Lightning, Fairfax
- When
- August 10, 2:35 PM EST
- Where
- Fairfax County, Chantilly
- Property damage
- $101,000
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 38.835, -77.276 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strike in Virginia, August 10, 1998
A thunderstorm, containing frequent lightning, moved through northern Fairfax Co, starting three fires within five minutes. The first structure hit was a commercial building in Fair Oaks (near Chantilly), with the resulting fire damaging a computer.
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
- $101,000
- 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.
A thunderstorm, containing frequent lightning, moved through northern Fairfax Co, starting three fires within five minutes. The first structure hit was a commercial building in Fair Oaks (near Chantilly), with the resulting fire damaging a computer. The second structure hit was the attic of a garden apartment building in McLean, where $50,000 in damage was reported. The third lightning-induced fire damaged the roof and attic of a home in Great Falls, resulting in another $50,000 in damage.
The radar
The Sterling radar (KLWX), 24 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:32 UTC.
Event by event
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Lightning
- A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Lightning Strike in Wyoming, August 10, 1998
- Damaging Wind in Pennsylvania, August 10, 1998
- Damaging Winds and Lightning Strike in Michigan, August 10, 1998
- Flash Flood in Ohio, August 10, 1998
- Damaging Wind in Iowa, August 10, 1998
- Lightning Strike in Ohio, August 10, 1998
- Lightning Strikes in Maryland, August 10, 1998
- Flash Flood in Ohio, August 10, 1998
- Tornado and Hail in Oklahoma, August 10, 1998
- Damaging Wind in Texas, August 10, 1998
- Flash Flood in Missouri, August 10, 1998
- Damaging Winds in Arkansas, August 10, 1998
More
Every storm in Virginia in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyWarnings in Virginia, August 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: 5665207.