Name: Flash Flood and Damaging Wind in Virginia, August 10, 2001
Start: 2001-08-10T16:20
End: 2001-08-10T19:15
Location: Virginia

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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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.

Thunderstorms during the afternoon and evening of the 10th produced flash flooding and damaging winds.Thunderstorm rains flooded and closed many roads in Covington.Thunderstorm winds downed trees in Roanoke.

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 Aug 10, 2:30 PM EST, 1 hour 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 10, 2:30 PM EST, 1 hour 50 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED FOR ESFRNK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG, VA
330 PM EDT FRI AUG 10 2001

***UPON FURTHER REVIEW/DISCUSSION HERE AT RNK...WILL WILL ISSUE AN
ESFRNK TO HIGHLIGHT THE POSSIBILITY OF RAINFALL HEAVY ENOUGH TO
CAUSE SOME FLOOD PROBLEMS HEADING INTO SUNDAY/MONDAY***

SFC FNT IS INTO SRN OH AND IND THIS AFT...BUT HAS NOT PROGRESSED
MUCH FURTHER SOUTH IN THE PAST 6 HOURS. INITIAL NRN STREAM SHORT WV
IS ALREADY LIFTING NE...AND THE FNT IS PARALLEL TO THE FLOW. OTHER
THAN A BIT OF A SWD SHIFT FROM CONVECTION ALONG IT...IT PROB WON/T
MOVE MUCH UNTIL NEXT SHORT WV MOVG THRU WY ATTM PASSES ACROSS GREAT
LAKES REGION LATE SATURDAY. SO...LOOKS LIKE THE NGM IS TOO
PROGRESSIVE WITH THE FNT...AND WILL USE THE ETA/AVN FOR THE FCST.
THE MAIN DIFF IN THE ETA & AVN IS THAT THE AVN DEVELOPS MORE AFT
CONVECTION IN THE WARM SECTOR BOTH SAT & SUN...WHICH WOULD BE IN THE
PIEDMONT SECTION OF THE CWA. I LIKE THIS SOLUTION BETTER...WITH
PLENTY OF MOISTURE AND HTG EACH DAY...AND THE POTENTIAL FOR WEAK SRN
STREAM IMPULSES MOVG NEWD- PARTICULARLY REMNANTS OF BARRY SUNDAY.

IN THE SHORT TERM...LOOKS LIKE CONVECTION WILL BE MORE DIURNAL
TONITE SO WILL WORD AS MAINLY EVENING. NRN SECTIONS MAY WARRANT A
LIKELY POP. SLOW MVMNT OF CELLS AND PWS WHICH HAVE CLIMBED TO 1.8
INCHES MEANS THERE IS SOME THREAT FOR FLASH FLOODING. ACCORDING TO
FFG...LOOKS LIKE IT WILL TAKE ARND 3 INCHES FOR PROBLEMS AND I DON/T
EXPECT ANY OF THOSE AMOUNTS TO BE VERY WIDESPREAD. SO FAR CELLS HAVE
BEEN DEVELOPING IN SHORT LINE SEGMENTS WITH NO LARGE SCALE
ORGANIZATION. WILL NOT ISSUE A WATCH...BUT WILL ADD IN LOCALLY HEAVY
DOWNPOURS POSSIBLE TONITE.

EXTENDED- THE MODELS ARE MORE PROGRESSIVE WITH THE FNT AFTER MONDAY.
EVEN THE AVN HAS TRENDED TOWARD PUSHING THE FNT INTO SE SECTIONS OF
THE CWA TUE. I PLAN TO DROP THE CHC FROM NWRN ZONES TUE...AND WILL
LEAVE WED/THU DRY. LOOKS LIKE NEXT FNT COULD BE APPCHNG THE AREA
FRI...BUT WILL LEAVE POPS OUT OF FRI- WAIT TO SEE IF ANOTHER MODEL
RUN SUPPORTS POPS.

FCSTID = 6
ROA   72  87  69  84 /  50  60  60  60
LYH   69  87  67  84 /  50  60  60  60
DAN   72  90  70  87 /  40  50  50  60
BLF   68  78  66  77 /  60  70  60  60
LWB   66  78  64  76 /  60  70  60  60
BCB   67  81  65  79 /  50  70  60  60
TNB   67  79  65  78 /  50  60  60  60

.RNK...
NC...NONE.
VA...NONE.
WV...NONE.

JJ

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 88 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:13 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Alleghany

When: August 10, 4:20 PM EST to 6:45 PM EST
Where: Alleghany County, Covington City
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 37.788, -80.007 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Thunderstorm Wind, Roanoke (C)

When: August 10, 7:15 PM EST
Where: Roanoke (C) County, Roanoke
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.267, -79.950

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.
Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Virginia in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Virginia, August 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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5265783, 5265784.