Flash Flood in North Carolina, July 29, 2001

Name: Flash Flood in North Carolina, July 29, 2001
Start: 2001-07-29T14:40
End: 2001-07-29T15:30
Location: North Carolina

July 29, 2001 · NWS RNK · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Heavy thunderstorm rains caused several small streams and creeks to flood washing out culverts and closing roads. There were also 10 mudslides reported across the county.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $10,000
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 RNK wrote it up.

Heavy thunderstorm rains caused several small streams and creeks to flood washing out culverts and closing roads. There were also 10 mudslides reported across the county.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Blacksburg, VA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 29, 2:23 PM EST, 17 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 29, 2:23 PM EST, 17 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG, VA
323 PM EDT SUN JUL 29 2001

WILL CONTINUE FFA THRU MID. AT LEAST ONE MORE BAND OF SHRA/TSRA TO
COME THRU. THEN MODELS MOVE DYNAMICS AND DEEPER MOISTURE E OF THE
CWA. BY MON THE LOW LVL UPSLOPE FLOW WL BE GONE. NO GOOD CONSESUS ON
LOW THAT FORMS OFF THE DELMARVA BUT THE CIRCULATION AROUND THE LOW
SHUD KEEP ENOUGH WRAP AROUND MOISTURE IN THE FA MON THAT WHEN SHRTWV
COMES THEU 15-21Z THERE IS A CHC FOR -SHRA. THEN DRY THRU FRI.
AVN/MESOETA DO NOT DROP THE DEW POINTS VERY MUCH...BUT LOOKING
UPSTREAM...SFC DEW POINTS IN PA/NY ARE IN THE 50S SO IT SHUD BE LESS
HUMID MID WEEK. PLUS PWINS DROP BACK DOWN TO ARND .75 BY TUES.
EXTENDED MODELS SHOWING FROPA ON SAT...ESPECIALLY ECMWF. UPPER TROF
IS STILL OVR THE AREA SUN WITH SOEM WEAK DYNAMICS SO WL ADD CHC OF
SHRA ON SUN.

PRELIMINARY NUMBERS:

FCSTID = 14
ROA   64  80  64  73 /  30  50  10   0
LYH   64  76  63  73 /  30  40  10   0
DAN   66  82  66  74 /  30  50  10   0
BLF   60  78  63  72 /  30  40  10   0
LWB   61  79  60  70 /  30  40  10   0
BCB   60  78  63  70 /  30  40  10   0
TNB   63  79  64  70 /  30  40  10   0

.RNK...
NC...FLASH FLOOD WATCH UNTIL MIDNIGHT NCZ001-002-018.
VA...FLASH FLOOD WATCH UNTIL MIDNIGHT VAZ007...VAZ009>020-023-024-035.
WV...FLASH FLOOD WATCH UNTIL MIDNIGHT WVZ042>045.

AMS

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jul 29, 12:56 PM EST, 1 hour 44 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
1244 PM EDT SUN JUL 29 2001

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1230 PM    TAZEWELL                  VA   FLOODING
07/29/01   TAZEWELL                       TREE BLOCKING MONDAY ROAD
                                          JUST OUTSIDE OF TAZEWELL.
                                          ROUTE 609 CLOSED DUE TO
                                          FLOODING. SOME SECONDARY
                                          ROADS IN THE RAVEN AREA
                                          OF THE COUNTY FLOODED.

1238 PM    MARION                    VA   FLOODING
07/29/01   SMYTH                          SECONDARY ROADS CLOSED
                                          DUE TO FLOODING IN AND
                                          AROUND...CHILHOWIE,
                                          MARION, SALTVILLE AND
                                          RICH VALLEY COMMUNITIES.

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 127 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:42 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Ashe

When: July 29, 2:40 PM EST to 3:30 PM EST
Where: Ashe County, Countywide
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 36.434, -81.500 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Flash Flood: Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in North Carolina in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in North Carolina, July 2001

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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5258254.