Dust Devil, Prince William
- When
- April 6, 12:45 PM EST
- Where
- Prince William County, Dale City
- Coordinates
- 38.702, -77.478 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Dust Devil in Virginia, April 6, 1998
Daytime heating in a relatively unstable surface layer produced a small dust devil. The swirl tossed a canopy tent eight stories into the air before depositing it in some trees several hundred feet away.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 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
- 1
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.
Daytime heating in a relatively unstable surface layer produced a small dust devil. The swirl tossed a canopy tent eight stories into the air before depositing it in some trees several hundred feet away. A portable soccer shelter was tossed into a small group of players sitting on stadium bleachers before it was destroyed. None of the players was hurt.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 dust devil. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Dust Devil
- A small rotating column of dust from surface heating that caused damage or injury.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Tornadoes and Flooding in Iowa, April 6, 1998
- Tornado and Flash Flood in Kansas, April 6, 1998
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Oklahoma, April 6 to 7, 1998
- Tornado and Hail in Oklahoma, April 6, 1998
- Lightning Strike in Nebraska, April 6, 1998
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Arkansas, April 6, 1998
- Tornado and Hail in Texas, April 6, 1998
- Heavy Snow in Wyoming, April 6 to 7, 1998
- Hail in Texas, April 6, 1998
- Hail in Minnesota, April 6, 1998
- Hail in Kansas, April 6, 1998
- Heavy Snow in Nevada, April 6, 1998
More
Every storm in Virginia in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyWarnings in Virginia, April 1998
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: 5643715.