in northern New York and northern Vermont, with maybe a lighter threat across the southern and eastern portions of the state.
Can't take our eye off of the concern that we could have areas of heavy rainfall. But each day, as we approach, the threat is slightly lessening to where it was maybe 48 hours ago, where we really thought we were going to get buried with this storm.
Mary Williams Engisch: You're saying that there could be some wiggle room?
Scott Whittier: Yes, I think the main threat right now would largely be central and northern Vermont. I think southern Vermont is less of a threat. And I don't think it's going to take 4 inches of rain to cause flooding in, say, the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, because with all the previous flooding that they've had, the lack of infrastructure in terms of, some roads have not been repaired. Roads that have been repaired, the fill has not really been able to be compacted so water can go through those porous sections even that much easier.
But I don't think it's going to be like, a wall-of-water flash flooding. I think it would be something like you would see during a spring melt, where there is water running over the road or over creeks and stuff like that, but not that destructive force that we have seen in the Northeast Kingdom and a large part of northern Vermont the last four weeks.
The remnants of Debby are expected to move through the region Thursday night through Friday night with increasing confidence of a wide swath of 2 to 4 inches of rain. #NYwx #VTwx pic.twitter.com/vagvKp58aN
— NWS Burlington (@NWSBurlington) August 7, 2024
Mary Williams Engisch: OK, will this storm, do you know, follow the same sort of pattern of like, heavy rains, then flash flooding, and then river flooding?
Scott Whittier: Somewhat. I mean, there will be, there may be some scattered flash flooding, but I think it will be more of just general poor drainage flooding more than anything else.
In terms of the rivers, I think the rainfall amounts are lower enough that the rivers, they will rise, they will approach bank full. Right now, the only rivers that we think may reach flood stage or very close to flood stage would be Otter Creek down center Rutland. Mad River, perhaps may reach flood stage, but only minor flood stage at this time; and perhaps the Winooski River over at the Essex gauge more towards, as you approach Lake Champlain.
Mary Williams Engisch: OK, too early for folks to prepare who sort of live in those more flood-prone areas. What would you say to folks?
Scott Whittier: You know, I would just say, you know, if you're you're prone to flooding or whatever, if your house or something has flooded in the past when there's been a threat, then consider moving objects away from the lowest levels of the floor. If you have roads that you would come in and out of your property that normally flood, maybe can consider either staying where you are or go someplace else until the storm has passed — although I don't think we're going to get to that severity.
What a lot of people can do is if they have drainage ditches, you know, ditches that are along the side of the roads, in the shoulders of roads, or if they got local culverts that may be underneath their driveways or the neighboring street or whatever, check on them, and if they look like there's debris or whatever, clear them out. If you don't have the tools to do that, get a hold of your local public works and have them clear it out, because if something is blocked, water is going to find the easiest path. And if that easiest path is normally a drain that's clear, that's fine, but if it's a drain that's all clogged up, it's going to bypass that clog and go its easiest, less obstructive route.
So really, there's a lot of things that as citizens and as good neighbors, we can do by just checking these ditches and checking these storm drains and culverts to make sure there's no debris in them.
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