Louisville and surrounding areas will be under a flood watchfrom much of the weekend as heavy rain is expected on top of saturated ground.The greatest concern will be in southern Indiana, where the ground is more saturated from the recent heavy snowfall,said Ron Steve, a meteorologist for the National weather Service in Louisville.“The ground is cold, a lot of it is probably frozen. Anything that’s been able to soak up, it’s been soaking up that melting snow, that which hasn’t already run off. So any rain they get is going to run off into the rivers," Steve said on Friday afternoon.Some of the rainfall may be heavy throughout the region. The downpours may lead to ponding that makes roadways impassable, Steve said.As much as four inches of rain are possible, the weather service said.In the flood watch, the weather service adds: "Excessive rain may bring larger rivers and streams into flood early next week."The rainfall is expected to begin in the early morning Saturday, Steve said.Steve said it's not exactly typical to have downpours this time of year in the Louisville area, but he added that the great flood of 1937 began in January of that year.Saturday is also expected to be windy. The weather service has issued a wind advisory from noon Saturday until 4 a.m. Sunday. Wind gusts as strong as 40 miles per hour—and stronger in storms—are possible.
