Name: Flash Flood in West Virginia, July 10 to 11, 2001
Start: 2001-07-10T19:35
End: 2001-07-11T00:45
Location: West 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: $400,000
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 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 10, 1:18 PM EST, 6 hours 17 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 10, 1:18 PM EST, 6 hours 17 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
218 PM EDT TUE JUL 10 2001

THIS AFTN LAST OF THE TRIPLE H WX FOR A SPELL.  FEW CELLS POPPING UP
ACR THE LOLNDS ATT.  CLDFRNT PROGRESSING THRU OH WITH THE
REINFORCING SHOT OF COOLER AIR RIGHT BHND THAT ONE OVR SRN MI.
TSTMS CHCS IN THE FIRST PD ARE THE MAIN CHALLENGE THIS CYCLE.
H10-H8 LAPSE RATES GRTR THAN 9.0C KM AND H7-H5 VALUES EXCEEDING 6.5
C/KM DISPLAY MODERATE INSTABILITY...NOT TO MENTION SBCAPES ABV 1.5
KJ/KG...LI/S -5...TT OF 48...SELL ME ON KEEPING CHC MENTION.  IN
FACT WL UP NRN TIER TO 40.  ETA SHOWS BULK OF CONV COMPLEX REMAINING
ACR WRN PA AND MVNG SE WHERE WW 538 IS.  TEMPS TNGT STILL MUGGY
CRW-HTS S...CKB-PKB DUE TO EARLIER FROPA MAY SEE A REPRIEVE.

FRNT THRU CWA BY 18Z WED WITH REFRESHING AIR IN FORM OF UPR 50S TO
LOW 60S DWPTS.  NRLY WINDS AND H8 SPECIFIC HUMIDITY DWN TO 6G/KG
POINT TO A REFRESHING DAY WITH LTL IN THE WAY OF CLDS.

BENIGN WX CONTS THE REMAINDER OF THE SHORT TERM WITH ANTICYCLONIC LO
LVL FLO.  AVN HINTS AT A BNDRY DRAPED W-->E THUR NGT ALTHO WITH
LOWEST 6KFT ABSENT OF SUFFICIENT MSTR TO INDUCE PRECIP PROCESS AM
CONTINUING WITH DRY FCST.

FWC NMBRS DOING REAL WELL AND WL CONT TO FOLLOW.

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

.END/

The radar

The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 134 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:33 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Taylor

When: July 10, 7:35 PM EST to July 11, 12:45 AM EST
Where: Taylor County, 2 mi NW of Grafton
Property damage: $400,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 39.336, -80.046 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Thunderstorms formed ahead of a cold front. The storms dumped 2 to 4 inches of rain, over a small area, in less than 6 hours. The cooperative observer near Grafton measured 3.1 inches of rain. Flooding occurred inside the city limits of Grafton, plus along Plum Run, Wickwire Run, and Dry Run. County officials surveyed around 80 homes and 2 businesses that were affected. Taylor County was added to the previous FEMA disaster declaration 1378.

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 West Virginia in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in West 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: 5261795.