Heavy Rain in Virginia, July 14, 2002

Name: Heavy Rain in Virginia, July 14, 2002
Start: 2002-07-14T08:00
End: 2002-07-14T14:00
Location: Virginia

July 14, 2002 · NWS AKQ · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

Portions of interior southeast Virginia received between 3 and 4 inches of rain within six hours.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 4 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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 4

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 AKQ wrote it up.

Portions of interior southeast Virginia received between 3 and 4 inches of rain within six hours.

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 Wakefield, VA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 14, 8:00 AM EST, 0 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 14, 8:00 AM EST, 0 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD, VA
900 AM EDT SUN JUL 14 2002

UPDATED THE ZFP/RDF FORECASTS WITHIN THE LAST HOUR TO ACCOUNT FOR
THE LATEST RADAR TRENDS. AS PER PREVIOUS DISCUSSION...2 SYSTEMS
CURRENTLY MERGING ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA. WIDESPREAD RAIN ACROSS
CEN/NRN VA IS ASSOCIATED FROM RIGHT ENTRANCE REGION FORCING
(FRONTOGENESIS) FROM THE JET AXIS JUST TO OUR N (75-80 KTS MAX).
FARTHER S...SURFACE LOW ALONG THE SE COAST IS IN RESPONSE TO SRN
STREAM SHORTWAVE TROF. PRECIP REGION IS MORE CONVECTIVE IN NATURE
WITH THIS SYSTEM...ESPECIALLY UPON MOVING OFFSHORE WITH THE ENHANCED
DIABATIC EFFECTS. AS AS THE SRN STREAM WAVE CONTINUES TO LIFT
NORTH...DPVA/WAA DYNAMICS (QS CONVERGENCE) WILL COUPLE WITH THE NRN
STREAM FGEN/DEFORMATION ZONE (QN CONVERGENCE) AND ENHANCE THE UPWARD
MOTION. HOWEVER...BY THE TIME THESE SYSTEMS DO BEGIN TO MERGE...
THE BEST DYNAMICAL FORCING WILL BE OFFSHORE. THIS UNFORTUNATELY WILL
SPARE OUR REGION FROM RECEIVING A MUCH-NEEDED SOAKER. WILL
NONETHELESS CONTINUE TO ADVERTISE THE HIGH POPS THROUGH THE AFTN...
AS THE WIDESPREAD AREAS OF SHOWERS N AND S BEGIN TO CONVERGE.

AREA RAOBS AT 12Z INDICATED A DEEP MOIST-ADIABATIC LAPSE RATE FROM
THE SFC-500 MB. MOIST MID LEVELS WILL CONTINUE TO LIMIT THE LAPSE
RATES ALOFT...THUS INHIBITING THE INSTBY/CAPE POTENTIAL. HOWEVER...
A FEW TSTMS WILL STILL BE A GOOD BET OVER SE VA/NE NC GIVEN THE
CLOSER PROXIMITY TO THE SRN SYSTEM/SFC LOW -- WITH SE LOW LEVEL FLOW
ALLOWING FOR HIGHER SFC TEMPS/DWPTS AND THUS SFC-BASED INSTBY.
MODIFIED RUC SOUNDINGS FOR 83/75 TEMP/DWPT REGIME YIELDS CAPES BTWN
2000-2500 G/KG. SEVERE WEATHER THREAT IS LOW GIVEN THE WEAK LAPSE
RATES...LACK OF DRY AIR ALOFT...AND 10-20KTS OF 0-6KM BULK SHEAR.
FARTHER N...INSTBY SLACKENS WITH THE LOWER TEMPS/DWPTS...THOUGH EVEN
SO CAPES BTWN 500-1000 J/KG ALONG WITH THE CONVECTIVE ELEMENTS
CURRENTLY OBSERVED ON RADAR WILL WARRANT A CHANCE OF TSTMS FARTHER
NORTH.

TEMP FORECAST...FCST HIGHS IN MOST AREAS SEEM REASONABLE BASED ON
CURRENT OBS/TRENDS. WILL MAKE FINAL DECISIONS BASED ON THE 14Z OBS.

MARINE FCST...FEW IF ANY CHANGES FROM THE PREVIOUS FCST (NO FLAGS).

.AKQ...
MD...NONE.
NC...NONE.
VA...NONE.

HURLEY

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Rain, Isle of Wight

When: July 14, 8:00 AM EST to 2:00 PM EST
Where: Isle of Wight County, Isle of Wight
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 36.907, -76.709 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Southampton

When: July 14, 8:00 AM EST to 2:00 PM EST
Where: Southampton County, Courtland
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 36.720, -77.106 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Surry

When: July 14, 8:00 AM EST to 2:00 PM EST
Where: Surry County, Dendron
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 37.117, -76.888 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Sussex

When: July 14, 8:00 AM EST to 2:00 PM EST
Where: Sussex County, Wakefield
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 36.922, -77.262 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Heavy Rain: Rainfall totals unusual for the place and season that did not produce a flood.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Virginia in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Virginia, July 2002

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: 5309763, 5309764, 5309765, 5309766.