Name: Flash Flood in Virginia, July 29, 2001
Start: 2001-07-29T04:45
End: 2001-07-29T15:30
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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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 MRX wrote it up.

Water over Highway 609 and two feet of water over roadway leading to city jail.

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 Morristown, TN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 29, 3:00 AM EST, 1 hour 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 29, 3:00 AM EST, 1 hour 45 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
400 AM EDT SUN JUL 29 2001

ALL 29/00Z MODELS SHOW STRONG SURFACE LOW PRESSURE DEVELOPMENT IN
EASTERN KENTUCKY FROM 12Z-18Z...IN RESPONSE TO A WESTWARD MOVING
MAJOR H5 S/W...PRESENTLY OVER SOUTHERN ILLINOIS AND WESTERN KENTUCKY.
THE NORTHERN MRX FORECAST AREA OF SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA CURRENTLY HAS
FLASH FLOODING WARNINGS IN EFFECT...AND THIS AREA LOOKS TO GET HIT
HARDER YET LATER THIS MORNING.

IN ADDITION...CONTEMPLATING EXPANDING THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH MORE TO
THE SOUTH (MORE INTO EAST CENTRAL TENNESSEE)...AS L/L THETA-E FIELDS
ARE EXPECTED TO AMPLIFY (WILL WAIT FOR LATER MODEL DATA FOR THE FINAL
DECISION). AS FOR TEMPERATURES AND POPS...BLENDED SPECTRAL MOS.

TONIGHT...WILL CARRY A LIKELY POP INTO THE EVENING...AS THE NGM/
ETA/AVN SIMILARLY SHOW MUCH DRIER AIR AT DEPTH ACCOMPANYING A
WESTERLY WIND SHIFT. ONLY PARTIAL CLEARING AFTER MIDNIGHT AND LATE
NIGHT FOG LENDS ITSELF TOWARD WARMER MOS MINS.

MONDAY...THERE WILL BE MORE SUN THAN IN QUITE SOME TIME...BUT WITH
STRONG AFTERNOON HEATING AND MID-LVL COOLING...EXPECT S/B LAPSE RATES
OF LESS THAN -4 AND CAPE VALUES OF 2000-2500 J/KG TO OCCUR...SO COULD
NOT RULE OUT LATE DAY STORMS. THIS IS EMPHASIZED BECAUSE MOS POP/S
ARE IN THE SINGLE DIGITS. WILL ADDRESS AS A SLIGHT CHANCE ATTM.

FCSTID = 4
CHA   84  72  91  70 /  70  60  20  20
TYS   83  71  90  69 /  90  60  20  20
TRI   77  67  87  65 / 100  60  20  20
OQT   82  71  90  68 /  90  60  20  20

.MRX...
NC...NONE.
TN...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR SUNDAY FOR ZONES TNZ012>018...TNZ035...
TNZ042>047.

VA...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR SUNDAY FOR ZONES VAZ001>002...
VAZ005>006...VAZ008.

DM

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jul 29, 3:24 AM EST, 1 hour 21 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN, TN
424 AM EDT SUN JUL 29 2001

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

0300 AM    JONESVILLE                VA   FLASH FLOODS
07/29/01   LEE                            5 - 6 INCHES OF WATER IN
                                          HOME IN STONE CREEK.
                                          MUDSLIDES AND ROADS UNDER
                                          WATER AT JONESVILLE, DEEP
                                          SPRINGS, PENNINGTON GAP AND
                                          DRYDEN. REPORTED BY
                                          DISPATCH.

Local storm report, Jul 29, 4:30 AM EST, 15 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN, TN
530 AM EDT SUN JUL 29 2001

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

0510 AM    FORT BLACKMORE            VA   FLASH FLOODS
07/29/01   SCOTT                          ON ROUTE 657 AT STONEY
                                          CREEK. PEOPLE TRAPPED BY
                                          HIGH WATER. REPORTED BY
                                          EMO.

0515 AM    BIG STONE GAP             VA   FLASH FLOODS
07/29/01   WISE                           SOME EVACUATIONS, ROADS
                                          CLOSED OR UNDERWATER IN
                                          SEVERAL AREAS OF CITY.
                                          REPORTED BY DISPATCH.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Washington

When: July 29, 4:45 AM EST to 3:30 PM EST
Where: Washington County, Abingdon
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 36.725, -81.960 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings 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: 5261918.