Dense Fog in Virginia, May 21, 2001

Name: Dense Fog in Virginia, May 21, 2001
Start: 2001-05-21T12:15
End: 2001-05-21T12:15
Location: Virginia

May 21, 2001 · NWS RNK · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Forty to fifty vehicles were involved in a chain reaction accident in dense fog on Interstate Route 77 at Fancy Gap during the early afternoon of the 21st.

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.

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $300,000
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 RNK wrote it up.

Forty to fifty vehicles were involved in a chain reaction accident in dense fog on Interstate Route 77 at Fancy Gap during the early afternoon of the 21st.

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 21, 9:15 AM EST, 3 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 21, 9:15 AM EST, 3 hours before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG, VA
1015 AM EDT MON MAY 21 2001

S/WV MVG THROUGH AND EAST OF CWA THIS MORNING TAKING WIDESPREAD
SHOWERS WITH IT.  LOOKS LIKE A BREAK FOR A WHILE MIDDAY...AND MORE
DEVELOPMENT LATE THIS AFTERNOON...ESPECIALLY IF ANY HTG CAN OCCUR
ACROSS SW.  WARM FRNT WILL TRY TO LIFT NORTH...BUT NOT AS FAST AS
EVEN MESOETA SUGGESTS GIVEN THE PRECIP AROUND THIS MORNING.  MIGHT
LIFT NORTH OF NC/VA LINE BY 3-4 PM AND MODIFIED SOUNDIGNS SUGGEST
OVER 1500 CAPE.  LTL DRY AIR AT MID LEVELS SO SEVERE POTENTIAL
MINIMAL BUT SHEAR INCREASE LATE IN THE DAY AS MID LVL GRADIENT PICKS
UP. SO...IF WARM FRNT LIFTS NORTH SOONER AND MORE BREAKS OCCUR IN
PIEDMONT EARLY THIS AFTERNOON...WILL NEED TO CONSIDER SLIGHT RISK OF
SVR. ALSO...STILL CONCERNED ABOUT ORGANIZED CONVECTION NEAR WARM
FRNT AND FLASH FLOOD POTENTIAL FROM SE WV TO SOUTHSIDE VA. NO WATCH
SINCE LIKELIHOOD OF STRONG CONVECTION STILL MINIMAL.

FOR NOW...WILL PLAY IT MOSTLY CLOUDY MOST PLACES...EXCEPT VARIABLY
CLOUDY FAR WEST.  WILL ALSO WAIT UNTIL 11AM TO UPDATE AND HOPEFULLY
MAIN AREA OF SHOWERS WILL BE EAST OF AREA SO CAN DROP POPS FROM
LIKELY TO CHC CATE7GORY.  MAY BOOST TEMPS A COUPLE DEGREES FOR SRN
ZONES...ANY SUN EVEN LATE THIS AFTERNOON WILL WARM THINGS UP FAST
AND ALREADY INTO LOW 70S FAR SW.

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

SK

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 dense fog. Local standard time, as filed.

Dense Fog, Carroll / Galax

When: May 21, 12:15 PM EST
Where: Carroll / Galax forecast zone
Property damage: $300,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 36.697, -80.829 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Dense Fog: Fog reducing visibility to a quarter mile or less, filed where it caused accidents or disruption.

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: 5243584.