Flood Safety and Preparedness

5 Images We Won't Forget From the Historic Southern Floods

Days of heavy rain in the South left behind imagery we won't soon forget. Below, we take a closer look at five of the most incredible images we saw during the recent Southern floods.

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1. The storm system developing – and unleashing on Louisiana

This image is a satellite loop that shows the stalled area of low pressure over Mexico before it lifted north and east March 8-12.

2. The plume of moisture that was brought into the South

This satellite image shows the area of low pressure over Mexico on March 9. The red and orange shadings in the plume of moisture located over Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas are higher cloud tops associated with thunderstorms producing the heaviest rainfall rates.

3. Staggering rainfall totals left behind

Estimated rainfall totals, March 7-13. The areas with the pink and white shading received the highest rainfall totals – more than 20 inches, in some areas – during this event.

4. The stunning spiral of the low-pressure system

This visible satellite image, taken Friday, shows the spiraling low-pressure system as it began to finally move after being stalled for days. This movement finally shifted the moisture out of areas that saw the most severe flooding, but the eastward jog of the storm system brought flooding to other parts of Louisiana, as well as Mississippi and western Tennessee.

5. Days of cloud cover and heavy rainfall

This image, taken Thursday by the Suomi NPP satellite's VIIRS instrument, shows the low-pressure system in stunning detail. To see the image in full-resolution, visit NOAA's Environmental Visualization Laboratory website.

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