Flash Flood, Shenandoah
- When
- June 13, 4:30 PM EST to 5:30 PM EST
- Where
- Shenandoah County, Countywide
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 38.858, -78.571 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Several roads were washed out.
Flash Flooding in Virginia, June 13, 2003
Showers and thunderstorms with heavy rainfall moved through the Shenandoah Valley and the Northern Piedmont during the afternoon and evening of the 13th. In Orange County, flooding was reported in Gordonsville.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 3 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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 3
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.
Showers and thunderstorms with heavy rainfall moved through the Shenandoah Valley and the Northern Piedmont during the afternoon and evening of the 13th. In Orange County, flooding was reported in Gordonsville. In Shenandoah County, several small roads were washed out. In Warren County, numerous roads were closed by flooding.
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 13, 1:25 PM EST, 3 hours 5 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jun 13, 1:25 PM EST, 3 hours 5 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC
225 PM EDT FRI JUN 13 2003
SHORT-TERM(TONIGHT-SAT)
LATEST SFC ANALYSIS SHOWS SFC MOIST AXIS WITH DEWPOINTS IN THE LOW
70S EXTENDING FROM CHO THRU CJR/IAD AND FDK. LEE-SIDE TROF EXTENDS
FROM W OF MRB THRU SHD AND WILL CONTINUE TO PROVIDE FOCUS FOR CURR
SHRA/TSRA ACTIVITY. EXPECTING ACTIVITY TO INCREASE IN COVERAGE
THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING SO WILL
HAVE CAT POPS SIMILAR TO THE LAST TWO DAYS. MAIN THREAT WILL BE
TORRENTIAL DOWNPOURS AND FLASH FLOODING AS PWATS AOA 2.0 INS AND
1000-500MB RH IS AT 80%. CANT NEVER RULED OUT SVR IN THE SUMMER
TIME BUT THINK ANY SVR WILL BE LIMITED TO JUST ONE OR TWO EVENTS.
SAT...CDFNT OVR THE GREAT LKS WILL BEGIN TO ENTER NRN ZONES WITH
MORE SHRAS/TSRA AND MORE FLOODING PROBLEMS.
.LONG TERM...SAT NGT AND BEYOND...
CDFNT PUSHES THRU THE CWFA SAT NGT/EARLY SUN...WHICH WL BRING A
RATHER QUICK END TO THE SOPPING WET PATN OF THE PAST FEW DAYS. MDLS
IN GOOD AGRMT AS TO KEEPING SFC RIDGE OVR THE WRN ATL THRU MUCH OF
THE WK. MED RANGE MDLS IN SOME DISAGRMT AS TO THE TIMING AND
STRENGTH OF NEXT SW TROF TO EJECT OUT OF THE SW CONUS LATE IN THE WK
WITH THE NEXT CDFNT TO APCH WRN ZNS LATE FRI/SAT. ATTM PLAN ON
ADDING CHC POPS TO FRI...BUT LTR SHIFTS MAY BE ABLE TO TRIM BACK THE
THU POPS A BIT. THIS WOULD MORE CLOSELY FOLLOW THE ECMWF...AND TO
SOME EXTENT THE 06Z AVN WHICH FAVOR A SLOWER SOLN WITH THIS NEXT
SYS.
MANNING
.LWX...
DC...FLOOD WATCH THROUGH MIDNIGHT FOR ZONE DCZ001.
MD...FLOOD WATCH THROUGH MIDNIGHT FOR ZONES
MDZ002>007...MDZ009>011...MDZ013>014.
VA...FLOOD WATCH THROUGH MIDNIGHT FOR ZONES
VAZ021...VAZ025>031...VAZ036>042...VAZ050>054.
WV...FLOOD WATCH THROUGH MIDNIGHT FOR ZONES WVZ048>055.Hazardous weather outlook, Jun 13, 10:05 AM EST, 6 hours 25 minutes before
DCZ001-MDZ002>007-009>011-013-014-016>018-VAZ021-025>031-036>042- 050>057-WVZ048>055-141030- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC 1105 AM EDT FRI JUN 13 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR MARYLAND WEST OF THE CHESAPEAKE BAY AND EAST OF GARRETT COUNTY...THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA...NORTHERN VIRGINIA...THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL SHENANDOAH VALLEY...AND THE EASTERN PANHANDLE OF WEST VIRGINIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON INTO THIS EVENING. A FEW STORMS COULD PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND GUSTS AND FLOOD PRODUCING RAINFALL. A FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS EVENING FOR MOST OF THE AREA. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED THIS AFTERNOON. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED ONCE AGAIN SATURDAY. SOME OF THESE STORMS MAY ALSO PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND GUSTS AND HEAVY RAINFALL. ROSA
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Jun 13, 12:43 PM EST, 3 hours 47 minutes before
VAZ040-131845- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC 143 PM EDT FRI JUN 13 2003 ...VERY HEAVY RAINFALL IN RAPPAHANNOCK COUNTY... AT 143 PM EDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM 2 MILES SOUTHEAST OF SPERRYVILLE...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 10 MPH. SPOTTERS HAVE REPORTED TORRENTIAL RAIN AND PONDING OF WATER ON ROADWAYS WITH THIS STORM. THE COMMUNITIES OF SPERRYVILLE WILL BE AFFECTED BY THIS STORM THROUGH 245 PM EDT. RESIDENTS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD REMAIN ALERT IN CASE FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS ARE ISSUED. MANNING
The radar
The Sterling radar (KLWX), 95 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:29 UTC.
Event by event
3 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Flash Flood, Warren
- When
- June 13, 5:15 PM EST to 6:15 PM EST
- Where
- Warren County, Countywide
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 38.909, -78.207 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Numerous roads were closed by flooding.
Flash Flood, Orange
- When
- June 13, 6:00 PM EST to 7:00 PM EST
- Where
- Orange County, Orange
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 38.246, -78.013 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flooding was reported.
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
- Flash Flood in New York, June 13 to 14, 2003
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Texas, June 13, 2003
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Texas, June 13, 2003
- Damaging Winds in Texas, June 13, 2003
- Flash Flooding and Damaging Winds in Maryland, June 13, 2003
- Lightning Strikes in Texas, June 13, 2003
- Damaging Winds in Texas, June 13, 2003
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Mississippi, June 13, 2003
- Flash Flood and Damaging Wind in Georgia, June 13, 2003
- Flooding in Ohio, June 13 to 14, 2003
- Flash Flooding and Damaging Wind in Texas, June 13, 2003
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Texas, June 13, 2003
More
Every storm in Virginia in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Virginia, June 2003
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: 5373649, 5373650, 5373651.