Virginia, 2001

Flash Flooding in Virginia, July 26 to 27, 2001

July 26 to 27, 2001 · NWS RLX · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

2 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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
$900,000
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 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 Charleston, WV wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 26, 8:11 PM EST, 49 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 26, 8:11 PM EST, 49 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
911 PM EDT THU JUL 26 2001

PLAN ON CANCELLING FFA WITH THIS ZFP ISSUANCE...IN AROUND A HALF
HOUR OR SO.

FRONT MAKING FAIRLY DECENT SOUTHWARD PROGRESS THIS EVENING AND WILL
CLEAR CWA A BIT AHEAD OF SCHEDULE.  AFTER LAST BATCH EXITS SW VA
COUNTIES...SEE LITTLE NEED FOR OVERNIGHT POPS...WILL GO AHEAD AND
REMOVE THEM.  MAY TINKER WITH TEMPS A BIT BUT NO BIG CHANGES THERE.

THE GOOD NEWS...ONE DRY DAY AHEAD FOR FRIDAY.  THE BAD NEWS...THIS
RAIN MAY HAVE SET US UP FOR THE NORTHWARD RETURN OF THE FRONT DURING
THE WEEKEND.

.RLX...
WV...NONE.
VA...NONE.
KY...NONE.
OH...NONE.

.END/CL

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jul 26, 4:39 PM EST, 4 hours 21 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON, WV
539 PM EDT THU JUL 26 2001

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

0130 PM    BECKLEY                   WV   FLASH FLOODS
07/26/01   RALEIGH                        NUMEROUS REPORTS OF ROADS
                                          AND SOME HOMES FLOODED
                                          ESPECIALLY AROUND THE
                                          BECKLEY AREA.REPORTED BY
                                          SPOTTERS

0245 PM    OAK HILL                  WV   FLASH FLOODS
07/26/01   FAYETTE                        FLOODING OF ROADS AND
                                          HOMES ESPECIALLY FROM OAK
                                          HILL SOUTH. REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT

0315 PM    HURRICANE                 WV   FLASH FLOODS
07/26/01   PUTNAM                         FLOODING ALONG ROUTE 60 IN
                                          HURRICANE. 6 TO 8 HOUSES
                                          FLOODED...ONE CAR TRAPPED
                                          IN SYCAMORE CREEK. REPORTED
                                          BY LAW ENFORCEMENT

0600 PM    SUMMERSVILLE              WV   FLASH FLOODS
07/26/01   NICHOLAS                       FLOODING OF ROADS AND
                                          SEVERAL HOMES MAINLY FROM
                                          SUMMERSVILLE
                                          WESTWARD.REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT
Local storm report, Jul 26, 6:38 PM EST, 2 hours 22 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON, WV
738 PM EDT THU JUL 26 2001

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

0630 PM    GLEN JEAN                 WV   FLASH FLOODS
07/26/01   FAYETTE                        EVACUATIONS IN GLEN
                                          JEAN...MT HOPE...AND BELL
                                          CREEK. EXTENSIVE ROAD
                                          PROBLEMS NEAR NICHOLAS
                                          COUNTY LINE. REPORTED BY
                                          LAW ENFORCEMENT

0720 PM    ROCK CREEK                WV   FLAS[H FLOODS
07/26/01   RALEIGH                        ROUTE 3 NEAR ROCK CREEK
                                          CLOSED. REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Buchanan

When
July 26, 9:00 PM EST to July 27, 1:00 AM EST
Where
Buchanan County, Grundy
Property damage
$600,000
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
37.267, -82.036 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Localized downpours occurred just south of Grundy. Private bridges were washed away. Grundy airport measured 3.8 inches, Vansant had 5.9 inches in about a 12 hour period. The sheriff reported Garden Creek, Dry Fork, and Greenbrier Creek were some of the streams that flooded.

Flash Flood, Dickenson

When
July 26, 9:30 PM EST to July 27, 1:00 AM EST
Where
Dickenson County, Countywide
Property damage
$300,000
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
37.126, -82.350 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Rains of 2.5 to 4 inches were common in 12 hours, with isolated amounts of 4 to 6 inches. The cooperative observer at John Flannagan Lake measured 4 inches. Birch Gap, along the Kentucky border, measured 5.9 inches, Clincho 5.1 inches, and Nealy Ridge 4.8 inches. Clintwood had 2.9 inches of rain. The sheriff reported flooding along Route 80, plus around Haysi.

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.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Virginia in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Virginia, July 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: 5261872, 5261871.