Flood Watch

A stronger atmospheric river is expected to move over the panhandle beginning early Thursday morning and continuing through at least Friday morning. Multiple waves moving up will bring persistent moderate to heavy rain for much of the southern half of the panhandle. Past early Friday morning, additional periods of heavy rain are possible, but confidence is moderate to low at this time. Prolonged periods of moderate to heavy rain will produce significant river rises with the potential for at least minor flooding.

* WHAT...Flooding caused by excessive rainfall is possible.

* WHERE...The following area, Southern Inner Channels. This includes the cities of Ketchikan And Metlakatla.

* WHEN...From Thursday afternoon through Friday afternoon.

* IMPACTS...Excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, other low-lying areas and flood-prone locations. Street flooding and flooding of creeks and rivers are possible.

* ADDITIONAL DETAILS... - Rain totals between early Thursday morning and late Friday morning for the Ketchikan and Metlakatla area are currently expected around 4 to 6 inches, with higher rain totals favoring southern facing mountainsides. Highest rain rates are currently expected during the late morning through evening timeframe on Thursday, where rates could exceed 0.3 inches per hour.

If the additional heavy rain moves into the southern panhandle late Friday morning and continue through Friday afternoon, up to an additional 1.5 inches is possible. The chances of this to occur are around 30% at this time.