Heat, Augusta
- When
- May 18, 12:00 PM EST to May 21, 5:00 PM EST
- Where
- Augusta forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 38.109, -78.974 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat in Virginia, May 18 to 21, 1996
An early-season four day heat wave, which followed a spring characterized by cooler than normal temperatures and above normal cloud cover, took it's toll on outdoor enthusiasts unprepared for the dramatic temperature swing. , heat stroke) in northern Virginia, hundreds of residents sustained varying degrees of heat exhaustion.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 17 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 20
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS LWX wrote it up.
An early-season four day heat wave, which followed a spring characterized by cooler than normal temperatures and above normal cloud cover, took it's toll on outdoor enthusiasts unprepared for the dramatic temperature swing. Less than a week earlier, some crops in the northern Shenandoah Valley were threatened by subfreezing temperatures!Although there were no serious injuries (e.g., heat stroke) in northern Virginia, hundreds of residents sustained varying degrees of heat exhaustion. On May 21, thousands of school children were attending an air show at the Manassas Airpark (VAZ052). Heat exhaustion affected just over 100 of the children; most were treated at the scene, but others were taken to Prince William Co hospital and released. Farther south, near Orange (VAZ050), 130 persons were taken ill with heat exhaustion on the 19th. Alexandria city (VAC500) reported 3 cases of heat exhaustion.Many school districts in the piedmont and Shenandoah Valley closed for all or part of the 20th and 21st. The hottest day of the period was Monday the 20th, when Washington/Dulles (IAD) and Washington/National (DCA) broke standing records. The Potomac Electric Power Co (PEPCO) forced a local "brownout" in the Washington metropolitan area to cut energy consumption.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
20 heat. Local standard time, as filed.
Heat, Rockingham
- When
- May 18, 12:00 PM EST to May 21, 5:00 PM EST
- Where
- Rockingham forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 38.481, -78.872 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat, Page
- When
- May 18, 12:00 PM EST to May 21, 5:00 PM EST
- Where
- Page forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 38.620, -78.484 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat, Warren
- When
- May 18, 12:00 PM EST to May 21, 5:00 PM EST
- Where
- Warren forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 38.909, -78.207 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat, Clarke
- When
- May 18, 12:00 PM EST to May 21, 5:00 PM EST
- Where
- Clarke forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 39.112, -77.997 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat, Nelson
- When
- May 18, 12:00 PM EST to May 21, 5:00 PM EST
- Where
- Nelson forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 37.787, -78.887 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat, Albemarle
- When
- May 18, 12:00 PM EST to May 21, 5:00 PM EST
- Where
- Albemarle forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 38.029, -78.477 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat, Greene
- When
- May 18, 12:00 PM EST to May 21, 5:00 PM EST
- Where
- Greene forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 38.298, -78.467 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat, Madison
- When
- May 18, 12:00 PM EST to May 21, 5:00 PM EST
- Where
- Madison forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 38.414, -78.279 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat, Rappahannock
- When
- May 18, 12:00 PM EST to May 21, 5:00 PM EST
- Where
- Rappahannock forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 38.685, -78.159 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat, Fauquier
- When
- May 18, 12:00 PM EST to May 21, 5:00 PM EST
- Where
- Fauquier forecast zone
Heat, Loudoun
- When
- May 18, 12:00 PM EST to May 21, 5:00 PM EST
- Where
- Loudoun forecast zone
Heat, Orange
- When
- May 18, 12:00 PM EST to May 21, 5:00 PM EST
- Where
- Orange forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 38.246, -78.013 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat, Culpeper
- When
- May 18, 12:00 PM EST to May 21, 5:00 PM EST
- Where
- Culpeper forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 38.486, -77.956 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat, Prince William
- When
- May 18, 12:00 PM EST to May 21, 5:00 PM EST
- Where
- Prince William forecast zone
Heat, Fairfax
- When
- May 18, 12:00 PM EST to May 21, 5:00 PM EST
- Where
- Fairfax forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 38.841, -77.291 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat, Arlington
- When
- May 18, 12:00 PM EST to May 21, 5:00 PM EST
- Where
- Arlington forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 38.855, -77.106 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat, Stafford
- When
- May 18, 12:00 PM EST to May 21, 5:00 PM EST
- Where
- Stafford forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 38.421, -77.457 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat, Spotsylvania
- When
- May 18, 12:00 PM EST to May 21, 5:00 PM EST
- Where
- Spotsylvania forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 38.244, -77.558 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat, King George
- When
- May 18, 12:00 PM EST to May 21, 5:00 PM EST
- Where
- King George forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 38.274, -77.156 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
What these are
- Heat
- Heat below excessive heat criteria that still caused deaths, injuries or significant impacts.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Heat in Illinois, May 18 to 19, 1996
- Hail in Minnesota, May 18, 1996
- Hail in Iowa, May 18, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Iowa, May 18, 1996
- Hail in Iowa, May 18, 1996
- Hail in Iowa, May 18, 1996
- Heat in Virginia, May 18 to 21, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Iowa, May 18, 1996
- Damaging Wind in South Dakota, May 18, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Iowa, May 18, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Iowa, May 18, 1996
- Hail in Iowa, May 18, 1996
More
Every storm in Virginia in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyWarnings in Virginia, May 1996
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5555107, 5555108, 5555109, 5555110, 5555111, 5555112, 5555113, 5555114, 5555115, 5555116, 5555117, 5555118, 5555119, 5555120, 5555121, 5555122, 5555123, 5555124, 5555125, 5555126.