A thunderstorm moved through Rockingham County around 7:30 PM EDT. Near Tenth Legion, lightning struck a tree and killed four 800 pound Black Angus heifers valued at $2500 that were taking shelter under its branches.
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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 moved through Rockingham County around 7:30 PM EDT. Near Tenth Legion, lightning struck a tree and killed four 800 pound Black Angus heifers valued at $2500 that were taking shelter under its branches.
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 Baltimore/Washington wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 10, 1:50 PM EST, 4 hours 40 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE/WASHINGTON 250 PM EDT TUE APR 10 2001 IR/VIS LOOPS SHOWING SOME BREAKS IN THE CLOUD COVER IN BETWEEN LOW OVC MOVING IN OFF THE DELMARVA AND CONVECTIVE DEBRIS MOVING IN FROM THE WEST. EXPECTING ENTIRE AREA TO CLOUD BACK OVER DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON OR EARLY EVENING HOURS. SURFACE FRONT CURRENTLY EXTENDING FROM NW TO SE ACROSS THE CWA.. WITH MODERATELY UNSTABLE AMS TO THE SOUTH OF THE BOUNDARY AND MARINE AMS BUILDING IN TO THE NORTH. CONVECTION CURRENTLY DEVELOPING ACROSS THE OHIO VALLEY WILL HAVE TO BE WATCHED... AS THICKNESS PATTERNS AND INSTABILITY GRADIENTS SUGGEST THAT IF THIS CONVECTION HOLDS TOGETHER IT MAY MOVE INTO SOUTHWEST CORNER OF CWA LATER THIS EVENING. SHORT WAVE MOVING ACROSS UPPER RIDGE WILL MOVE THROUGH THE AREA OVERNIGHT. INCREASING LOW/MID LEVEL MOISTURE AHEAD OF SYSTEM AS FLOW TURNS MORE S OR SE. UPPER LEVEL SPEED DIVERGENCE AND LOW LEVEL ISENTROPIC LIFT AND FRONTOGENESIS PROVIDING PLENTY OF LIFT FOR AT LEAST SOME OVERRUNNING PRECIP OVERNIGHT ACROSS THE ENTIRE AREA. PLAN TO LEAVE OUT MENTION OF THUNDER FROM THE FAR NORTHEAST WHERE MODEL SOUNDINGS SHOW STABLE AIR AT ALL LAYERS. MODEL SOUNDINGS ELSEWHERE SHOW SOME ELEVATED INSTABILTY... AND WILL NEED TO HOLD ON TO MENTION OF THUNDER. QPF FIELDS OVERNIGHT AND EARLY WED FROM ETA AND AVN SUGGEST SOME PLACES COULD SEE OVER A HALF INCH OF RAINFALL. CURRENT FFG HAS 1-1.5 INCH AMOUNTS IN ONE HOUR. FLOODING NOT EXPECTED TO BE A MAJOR THREAT.. BUT WILL HAVE TO BE MONITORED IF/WHEN RAIN DEVELOPS. FRONTAL SYSTEM REMAINS ACROSS THE MID ATLANTIC FOR WEDNESDAY AND WEDNESDAY NIGHT. WILL NEED TO KEEP AT LEAST CHANCE POPS IN THE FORECAST FOR WHATEVER WAVES DEVELOP AND MOVE ALONG THE FRONT. ETA/AVN BOTH AGREE IN LOW LEVEL BOUNDARY MOVING NORTHWARD ON THURSDAY... WITH S/SW FLOW MIXING DOWN TO THE SURFACE AND ERODING LOW LEVEL CLOUDINESS. WILL NEED TO KEEP CHANCE POPS FOR CONVECTION IN THURSDAY AND FRIDAY FORECAST AS WARM SECTOR AMS REMAINS UNSTABLE. EXTENDED FORECAST HAS A COLD FRONT MOVING THROUGH THE AREA LATE FRIDAY.. WITH COOL HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING IN FOR SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. TEMPS 5-10 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR.. BUT AT LEAST PATTERN BEGINS TO LOOK DRIER. DCA 53 63 54 78 / 70 50 40 30 BWI 49 59 51 73 / 70 50 40 30 MRB 50 58 51 76 / 70 50 40 30 IAD 52 62 53 79 / 70 50 40 30 CHO 55 67 56 81 / 80 40 40 30 HGR 49 56 50 74 / 70 50 40 30 NHK 53 63 55 78 / 70 50 40 30 .LWX... DC...NONE. MD...NONE. VA...NONE. WV...NONE. MARGRAF!
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning killed four heifers taking shelter under a tree.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Virginia in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Virginia, April 2001
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: 5240040.