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Overnight storms produce rare weather occurrence Tuesday in Chattanooga

EPB repairs power lines after a fallen tree closed Gadd Road on Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Continuous rain through the week has raised area waterways to flood stages, with more rain expected in the coming days. EPB repairs power lines after a fallen tree closed Gadd Road on Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Continuous rain through the week has raised area waterways to flood stages, with more rain expected in the coming days.

By Mark Pace February 20, 2019 3 min read

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Chattanooga Public Works clears debris after a fallen tree closed Gadd Road on Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Continuous rain through the week has raised area waterways to flood stages, with more rain expected in the coming days.

Floodwaters cover Aster Road in Lookout Valley after heavy rainfall on Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Continuous rain through the week has raised area waterways to flood stages, with more rain expected in the coming days.

Floodwaters rise near Aster Road in Lookout Valley after heavy rainfall on Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Continuous rain through the week has raised area waterways to flood stages, with more rain expected in the coming days.

Kenny Kinnaman with Chattanooga Public Works, left, and an individual who did not want to give his name survey floodwaters covering Aster Road in Lookout Valley after heavy rainfall on Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Continuous rain through the week has raised area waterways to flood stages, with more rain expected in the coming days.

Kenny Kinnaman with Chattanooga Public Works photographs floodwaters covering Aster Road in Lookout Valley after heavy rainfall on Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Continuous rain through the week has raised area waterways to flood stages, with more rain expected in the coming days.

Kenny Kinnaman with Chattanooga Public Works surveys floodwaters covering Aster Road in Lookout Valley after heavy rainfall on Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Continuous rain through the week has raised area waterways to flood stages, with more rain expected in the coming days.

A section of hillside beneath a Mapco gas station slid away after heavy rainfall, seen on Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019, in Wildwood, Ga. Continuous rain through the week has raised area waterways to flood stages, with more rain expected in the coming days.

FIVE-DAY FORECAST

THURSDAYThunderstormsHigh: 55Low: 47FRIDAYRainHigh: 54Low: 52SATURDAYRainHigh: 64Low: 49SUNDAYPartly cloudyHigh: 59Low: 33MONDAYPartly cloudyHigh: 57Low: 38Source: WRCB-TV Channel 3

The alignment of cold surface temperatures, elevated thunderstorms and warm high atmospheric temperatures yielded rare weather patterns in Chattanooga as heavy rain steadily falls this week in the Tennessee Valley.

WRCB-TV’s Paul Barys has been a meteorologist for more than 40 years and said he has never seen a lightning storm like the one he saw Tuesday night in such cold surface conditions.

“It was absolutely pouring, and we weren’t that far away. It was so warm in the upper atmosphere there was rain, but had that been colder air with that amount of lift, we would have had a heck of a snowstorm,” he said.

Nevertheless, surface temperatures hovered in the high 30s, leaving the valley drenched with about 1 1/2 inches of rain Tuesday night and another projected 1 1/2 inches Wednesday night and into Thursday morning, according to the National Weather Service.