Flash flood warnings across 10 states eased modestly Friday to 55 active alerts — down from 65 Thursday — but the multi-day outbreak shifted its center of gravity northeast, pulling Maine fully into the warning zone for the first time while the Missouri River corridor that anchored the event since Monday remained under pressure.
The National Weather Service is tracking a two-front threat. Across northern and central Maine, clusters of slow-moving thunderstorms are expected to produce rainfall rates up to 3 inches per hour later Friday into tonight. Warnings cover a broad swath of the state, including Oxford, Franklin, Somerset, Piscataquis, and Aroostook counties. The NWS cautioned that repeating rounds of heavy rain could lead to “localized and possibly considerable flash flooding” and noted that recent precipitation has already elevated streams in Carroll County, New Hampshire, just to the south. Residents in and around Portland weather should watch for rapidly rising water as storm cells develop through the evening.
In the central tier, Missouri remains the most heavily affected state, with active warnings stretching across Grundy, Livingston, Linn, Buchanan, Carroll, and Chariton counties — a corridor running from the Missouri River basin north toward the Iowa line. Arkansas drew fresh NWS attention Friday morning after the Little Rock forecast office confirmed that Doppler radar showed 2 to 4 inches of rain had already fallen across northwestern Pike County and southwestern Montgomery County, with additional rainfall still incoming. Oklahoma’s Haskell and Latimer counties also remain under warnings. Kansas City weather serves as a useful benchmark for how long the basin has been stressed: warnings in and around that metro have been nearly continuous since Monday’s peak of 72 active alerts nationally.
Friday’s count of 55 marks the fourth straight day warnings have stayed above 50, underscoring that this is not a one-day event cycling through a single region. The full affected footprint now spans Arkansas, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Washington — a geographic spread that distinguishes this outbreak from the more Plains-centric pattern of earlier in the week.
The National Weather Service advises residents in all warned counties to monitor updated forecasts, know their proximity to streams and rivers, and avoid driving through water of unknown depth. Water over roadways is the leading cause of flash flood fatalities.