1 lightning, 1 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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.
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 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 Wakefield, VA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 12, 2:05 PM EST, 3 hours 55 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD, VA 305 PM EDT SUN AUG 12 2001 PLAN TO DROP FFA W/AFT PKG. LAST AREA OF LIGHT PRECIP NOW EXITING MD ZNS. LTST VIS SHOWS CONVECTION BEG TO FIRE IN THE SWRN VA MTNS BUT LOOKNG AT THE MEAN FLOW THIS ACTIVITY SHULD STAY TO THE W OF THE AREA. DO XPCT SH AND TSTMS TO REFIRE THIS EVE AND INTO TON AS THE AREA OF NVA EJECTS NE AND BROAD PVA AGAIN SETTLES ACROSS WRN NC AND VA. DO BELIEVE THAT WE WILL SEE LOCALIZED AREA OF HVY RAINFALL BUT DO NOT EXPECT IT TO BE WIDESPREAD. ALSO MEAN STORM MOTION GRAD INCREASE THRU THE NIGHT TO AROUND 15 KT OR SO. THUS WITH MOST LOC SEEING DRY COND FOR THE PAST 6 HRS OR SO...ANY STREAMS OR LOW LYING AREAS SHULD HAVE RECEDED AND THUS DO NOT FEEL JUSTIFIED TO CONTINUE OF THE FFA. FOR MON...THE FRNT WILL SLOWLY PUSH INTO CNTRL VA DURING THE AFT AS THE UPR TROF ROTATES INTO THE OH VALLEY AND GT LKS. THINK THAT WE WILL SEE SOME ACTIVITY IN THE MORNING BUT THE BETTER CHANCES WL BE IN THE AFTERNOON WITH THE COMBINED EFFECTS DAYTIME HEATING AND FRNTAL LIFTNG. THE FRNT EVER SO SLOWLY PUSHES SE ACRS THE FA MON NIGHT AND INTO TUE MORN WITH THE DRYING AND CAA IMMEDIATELY BEHIND THE WIND SHIFT. SO WL CONT W CHC POPS IN ALL ZNS MON NIGHT AND THEN DRY OUT NWRN ZNS TUE MORN. WL GRADUALLY WORK SE THRU THE DAY W THE DRYNG TREND. HI PRES BUILDS IN FOR TUE NIGHT AND WED AS THE FRNT SETTLES INTO THE CAROLINAS. SW FLOW RETURNS AGAIN ON THU AS THE HI PUSHES OFF THE NE CST. MODELS ARE FAIRLY CONSISTENT W THE RESURGENCE OF MOIST AHEAD OF THE NXT FRNT ON FRI AND THEN MVNG THE FRNT SE ACRS THE FA FRI AFT/NIGHT. FOR NOW WL LEAVE POPS FOR BOTH FRI AND SAT AS THE FRNT MAY SLOW AND KEEP PRECIP IN THE FA DURING THE DAY ON SAT. HI PRES BUILDS IN AGAIN FOR SAT NIGHT AND INTO SUN DRYING OUT THE MID ATLC. AS FOR TEMPS FWC LOOKS REASONABLE W A COOL DOWN AFTER THE FRNTAL PASSAGE MON NIGHT AND THEN A WARM UP AGAIN FOR THU AND FRI AND THEN A COOL DOWN ON SUN. CWF...NO FLAGS. THNK THE AVN IS A LITTLE STRNG ON THE WNDS THRU THE NXT 48 HRS SO HAVE TRENDED MORE TOWARD THE ETA. THUS WL KEEP SPEEDS MAINLY AT 15 KT OR LESS WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE SRN CSTALS WHERE WL INC SPEEDS TO 20 KTS MON NIGHT W THE FRNT. FCSTID = 15 SBY 73 86 68 83 / 50 60 50 30 OXB 73 87 69 82 / 50 60 50 30 ECG 75 88 72 85 / 50 60 50 30 ORF 75 88 72 83 / 50 60 50 30 PHF 74 88 72 84 / 50 60 50 30 AKQ 73 87 70 86 / 50 60 50 30 RIC 72 85 67 84 / 50 60 40 20 FVX 72 84 66 83 / 50 60 40 20 .AKQ... MD...NONE. NC...NONE. VA...NONE. INNES
The Norfolk radar (KAKQ), 94 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:45 UTC.
1 lightning, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A man had a storm door open and lightning hit the rail and jumped to the door he had been holding. He was knocked out briefly and had a burn mark on his hand.
Trees down and tops of trees blown out.
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, August 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: 5267081, 5267080.