A thunderstorm that moved through Nelson County during the afternoon of the 14th produced large hail, frequent lightning, and brief heavy rain around the Lovingston area. Two separate lightning strikes started fires in the northwest part of the county.
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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.
The episode as NWS LWX wrote it up.
A thunderstorm that moved through Nelson County during the afternoon of the 14th produced large hail, frequent lightning, and brief heavy rain around the Lovingston area. Two separate lightning strikes started fires in the northwest part of the county. The first strike hit a vacant house about 3 miles southwest of Lovingston on Virginia Route 652 near Freshwater Cove. The fire that resulted burnt the home to the ground. As firefighters arrived to battle the blaze they were confronted by 10 to 15 minutes of hail, and officials reported crop damage and dented automobiles from the deluge. The second lightning strike hit an old barn one mile southwest of Lovingston near Thompson's Store. The barn caught fire and was significantly damaged. Lightning also caused power outages in the communities of Nellysford, Roseland, and Piney River, in addition to the immediate Lovingston area. Heavy downpours with the storm were also blamed for a two vehicle accident near the intersection of Highway 29 and Main Street in Lovingston.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 lightning, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Vacant house hit by lightning caught fire and burned to the ground
Barn hit by lightning damaged by resulting fire
Hail size estimated from damage report
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Virginia in 1999Every state in 1999This day in weather historyWarnings in Virginia, July 1999
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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5710409, 5710410, 5710411.