Flash Flood and Heavy Rain in Virginia, August 4, 2001

Name: Flash Flood and Heavy Rain in Virginia, August 4, 2001
Start: 2001-08-04T00:00
End: 2001-08-04T03:00
Location: Virginia

August 4, 2001 · NWS LWX · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

An area of thunderstorms with very heavy rainfall remained nearly stationary over Page and Warren Counties between 1 and 4 AM EDT on the 4th. 71 inches in Ida.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 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: 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 LWX wrote it up.

An area of thunderstorms with very heavy rainfall remained nearly stationary over Page and Warren Counties between 1 and 4 AM EDT on the 4th. Rainfall totals included 3.12 inches on Hogback Mountain, 2.77 inches at Rocky Branch, and 2.71 inches in Ida. In Front Royal, Happy Creek overflowed its banks and submerged the 8th Street bridge. Nearby roads were also flooded.

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 Baltimore/Washington wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 3, 8:35 PM EST, 3 hours 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 3, 8:35 PM EST, 3 hours 25 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE/WASHINGTON
935 PM EDT FRI AUG 3 2001

AT 01Z...SHOWERS LINGER OVER POTOMAC HIGHLANDS /NW CWA/. PRECIP HAS
REMAINED FAIRLY STATIONARY OVER THIS AREA SINCE THIS AFT...ONLY
MOVING ABOUT A COUNTY EASTWARD SINCE 4 PM. THE ACTIVITY PRODUCED
VERY HEAVY DOWNPOURS AND FREQUENT LIGHTING EARLY THIS EVE BUT HAS
WEAKENED CONSIDERABLY PAST FEW HRS. BOTH OBSERVATIONS LEAD TO
CONCLUSION THAT PRECIP WAS...IN ADDITION TO BEING CREATED BY LIFT
FROM VORT MAX...HELPED BY DIURNAL AND OROGRAPHIC EFFECTS.

THEREFORE...WITH LOSS OF HEATING AND UPSLOPE FLOW THIS EVENING ONLY
LIGHT TO MODERATE SHOWERS EXPECTED TO SURVIVE. IR SAT SHOWS ENERGY
ALONG FRONT SPLITTING IN TWO WITH BREAKPOINT OVER W CWA. 18Z ETA
SHOWED STRONGER DYNAMICS HOLDING TOGETHER AND PASSING THROUGH ENTIRE
CWA TONIGHT...BUT DO NOT FAVOR THAT INTERPRETATION BASED ON CURRENT
IR SAT AND RADAR TREND. 12Z ETA/AVN FCST MOST LIFT/DYNAMICS PASSING
N OF MASON-DIXON LINE WITH A BIT SKIRTING N 1/3 CWA OVERNIGHT. WILL
KEEP CHANCE POPS N 1/2 CWA AND DUE TO TOPOGRAPHY KEEP PRECIP FROM
BLUE RIDGE W SW CWA. DRY FCST REMAINS OVER FAR SE CWA BECAUSE ENERGY
SHUD STAY N OF THIS AREA OVERNIGHT.

REGARDING TEMPS...FINE TUNED LOWS BASED ON CURRENT DEW PTS. ALSO...
TOOK OUT MENTION OF PATCHY FOG IN E CWA DUE TO THICK CLOUD COVER
MOVING IN.  LEFT FOG IN W ZONES WHERE PRECIP FELL TODAY.

THANKS FOR COORD AKQ.

.LWX...NONE.

MMARGRAF

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 3, 6:39 PM EST, 5 hours 21 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE/WASHINGTON
739 PM EDT FRI AUG 3 2001

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

0446 PM    NATIONAL                  MD   FLASH FLOODS
08/03/01   ALLEGANY                       ROADS FLOODED AND DAMAGE
                                          TO SOME PROPERTIES BETWEEN
                                          SHAFT AJND MIDLAND. WORST
                                          HIT AREA WAS NATIONAL.
                                          REPORTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT

MKM

The radar

The Sterling radar (KLWX), 95 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 04:58 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 heavy rain, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Rain, Page

When: August 4, 12:00 AM EST to 3:00 AM EST
Where: Page County, Countywide
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 38.620, -78.484 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Warren

When: August 4, 12:30 AM EST to 3:00 AM EST
Where: Warren County, Countywide
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 38.909, -78.207 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Happy Creek overflowed onto a bridge in Front Royal.

What these are

Heavy Rain: Rainfall totals unusual for the place and season that did not produce a flood.
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 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: 5263301, 5263302.