Flash Flood and Hail in Virginia, May 20, 2001

Name: Flash Flood and Hail in Virginia, May 20, 2001
Start: 2001-05-20T16:00
End: 2001-05-20T17:00
Location: Virginia

May 20, 2001 · NWS RNK · 2 events in 1 county or zone

Thunderstorms during the late afternoon of the 20th produced hail up to dime size and heavy rain that flooded Route 100 in Bane.

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: 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 RNK wrote it up.

Thunderstorms during the late afternoon of the 20th produced hail up to dime size and heavy rain that flooded Route 100 in Bane.

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 May 20, 2:15 PM EST, 1 hour 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 20, 2:15 PM EST, 1 hour 45 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG, VA
315 PM EDT SUN MAY 20 2001

THE UNSETTLE WEATHER WILL CONTINUE...FOLLOWED BY STRONG UPPER TROF
BY MIDWEEK. THE MODIFIED RNK SNDG INDICATES AN LI OF -1 AND CAPES
ARND 1100. WSR-88D INDICATED SCT SHOWERS HAVE ALREADY DEVELOP THIS
AFTERNOON. SFC ANALYSIS PLACED MAIN FRONT TO OUR SOUTH ACRS NC...AND
SFC DEW POINT FRONT TO OUR NORTH ARD THE MASON DIXON LINE. WEAK UPR
VORT TO GRDLY MOVE NE TONIGHT THRU NC AS NEXT SRN S/W KICKS NEWD IN
ADVANCE OF DVLPG 5H TROF. ANOTHER PAIR OF VORTS ROLLS THRU FA ON
MONDAY. STRONG COLD FRONT MOVES THRU ON TUESDAY. WILL MAKE SOME
CHANGES IN THE EXTENDED. ZONES WILL BE OUT BY 400 PM. HAVE A GOOD
EVENING.

FCSTID = 7
PRELIMINARY NUMBERS

ROA   60  76  62  74 /  50  50  50  40
LYH   59  78  61  74 /  50  50  50  40
DAN   63  80  65  76 /  50  50  50  40
BLF   57  73  59  65 /  40  50  60  50
LWB   56  72  58  63 /  40  50  60  50
BCB   60  75  60  67 /  50  50  60  50
TNB   57  75  60  70 /  60  60  60  50

RNK...
NC...NONE.
VA...NONE.
WV...NONE.

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 20, 10:54 AM EST, 5 hours 6 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG, VA
1154 AM EDT SUN MAY 20 2001

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

0515 PM    BANE                      VA   .75 INCH HAIL
05/20/01   GILES                          HAILED FOR 10 MINUTES ON
                                          ROUTE 100. REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT

0515 PM    BANE                      VA   FLASH FLOOD
05/20/01   GILES                          WATER RUNNING ACROSS ROUTE
                                          100. REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT

RMG

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 50 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:12 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Giles

When: May 20, 4:00 PM EST to 5:00 PM EST
Where: Giles County, Bane
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.314, -80.704 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Hail, Giles

When: May 20, 4:15 PM EST
Where: Giles County, Bane
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.267, -80.717

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.
Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

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, May 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: 5243581, 5243580.