Flash Flood, Buckingham
- When
- March 21, 9:00 AM EST to 11:30 AM EST
- Where
- Buckingham County, 3 mi WNW of Buckingham
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 37.572, -78.529 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flooding in Virginia, March 21, 2001
S. Route 60, 1/2 mile west of Buckingham, and flooded and closed County Route 604, 1 mile north of Virgilina.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 3 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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 3
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 RNK wrote it up.
Heavy rain during the morning of the 21st caused the North River to flood State Route 56, 2 1/2 miles west of Buckingham, the Slate River to flood U.S. Route 60, 1/2 mile west of Buckingham, and flooded and closed County Route 604, 1 mile north of Virgilina.
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 Blacksburg, VA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 21, 3:15 AM EST, 5 hours 45 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 21, 3:15 AM EST, 5 hours 45 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG, VA 315 AM EST WED MAR 21 2001 RNK 06Z SOUNDING SHOWED A NEARLY ISOTHERMAL NEAR FREEZING LAYER 4000 FEET DEEP FROM 870 TO 750 MBS. SINCE AROUND MIDNIGHT...RAIN HAS BEEN REPORTED AS THE PREDOMINATE PRECIPITATION TYPE IN MOST OF THE VA/WV MOUNTAIN AREAS. A CALL JUST BEFORE 300 AM TO BATH COUNTY INDICATED MAINLY RAIN SINCE AROUND 200 AM. IN ADDITION...BOTH AVN AND NGM MODELS WARM THE COLUMN ENOUGH IN THE VA/WV MOUNTAINS FOR MAINLY RAIN DURING THE REMAINDER OF THE EVENT. FOR THESE REASONS...PLAN ON DROPPING ALL VA COUNTIES EXCEPT FOR GRAYSON OUT OF THE WARNING WITH THIS ISSUANCE. COULD STILL SEE SOME SNOW MIXED IN AT TIMES ESPECIALLY AT THE HIGHEST ELEVATIONS...BUT THINK ANY ADDITIONAL ACCUMULATIONS IN THESE AREAS WILL BE LIGHT AT BEST. REPORTS FROM THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS OF NORTH CAROLINA INDICATE STILL MAINLY SNOW...SO WILL CONTINUE WINTER STORM WARNING IN THAT AREA AND GRAYSON COUNTY VIRGINIA THROUGH 10 AM. SURFACE LOW PRESSURE NOT FAR FROM WILMINGTON NORTH CAROLINA AT 07Z WILL MOVE NORTH AND THEN NORTHEAST TODAY TO A POSITION ALONG THE VIRGINIA COAST BY EVENING. BEST UPPER SUPPORT TO SHIFT NORTH AND EAST OF THE AREA BY EARLY EVENING...BRINGING AN END TO THE PRECIPITATION IN MOST AREAS. LOOKS LIKE THERE COULD BE SOME SNOW SHOWERS IN THE NORTHWEST FLOW UPSLOPE AREAS OF WEST VIRGINIA TONIGHT...BUT ATTM DOES NOT LOOK VERY IMPRESSIVE. MOSTLY SUNNY TO SUNNY SKIES ON THURSDAY WILL ALLOW TEMPERATURES TO SIGNIFICANTLY REBOUND. IN THE EXTENDED...MAIN CHANGE WAS TO LOWER TEMPERATURES THIS WEEKEND AND INCLUDE MENTION OF SNOW SHOWERS...ESPECIALLY IN SOUTHEASTERN WEST VIRGINIA. FCSTID = 3 ROA 45 40 60 38 / 100 50 0 5 LYH 48 40 62 38 / 100 50 0 5 DAN 49 40 63 38 / 100 50 0 5 BLF 37 30 52 35 / 90 50 10 10 LWB 38 31 53 35 / 100 50 10 10 BCB > 38 32 53 35 / 100 50 10 10 TNB 39 32 52 35 / 90 30 10 10 .RNK... NC...WINTER STORM WARNING THROUGH 10 AM NCZ001-002-018. VA...WINTER STORM WARNING THROUGH 10 AM VAZ015. WV...NONE.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
3 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Flash Flood, Buckingham
- When
- March 21, 9:00 AM EST
- Where
- Buckingham County, 1 mi W of Buckingham
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 37.572, -78.529 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood, Halifax
- When
- March 21, 8:00 PM EST to 9:30 PM EST
- Where
- Halifax County, 1 mi N of Virgilina
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 36.767, -78.937 (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
- Heavy Rain and Strong Wind in Maryland, March 21, 2001
- Strong Wind in District of Columbia, March 21, 2001
- Winter Storm in New York, March 21 to 23, 2001
- Flash Flood and Winter Storm in West Virginia, March 21 to 22, 2001
- Flash Flooding and Winter Storm in Virginia, March 21, 2001
- Winter Storm in Vermont, March 21 to 23, 2001
- High Wind in New Jersey, March 21, 2001
- Flood and Heavy Rain in New Jersey, March 21, 2001
- Heavy Snow in New York, March 21 to 22, 2001
- Heavy Snow in Kentucky, March 21, 2001
- High Wind and Heavy Rain in New York, March 21 to 22, 2001
- Flash Flood and Heavy Rain in Delaware, March 21, 2001
More
Every storm in Virginia in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Virginia, March 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: 5235447, 5235448, 5235449.