Why Summer Months Bring More Flash Flood Events

Think you’re hearing about more flooding than before? You aren’t wrong.

The National Weather Service has issued more flash flood warnings than in any other year in more than a generation. 2025 has now eclipsed 1998 for the most warnings of any year since 1986 through July 15.

Some areas have been hit harder than others. Of the 3,000 warnings issued this year, the Appalachians, Ozarks and Southern Plains are bull's-eyes.

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The Raleigh office of the NWS has now issued the highest-to-date number of warnings for their area.

But the number of higher-end flood events is much higher than typical, too.

(MORE: For even more granular weather data tracking in your area, view your 15-minute details forecast in our Premium Pro experience.)

Flash Flood Emergencies

Through July 15, 2025 ranks second for the number of flash flood emergencies across the country in any given year.

Kerrville. Ruidoso. Davenport. Petersburg.

These are just some of the 47 flash flood emergencies that have been issued so far this year.

Only 2016 had more flash flood emergencies by this date, with 51 such warnings.

In 2015, though, Texas once again bore the brunt of these most severe warnings. In May, a stagnant pattern caused the Blanco River, not far from Austin, to rise 20 feet in an hour. We’ve heard a lot of similar stats from the Texas Hill Country this year. Then, in October, another major flood event with emergencies occurred just before Halloween.

From the Hill Country to Houston, 12 flash flood emergencies were issued from January to July.

Reports Of Flooding

July has started with a flurry of flood reports from the mid-Atlantic to the Appalachians and across Texas. More than 1,200 reports of flooding that range from ponding to water up to the top of dwellings have been sent to the NWS.

That’s 75% above the early-July average.

Jonathan Belles has been a digital meteorologist for weather.com for 9 years and also assists in the production of videos for The Weather Channel en español. His favorite weather is tropical weather, but also enjoys covering high-impact weather and news stories and winter storms. He's a two-time graduate of Florida State University and a proud graduate of St. Petersburg College.