High pressure brought ample sunshine and warm southerly winds to the region between the 6th and the 10th. Afternoon temperatures soared into the 90s each day and dew points in the 60s pushed heat indices to between 98 and 112 degrees.
Every event with a place to put it; 19 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 episode as NWS LWX wrote it up.
High pressure brought ample sunshine and warm southerly winds to the region between the 6th and the 10th. Afternoon temperatures soared into the 90s each day and dew points in the 60s pushed heat indices to between 98 and 112 degrees. At Washington Reagan National Airport, high temperatures recorded on the 6th through the 10th were 91, 95, 97, 97, and 96 degrees. At Dulles International Airport, high temperatures from the 6th to the 10th were 93, 94, 96, 97, and 96 degrees. In Charlottesville, high temperatures from the 6th to the 10th were 90, 93, 94, 95, and 94 degrees. A "code red" alert was issued by environment officials in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area on August 8th and 9th due to bad air quality. Medical professionals reported treating several people for heat related illnesses during the period. Victims included 4 marines training at Quantico Marine Base in Prince William County and nearly 400 people attending a Civil War re-enactment just north of Leesburg in Loudoun County.
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 6, 2:16 AM EST, 5 hours 44 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE/WASHINGTON 316 AM EDT MON AUG 6 2001 MAIN FCST PROBLEM THIS PKG WL BE THREAT FM BLDG HEAT OVR FA AS UPR RDG DOMINATES MID ATLC THRU THU. AFTER AREAS OF LOW CLDS AND PTCHY DENSE FOG THIS AM...SKIES SHUD BCM M/S SIMILAR TO YESTERDAY. CANNOT RULE OUT ISOLD TSRAS FORMING ON LEFTOVR BDRIES BUT CHC WL BE TOO LOW TO MENT IN ZONES. SFC WNDS WL BE SOUTHERLY TDY ALLOWING TEMPS TO CLIMB HIER THAN YESTERDAY/S READINGS. H85 TEMPS ALSO WL CONT TO RISE AND WERE PROGGED TO BE BETW 18 AND 19 DEG C BY 00Z TUE. AM CLDS/FOG MAY CAUSE TEMPS IN SOME AREAS TO NOT GET QUITE AS HIGH AS PROJECTED FWC/MAV NUMBERS. THUS WL FCST RANGE OF LOW TO MID 90S. EXPECT THAT TEMPS WL RISE INTO THE 90S IN FAR NW ZONES AS WELL SINCE CBE REACHED AT LEAST 88 DEGS YEST. DWPTS WL BE IN L70S. RESULTING HEAT INDICIES WL MEET HEAT ADVISORY CRITERIA SO WL ISSUE NPW FOR ENTIRE FA. TROF OF LOW PRES FCST TO MV INTO/DVLP OVR ERN FA LATE TNGT WHICH WL CAUSE SFC-850 WNDS TO BCM NW. NO CHG IN AMS EXPECTED W/THIS FEATURE SO WL HV PC SKIES OVERNIGHT W/REDVLPMNT OF PTCHY DENSE FOG. THE NW FLOW WL CONT THRU TUE WHICH WL CAUSE DWPTS TO DROP A DEG OR TWO. THIS DOWNSLOPE FLOW WL ALSO AID TEMPS IN REACHING U90S. RESULTING CONDS WL MEET EXCESSIVE HEAT WATCH CRITERIA...SO WL ALSO ISSUE THIS FOR ENTIRE AREA. OTRW SKIES SHUD BE M/S AGN. CURRENT EXTENDED FCST IN LINE W/LATEST AVN. EXCESSIVE HEAT CONDS WL BE SUPPORTED THRU AT LEAST WED. SLIGHTLY COOLER CONDS WL RETURN TO THE AREA ON FRI AS CDFNT APPROACHES FA FM THE N PRODUCING SCT CONVECTION. THANX FOR COORD PHI. FCSTID = 10 .LWX... DC...EXCESSIVE HEAT WATCH FOR TUE THRU WED FOR ZONE DCZ001. HEAT ADVISORY FOR TDY FOR ZONE DCZ001. MD...EXCESSIVE HEAT WATCH FOR TUE THRU WED FOR ZONES MDZ002>007...MDZ009>011...MDZ013>014...MDZ016>018. HEAT ADVISORY FOR TDY FOR ZONES MDZ002>007...MDZ009>011... MDZ013>014...MDZ016>018. VA...EXCESSIVE HEAT WATCH FOR TUE THRU WED FOR ZONES VAZ021...VAZ025>031...VAZ036>042...VAZ050>057. HEAT ADVISORY FOR TDY FOR ZONES VAZ021...VAZ025>031... VAZ036>042...VAZ050>057. WV...EXCESSIVE HEAT WATCH FOR TUE THRU WED FOR ZONES WVZ048>055. HEAT ADVISORY FOR TDY FOR ZONES WVZ048>055. ARTHUR
DCZ001-MDZ002>007-009>011-013-014-016>018-VAZ021-025>031-036>042- 050>057-WVZ048>055-061400- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE-WASHINGTON 545 AM EDT MON AUG 6 2001 ...PATCHY DENSE FOG THIS MORNING... A VERY MOIST AIR MASS COMBINED WITH CLEARING SKIES AND LIGHT WINDS HAS ALLOWED WIDESPREAD FOG TO FORM OVERNIGHT. VISIBILITIES ARE 1 TO 3 MILES IN MOST LOCATIONS...BUT A FEW LOCAL AREAS HAD DENSER FOG WITH VISIBILITY BELOW 1/2 MILE. MOTORISTS SHOULD BE ALERT FOR SUDDEN VISIBILITY CHANGES WHILE DRIVING. PLEASE SLOW DOWN AND ALLOW EXTRA TIME TO REACH YOUR DESTINATION. THE FOG WILL SLOWLY DISSIPATE THROUGH THE MORNING HOURS. FOR ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION, CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT HTTP://WWW.NWS.NOAA.GOV/ER/LWX STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND OTHER LOCAL MEDIA FOR FURTHER DETAILS OR UPDATES.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
22 heat. Local standard time, as filed.
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: 5263303, 5263304, 5263305, 5263306, 5263307, 5263308, 5263309, 5263310, 5263311, 5263312, 5263313, 5263314, 5263481, 5263482, 5263483, 5263484, 5263485, 5263486, 5263487, 5263488, 5263489, 5263599.