Thunderstorm Wind, Alexandria (C)
- When
- August 1, 5:22 PM EST
- Where
- Alexandria (C) County, Alexandria
- Property damage
- $5,000
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 38.817, -77.083
Trees were downed.
Thunderstorms with large hail and damaging winds pushed through several Northern Virginia communities between 6 and 9 PM EDT. In Alexandria, nickel sized hail was reported.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
Thunderstorms with large hail and damaging winds pushed through several Northern Virginia communities between 6 and 9 PM EDT. In Alexandria, nickel sized hail was reported. Trees were also downed in the city. In Fairfax County, the Mason Neck area was hardest hit. High winds downed numerous trees, including 40 that were blown over on 20 acres of private property along the Potomac River just north of Gunston Hall. A garage was heavily damaged by a downed tree. Extensive tree damage was also reported in Pohick Park. So many trees were downed that trails and picnic areas had to be closed. A second storm caused damage in the Mount Vernon area. A number of trees were downed onto yards and homes in the Waynewood and Stratford Landing subdivisions. In the Belle View area, trees were downed on the George Washington Parkway and Morningside Lane. In Prince William County, numerous trees were downed along the Route 1 corridor from Woodbridge to Dumfries. Marble sized hail was reported at the Quantico Marine Corps Base. In Stafford County, dime sized hail fell one mile north of Widewater.
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 Aug 1, 1:25 PM EST, 3 hours 57 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE/WASHINGTON 225 PM EDT THU AUG 01 2002 SHORT TERM...TNGT THRU FRI NIGHT... HUGE SUBTROPICAL RIDGE EXTENDING FROM COAST TO COAST WILL ACTUALLY STRENGTHEN AND BUILD EWD THROUGH FRI NIGHT. MEANWHILE...THE WESTERLIES REMAIN AT THEIR SUMMER RETREAT ACROSS SRN CANADA AND THE FAR NRN U.S. AT THE SFC...HIGH PRES WILL DOMINATE TNGT AND FRI. NGM/ETA DROP A BOUNDARY SWD INTO THE AREA LATE FRI NGT. AVN IS SLOWER HOLDING OFF UNTIL EARLY SAT. HOWEVER...WITH RISING 500MB HGTS...STRONG UPR LVL RDG IN PLACE AND BUILDING...AND DYNAMICS WELL REMOVED TO THE N OVR SE CANADA...IT SHOULD BE QUITE THE PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR A FRONT BY THE TIME IT REACHES THIS FAR SOUTH (IF IT EVER GETS THIS FAR SOUTH). THERE MAY NOT BE ANYTHING BUT A SUBTLE WIND SHIFT. ETA IS OUT ON ITS OWN IN DVLPG PCPN OVR THE AREA ALG AND AHD OF THE FNT FRI NGT. THIS APPEARS OVERDONE. THE AVN AND NGM ARE DRY THRU FRI NGT AND GIVEN THE CIRCUMSTANCES...WILL BE GOING WITH A DRY FCST WITH 10 POPS EARLY TNGT...10 POPS AGAIN FRI. CANT RULE OUT ISOLD CONVECTION FRI NGT IF SOMETHING CAN MANAGE TO FIRE FURTHER NW NEAR THE FNT AND STAGGER INTO THE AREA BUT NO MORE THAN 20 POPS SO IT WILL REMAIN HIDDEN FOR NOW. COULD BE AN ISOLD TSTM DUE TO OROGRAPHIC LIFT OVR THE MTNS NEXT FEW HOURS BUT NOT WORTH MORE THAN A 10 POP SO WILL NOT MENTION ANYTHING. THIS AFTRNS CU SHUD DISSIPATE WITH SUNSET WITH SCT CU DVLPG ONCE AGAIN FRI AFTRN. OTHERWISE...SOME THIN CI FM TIME TO TIME. WILL CALL IT M/CLR TNGT AND M/S ON FRI. WILL GO P/CLDY FRI NGT. THE HEAT IS A PROBLEM. 850MB TEMPS OVR +20C ON THU. THIS ALG WITH PLENTY OF SUNSHINE WILL SEND TEMPS BACK INTO THE MID 90S FRI (COOLER HIER ELEVS) WITH HIEST READINGS IN THE URBAN AREAS OF DC AND BALTIMORE. NGM/ETA MOS DEWPOINTS AROUND 70F AND MAY BE A DEG OR TWO HIER IN THE URBAN DC/BALTIMORE AREAS. HEAT INDICES MAY NOT FALL BELOW 80F IN THE CITIES TNGT AND HEAT INDICES ONCE AGAIN EXPECTED TO BE 100 TO 105 AGAIN FRI SO WILL CONTINUE THE ADVISORY FOR THE CITIES THROUGH FRI. OUTSIDE THE CITIES...HEAT INDICES WILL FALL INTO THE 70S TNGT AND HEAT INDICES WILL BE BORDERLINE ADVISORY CRITERIA (100F) ON FRI SO WILL HOLD OFF ON EXTENDING ADVISORY TO OTHER AREAS FOR NOW. PNSLWX (NOUS41 KLWX) SENT OUT EARLIER WITH INFO ON THIS SUMMERS HEAT. WALSTON LONG-TERM DISCUSSION (SAT-THU) WEAK FRONT WILL APPROACH THE AREA ON SAT AND WASH OUT DURING THE DAY ON SUNDAY. WILL KEEP SILENT 20 POPS FOR SAT. UPPER RIDGE OVER THE CNTRL STATES EXPANDS EWD INTO THE MID ATLANTIC EARLY NEXT WEEK. WILL CONTINUE WITH A DRY FCST AND TEMPS NEAR NORMAL. ROSA .LWX... DC...HEAT ADVISORY UNTIL 800 PM EDT FRIDAY FOR ZONE DCZ001. MD...HEAT ADVISORY UNTIL 800 PM EDT FRIDAY FOR ZONE MDZ011. VA...HEAT ADVISORY UNTIL 800 PM EDT FRIDAY FOR ZONE VAZ054. WV...NONE.
The Sterling radar (KLWX), 39 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:21 UTC.
5 thunderstorm wind, 3 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Trees were downed.
Trees were downed onto the George Washington Parkway near Morningside Lane.
Numerous trees were downed.
Numerous large trees were downed on Mason Neck and a garage was damaged.
Nickel sized hail fell at the intersection of Interstate 495 and Telegraph Road.
Nickel sized hail fell at the intersection of Interstate 495 and Telegraph Road.
Dime sized hail fell.
Trees were downed onto houses.
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, August 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: 5313972, 5313973, 5313974, 5313975, 5313976, 5313977, 5313978, 5313979.