West Virginia, 2001

Flash Flooding and Heavy Rain in West Virginia, June 22, 2001

June 22, 2001 · NWS LWX · 8 events in 8 counties and zones

During the afternoon of the 22nd, numerous showers and thunderstorms with heavy rainfall and frequent lightning developed just east of the Appalachian Mountains. These storms continued to affect the eastern panhandle through the evening hours and some roads, low water crossings, and waterways flooded.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 8 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
8

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 LWX wrote it up.

During the afternoon of the 22nd, numerous showers and thunderstorms with heavy rainfall and frequent lightning developed just east of the Appalachian Mountains. These storms continued to affect the eastern panhandle through the evening hours and some roads, low water crossings, and waterways flooded. In Pendleton County, rainfall totals included 2.42 inches on Middle Mountain and 2.18 inches on Cow Knob Mountain. In Grant County, a total of 3.92 inches of rain fell at Cave Mountain. In Hardy County, high water closed Route 259 between Baker and Broadway. A total of 3.28 inches fell at Devils Hole. In Mineral County, New Creek overflowed onto Route 972. In Jefferson County, 2 inches of rain fell in one hour near Harpers Ferry. A total of 1.83 inches was recorded on Summit Point.

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 Baltimore/Washington wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 22, 2:40 PM EST, 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 22, 2:40 PM EST, 50 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE/WASHINGTON
340 PM EDT FRI JUN 22 2001

AT 18Z...SEVERAL TSTMS MAINLY BLUE RIDGE W PRODUCING VERY HEAVY
RAINFALL...HAIL...AND POSSIBLY STRONG WINDS.  STORMS SEEM TO
REDEVELOP OVER SAME AREAS WHICH ADDS TO FLOODING THREAT. TSTMS AND
SHRA WILL CONTINUE THROUGH NIGHT DUE TO APPROACHING FRONTAL
BDRY...STRONG UL DIVERGENCE...PLENTY OF VVEL AT 700 AND 500MB IN
ADDITION TO 850MB LOW MOVING OVHD.  WILL HAVE 80 POPS CWA WIDE. WILL
ALSO CONTINUE FLASH FLOOD WATCH UNTIL 4 AM FOR BLUE RIDGE W AND CHO
AREA. EXPECT HAIL/WIND THREAT TO DIMINISH A FEW HOURS AFT SUNSET DUE
TO LOSS OF DAYTIME HEATING BUT HVY RAIN WILL PROBABLY CONTINUE TO BE
A PROBLEM BECAUSE PRECIP H20 VALUES REMAIN AROUND 1.75 IN. MOST CWA
UNDER SVR TSTM WATCH THRU 7PM.

FRONT REACHES NW CWA BY MIDDAY BUT DOESNT REACH FAR SE CWA UNTIL
SUN MORNING. RELATIVELY DRIER AIR WILL COME IN BEHIND FRONT AND SHUD
GIVE US A RAIN FREE PERIOD FROM W TO E SUN MORN THRU MON AFT. UL LOW
CUTS OFF OVER SE US AND RETROGRADES A BIT MON INTO TUE. THIS TURNS
WINDS E FOR A TIME MON AND BRINGS IN SOME RH OFF THE WATER AND ALSO
SPINS SOME WEAK IMPULSES FROM S TO N THRU CWA. THIS WILL GIVE ATMOS
SOME RH AND LIFT TO WORK WITH...ESPECIALLY MON AFT...TO CREATE
WIDELY SCT SHRA/-TSRA. ATMOS WONT CHANGE SIG TUE SO WILL KEEP 30
POP FOR AFT CONVECTION IN FCST. HI PRES OVER THE OCEAN STARTS TO
INFLUENCE MID ATLANTIC WEATHER WED THRU FRI SO WILL FCST DRY COND.

REGARDING TEMPS...THOUGHT FWC LOW TEMPS WERE TOO COLD NEXT FEW NIGHT
DUE TO ELEVATED DEW PTS. STAYED NEAR GUIDANCE REST OF FCST.

FCSTID = 36
DCA   70  80  65  82 /  80  70  50  30
BWI   70  80  65  82 /  80  70  50  30
MRB   68  77  64  83 /  80  60  40  20
IAD   69  79  62  82 /  80  70  50  30
CHO   69  79  65  81 /  80  70  50  30
HGR   66  75  63  80 /  80  60  40  20
NHK   71  80  68  81 /  80  70  50  30

.LWX...
DC...NONE.
MD...FLASH FLOOD WATCH THRU 400 AM FOR ZONES MDZ002>003.

VA...FLASH FLOOD WATCH THRU 400 AM FOR ZONES VAZ021...VAZ025>031...
VAZ036>040...VAZ050>051.

WV...FLASH FLOOD WATCH THRU 400 AM FOR ZONES WVZ048>055.

MMARGRAF

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jun 22, 10:25 AM EST, 5 hours 5 minutes before
DCZ001-MDZ002>007-009>011-013-014-016>018-VAZ021-025>031-036>042-
050>057-WVZ048>055-222100-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE-WASHINGTON
1125 AM EDT FRI JUN 22 2001

THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND
EVENING ACROSS THE EASTERN WEST VIRGINIA PANHANDLE...NORTHERN
VIRGINIA...THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY...MUCH OF MARYLAND WEST OF THE
CHESAPEAKE BAY AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

WARM...MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIR COMBINED WITH A COLD FRONT APPROACHING
FROM THE WEST WILL RESULT IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS
THE REGION THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.  SOME THUNDERSTORMS COULD
CONTAIN DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH AND HAIL UP TO AN INCH IN
DIAMETER. IN ADDITION...HEAVY RAINFALL FROM THUNDERSTORMS MAY RESULT
IN LOCALIZED FLOODING...ESPECIALLY IN LOW LYING AND POOR DRAINAGE
AREAS. HEAVY DOWNPOURS PRODUCE PONDING OF WATER ON ROADWAYS AND CAN
CAUSE SMALL STREAMS AND CREEKS TO OVERFLOW THEIR BANKS.

REMEMBER...ALL THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE LIGHTNING. LIGHTNING CAN OCCUR
WITHOUT WARNING WELL IN ADVANCE OF RAINFALL ASSOCIATED WITH A
THUNDERSTORM. IF YOU CAN HEAR THUNDER...TAKE SHELTER IMMEDIATELY.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR OTHER LOCAL MEDIA FOR UPDATES ON
THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT AND POSSIBLE WATCHES AND WARNINGS THIS
AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.

MMARGRAF

The radar

The Sterling radar (KLWX), 165 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:28 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

6 heavy rain, 2 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Rain, Pendleton

When
June 22, 3:30 PM EST to 5:30 PM EST
Where
Pendleton County, Countywide
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
38.681, -79.351 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Grant

When
June 22, 3:30 PM EST to 5:30 PM EST
Where
Grant County, Countywide
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
39.105, -79.196 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Hampshire

When
June 22, 3:30 PM EST to 5:30 PM EST
Where
Hampshire County, Countywide
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
39.317, -78.614 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Mineral

When
June 22, 3:45 PM EST to 5:30 PM EST
Where
Mineral County, Countywide
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
39.415, -78.944 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

New Creek overflowed onto Route 972.

Heavy Rain, Morgan

When
June 22, 4:00 PM EST to 6:00 PM EST
Where
Morgan County, Countywide
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
39.560, -78.258 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Berkeley

When
June 22, 4:00 PM EST to 6:00 PM EST
Where
Berkeley County, Countywide
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
39.464, -78.027 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Jefferson

When
June 22, 4:00 PM EST to 6:00 PM EST
Where
Jefferson County, Countywide
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
39.308, -77.863 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Hardy

When
June 22, 5:00 PM EST to 7:00 PM EST
Where
Hardy County, Countywide
Reported by
AMATEUR RADIO
Coordinates
39.008, -78.858 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Route 259 was closed by high water between Baker and Broadway.

What these are

Heavy Rain
Rainfall totals unusual for the place and season that did not produce a flood.
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 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in West Virginia, June 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: 5254597, 5254598, 5254599, 5254600, 5254601, 5254602, 5254603, 5254604.