Virginia, 1998

Heat in Virginia, January 6 to 9, 1998

January 6 to 9, 1998 · NWS LWX · 23 events in 23 counties and zones

A sprawling area of high atmospheric pressure became anchored over the western Atlantic for several days. Circulation around the high brought an unencumbered flow of tropical air from the Caribbean region into all of Virginia for a 2 1/2 day period beginning around midnight on the 6th and continuing until around noon on the 9th.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 19 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
23

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 sprawling area of high atmospheric pressure became anchored over the western Atlantic for several days. Circulation around the high brought an unencumbered flow of tropical air from the Caribbean region into all of Virginia for a 2 1/2 day period beginning around midnight on the 6th and continuing until around noon on the 9th. New record high temperatures were set at Dulles Airport (VAZ042) on these days. More interestingly, temperatures remained above 60 degrees across much of western Virginia for over 48 hours, spanning two mornings when the normal low temperatures were some 40 degrees colder!In fact, there was one cooling degree day recorded during the the period (January 8). After nine days, the mean temperatures across northern Virginia were between 15 and 20 degrees above normal - more like April than early January.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

23 heat. Local standard time, as filed.

Heat, Highland

When
January 6, 12:00 AM EST to January 9, 12:00 PM EST
Where
Highland forecast zone

Heat, Augusta / Staunton / Waynesborro

When
January 6, 12:00 AM EST to January 9, 12:00 PM EST
Where
Augusta / Staunton / Waynesborro forecast zone
Coordinates
38.109, -78.974 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Rockingham / Harrisonburg

When
January 6, 12:00 AM EST to January 9, 12:00 PM EST
Where
Rockingham / Harrisonburg forecast zone
Coordinates
38.481, -78.872 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Shenandoah

When
January 6, 12:00 AM EST to January 9, 12:00 PM EST
Where
Shenandoah forecast zone
Coordinates
38.858, -78.571 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Frederick / Winchester

When
January 6, 12:00 AM EST to January 9, 12:00 PM EST
Where
Frederick / Winchester forecast zone
Coordinates
39.195, -78.213 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Page

When
January 6, 12:00 AM EST to January 9, 12:00 PM EST
Where
Page forecast zone
Coordinates
38.620, -78.484 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Warren

When
January 6, 12:00 AM EST to January 9, 12:00 PM EST
Where
Warren forecast zone
Coordinates
38.909, -78.207 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Clarke

When
January 6, 12:00 AM EST to January 9, 12:00 PM EST
Where
Clarke forecast zone
Coordinates
39.112, -77.997 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Nelson

When
January 6, 12:00 AM EST to January 9, 12:00 PM EST
Where
Nelson forecast zone
Coordinates
37.787, -78.887 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Albemarle / Charlotttesville

When
January 6, 12:00 AM EST to January 9, 12:00 PM EST
Where
Albemarle / Charlotttesville forecast zone
Coordinates
38.029, -78.477 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Greene

When
January 6, 12:00 AM EST to January 9, 12:00 PM EST
Where
Greene forecast zone
Coordinates
38.298, -78.467 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Madison

When
January 6, 12:00 AM EST to January 9, 12:00 PM EST
Where
Madison forecast zone
Coordinates
38.414, -78.279 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Rappahannock

When
January 6, 12:00 AM EST to January 9, 12:00 PM EST
Where
Rappahannock forecast zone
Coordinates
38.685, -78.159 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Fauquier

When
January 6, 12:00 AM EST to January 9, 12:00 PM EST
Where
Fauquier forecast zone

Heat, Loudoun

When
January 6, 12:00 AM EST to January 9, 12:00 PM EST
Where
Loudoun forecast zone

Heat, Orange

When
January 6, 12:00 AM EST to January 9, 12:00 PM EST
Where
Orange forecast zone
Coordinates
38.246, -78.013 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Culpeper

When
January 6, 12:00 AM EST to January 9, 12:00 PM EST
Where
Culpeper forecast zone
Coordinates
38.486, -77.956 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Prince William / Manassas

When
January 6, 12:00 AM EST to January 9, 12:00 PM EST
Where
Prince William / Manassas forecast zone

Heat, Fairfax

When
January 6, 12:00 AM EST to January 9, 12:00 PM EST
Where
Fairfax forecast zone
Coordinates
38.841, -77.291 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Arlington / Alexandria / Falls Church

When
January 6, 12:00 AM EST to January 9, 12:00 PM EST
Where
Arlington / Alexandria / Falls Church forecast zone
Coordinates
38.855, -77.106 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Stafford

When
January 6, 12:00 AM EST to January 9, 12:00 PM EST
Where
Stafford forecast zone
Coordinates
38.421, -77.457 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Spotsylvania / Fredericksburg

When
January 6, 12:00 AM EST to January 9, 12:00 PM EST
Where
Spotsylvania / Fredericksburg forecast zone
Coordinates
38.244, -77.558 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, King George

When
January 6, 12:00 AM EST to January 9, 12:00 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

More

Every storm in Virginia in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyWarnings in Virginia, January 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: 5627744, 5627745, 5627746, 5627747, 5627748, 5627749, 5627750, 5627751, 5627752, 5627753, 5627754, 5627755, 5627756, 5627757, 5627758, 5627759, 5627760, 5627761, 5627762, 5627763, 5627764, 5627765, 5627766.