Can a flash flood be predicted?
Flash floods represent different forecast and detection challenges because they are not always caused by meteorological phenomena. Flash floods result when favorable meteorological and hydrological conditions exist together. Although heavy rainfall is necessary, a given amount and duration of rainfall may or may not result in a flash flood, depending on the hydrologic characteristics of the watershed where it is raining. Variables include knowing how much water runs off (as well as where it runs to), how strong the stream is flowing, how wide an area is getting rain, how hard and fast it is raining, how long it has been raining in a particular drainage basin, where the storm is located and how it fast or slow it is moving, how porous the soil is and how much water it already holds, the amount of vegatation covering the soil, how much surface is paved, whether there are storm drains or closely space buildings, and the general geography and slope of the land. Although flash floods can be
