Hail and Damaging Winds in Virginia, June 13, 1998

A vigorous upper-level disturbance acted upon increasingly warm and humid air near the surface to produce a squall line of strong to severe thunderstorms which traversed all of northern Virginia during the afternoon. Overall, damage was dominated by numerous downed trees, large limbs, and power lines, though there were scattered occurrences of large hail with the more intense cells. Localized small stream and poor drainage flooding was noted, but true flash flooding did not occur due to the rapid movement of the line.Initial damage occurred across northwestern Virginia, where there were several instances of scattered trees and large limbs down across portions of Clarke, Loudoun, Warren, and Fauquier Cos. There were several citizen and police reports of funnel clouds in the area, but surveys determined that damage was straight-line in nature - either due to embedded microbursts or the gust front. Farther south, hail fell, most between three-quarters and one inch in diameter. However, at least one cell produced more substantial hail across Greene, Orange, and Culpeper Cos. In Elkwood (Culpeper Co), a wholesale greenhouse shop sustained considerable damage - broken glass and double-layered plastic - when hail, estimated at tennis-ball size, fell. Medium-sized limbs and twigs were blown off trees at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.As the storms raced east, more tree and power line damage was noted, in Fairfax, Arlington, Stafford, and Spotsylvania Cos. Damage appeared to be most significant in northern Spotsylvania Co. In Fredericksburg, one tree fell onto a car and another onto a garage; the wind blew over several tents at a local arts festival, damaging most of one vendor's work and about $1,000 worth of pottery at another stand. Elsewhere in the county, a tree fell on a house and another fell onto a mobile home, each causing some damage. At least a half dozen large trees were reported down in Falls Church; several others were knocked down in Alexandria.The combination of wind damage and lightning knocked power out to at least 56,000 Virginia Power customers in northern Virginia; several thousand other residents served by Allegheny Power and local electric co-operatives likely lost power in western Virginia as well. One notable lightning strike occurred on the James River just south of Scottsville (Albemarle Co); two youths were shocked while swimming to shore after "tubing". Each sustained only minor injuries, and were treated and released from the University of Virginia medical center.