Preliminary rain reports from official sources in the area show as much as 12.30″ of rain fell in Valdosta in the past 24 hours. This is over 4x the average rainfall for the entire month of November, which is 2.47″!
Nashville and Lakeland saw over half a foot of rain.
High pressure to our east is filtering in lots of tropical moisture from the south. This is making it feel extremely humid outside, more resemblant of summer than the middle of fall.
While Rafael is staying to out south, flow around the high is helping to bring moisture associated with it and warmth into the atmosphere above us. This means when it rains, the sky is capable of holding much more water than usual for this time of year.
So when the rain falls with this set up, it comes down heavy.
The good news is as Rafael moves west, so do the high levels of moisture. It stays warm and humid this weekend, but rain chances come down drastically. Skies remain mostly cloudy, but significant rainfall is not expected after today.