A thunderstorm which moved through Fairfax County around 9 AM EDT on the 28th caused a lightning strike that started a fire at an office building in Oakton. 2 million in damage.
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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.
The episode as NWS LWX wrote it up.
A thunderstorm which moved through Fairfax County around 9 AM EDT on the 28th caused a lightning strike that started a fire at an office building in Oakton. The structure on Hunter Mill Road was burnt to the ground, resulting in $1.2 million in damage.
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 Apr 28, 1:48 AM EST, 6 hours 22 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE/WASHINGTON 248 AM EDT SUN APR 28 2002 SHORT TERM(TDA/TNGT)...THE STEADIER STFM RAIN NOW OVR THE CWA IS ASSOCD WITH INTL WAA AND SHUD CARRY THRU TIL ABT MID MRNG. THUS WILL CARRY POPS IN THE 60-80 PCT RNG IN 1ST PD BUT IN REALITY TAPERING TO CHC/SCTD BY LATE MRNG/AFTN. CANT RULE OUT AN EMBDD TSTM EVEN THIS MRNG FM THE REMNANTS OF THAT ACTVTY NOW OCCURG ACRS THE OH VLY. HWVR BEST CHC FOR TSTMS HERE WILL BE THIS AFTN AHD OF CDFNT WITH THE CWA IN SPC DY1 MDT RISK SVR. EXPCT DRYG ALF IN STG SWLY FLO/DRY SLOT WHICH WILL HELP DESTABLIZE AMS. MDL RAOBS ALSO INDCT CAPE TO ARND 1600 J/KG AND L.I. TO -5 BY MID AFTN WITH STEEP SFC-H7 LAPSE RATE. ADNLY MDL RAOBS SHOWG A NRLY UNIDIRECTNL VERT WND PROFILE WITH STG MID LVL FLO SUGGESTG STG WNDS THE PRIMARY THREAT AS DISCUSSD IN SPC DY1 CVCTV OTLK. WILL WORD ACRDGLY WITH RAIN AND MAYBE A TSTM THIS MRNG...THEN VRBL CLDNS WITH SCTD SHWRS/TSTMS SOME WITH STG/GSTY WNDS THIS AFTN. BRZY AND WRMR AND LEANED TWD THE HIR OF MOS GDNC FOR MAX TEMPS OR A MID PT COMPROMISE. CHC EVENING SHWR/TSTM THEN CLRG TNGT...LOWS MNLY L-M50S. JLW LONGER TERM... ACTV WX OVR BY MON MRNG...W/ CLDS LEFTOVR. PLENTY OF H8 MSTR THRU DAY INVOF COLD POOL...W/ S/WV SWINGING THRU TO PROVIDE LIFT. NW WNDS WL SCOUR OUT CLDS A BIT E OF BLURDG...BUT BKN SKY IN THE HILLS. WNDS WL BE BRZY...W/ GOOD DOSE OF CAA. H8 PROGS DEPICT SOLID 40 KT...CLS TO 50 KT ATTMS. W/ GOOD MIXING...15-25 MPH AT SFC APPRS RSNBL. SOME DRYING WRKS INTO AREA AHD OF NXT SYSTM. LOOKS LIKE WK LOPRES SKIRTS BY TO THE N TUE...THEN WAA KICKS IN WED. WL HOLD OFF ON POPS TIL WED DAY...ALTHO SWRN SXNS MIGHT SEE ELY MRNG -RA. NO BIG CHGS TO FCST WED-THU...CHC POPS FOR NOW. EXACT PATH OF WV ALNG FNT WL MAKE DIFF BTWN NIL QPF AND BIG PCPN PRODUCER. TEMPS CLS TO MOS/HPC GDNC THRUOUT. HTS .LWX... DC...SCA TIDAL PTMC. MD...SCA CHSPK BAY AND TIDAL PTMC. VA...NONE. WV...NONE.
DCZ001-MDZ002>007-009>011-013-014-016>018-VAZ021-025>031-036>042- 050>057-WVZ048>055-282000- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE/WASHINGTON 412 AM EDT SUN APR 28 2002 ...POSSIBLE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TODAY... THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS INDICATED THERE IS A MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER A WIDE AREA OF THE MID ATLANTIC REGION TODAY INCLUDING MOST OF MARYLAND...NORTHERN AND CENTRAL VIRGINIA... AND WEST VIRGINIA. THIS INCLUDES THE BALTIMORE-WASHINGTON METRO AREAS. THE PRIMARY THREAT FROM THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE STRONG AND POTENTIALLY DAMAGING WINDS AND THE PEAK TIME OF THE THREAT WILL BE THIS AFTERNOON. GUSTY SOUTH TO SOUTHWESTERLY WINDS AHEAD OF STRONG LOW PRESSURE OVER THE UPPER MIDWEST EARLY THIS MORNING WAS TRANSPORTING WARM MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIR INTO THE MID ATLANTIC REGION. MEANWHILE A COLD FRONT TRAILING FROM THE LOW WILL BE APPROACHING THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON. THAT ALONG WITH DAYTIME HEATING AND STRONG WIND FLOW ALOFT WILL PROVIDE THE INGREDIENTS FOR STRONG THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT AS THE DAY PROGRESSES. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WERE ALREADY OCCURRING ACROSS THE OHIO VALLEY OVERNIGHT AND THE THREAT WILL GRADUALLY SHIFT EAST AS THE DAY PROGRESSES. A STEADIER RAIN THIS MORNING WILL GIVE WAY TO A MORE SHOWERY PRECIPITATION AND THE THUNDERSTORMS BY THIS AFTERNOON. THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IS CLOSELY MONITORING THE SITUATION AND WILL BE ISSUING UPDATES AND STATEMENTS THROUGHOUT THE DAY. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND OTHER LOCAL MEDIA FOR FURTHER DETAILS OR UPDATES. JLW FOR ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION, CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT HTTP://WWW.NWS.NOAA.GOV/ER/LWX
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning started a fire which destroyed an office building.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Virginia in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Virginia, April 2002
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: 5292444.