By Nathan Ham
It seems like Mother Nature just won’t let up with the rain here in the High Country.
With heavily saturated ground and another one to three inches of rain expected Tuesday and Wednesday, the National Weather Service has issued a Flash Flood Watch for Watauga, Ashe, Alleghany, and Wilkes counties through Wednesday morning and for Avery and Caldwell counties until Thursday morning.
According to the latest forecast update from Ray’s Weather Center, 17 days in the month of May have already seen measurable rainfall with more to come throughout the final three days of the month. Gulf moisture from the remnants of Tropical Storm Alberto will linger around to give the High Country another brief soaking. Locations alone the Blue Ridge will have the highest rainfall amounts, however most everyone in the High Country should expect to get another inch or two of rain on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Rain chances decrease as the week goes on with more scattered showers and storms taking place Thursday, Friday and the weekend.
Precipitation totals from the National Weather Service show that Boone has received 9.44 inches of rain this month and will most likely reach double-digit rainfall amounts for the month after this storm rolls through.
Other areas around the High Country have already had higher totals than that. Sugar Mountain has had 11.18 inches of rain, Blowing Rock has received 11.03 inches of rain this month and Linville has had 10.37 inches.