A large winter storm system that moved across the East Coast over the weekend caused serious floods in Tennessee and Kentucky, as seen in newly released NASA satellite images.
The images show the Mississippi River’s serpentine path in western Tennessee and eastern Arkansas and Missouri. They also show the rivers and water bodies east of the Mississippi—in Tennessee—inundated by up to 6 inches (15 centimeters) of rain over a 48-hour period. A state of emergency was declared in Tennessee after a levee failure near the town of Rives, on the Obion River, which is the overflowed waterway in the top-right of the above image.
It was a wild week for weather. More than half the states were hit with winter weather advisories, while 11 states received flash flood watches. On the west coast, California was slammed with mudslide-triggering rains. The serious flood conditions in Tennessee and Kentucky were severe enough to be visible from space.
NASA’s Operational Land Imager-2 (OLI-2) on the agency’s Landsat 9 captured false-color images of the rivers in western Tennessee on February 17. NASA used specific color bands in the images to help viewers distinguish between water, land, and vegetation.
According to a National Weather Service summary, the majority of the rain fell on Valentine’s Day, and at least a dozen river sites had crests within the top five recorded crests. In Kentucky, 30 flood warnings and 47 flash flood warnings were issued, as well as 11 severe thunderstorm warnings and two tornado warnings. More than 300 roads were closed and tens of thousands were without power.
According to NASA’s Earth Observatory, a U.S. Geological Survey water gauge in Obion, Tennessee, recorded a staggering water level of 39.8 feet (12 meters) yesterday. Any water level above 34 feet (10.4 meters) is considered a flood stage.
Hydrographs showing affected rivers in Kentucky are also available on the service’s website. Cloud cover over the state prevented satellites from capturing similar images north of Tennessee, where some of the most destructive flash flooding happened.
That’s not all Mother Nature wrote for the area. According to the weather service, flurries and snow showers are expected in western Kentucky today, with temperatures only creeping into the lower 20s days after the severe floods. The snowy conditions are also expected in southeastern Illinois and southwestern Indiana.
