A thunderstorm that moved through Culpeper County around 5:30 PM produced a lightning bolt that injured a man 3 miles northwest of Culpeper. A deputy sheriff was walking to his squad car parked in his driveway along Route 729 when a lightning bolt struck nearby.
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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 that moved through Culpeper County around 5:30 PM produced a lightning bolt that injured a man 3 miles northwest of Culpeper. A deputy sheriff was walking to his squad car parked in his driveway along Route 729 when a lightning bolt struck nearby. He fell to the ground after being shocked by the bolt and had no feeling below his waist. Using his arms, he dragged himself back into his home to call for help. He was taken to a local hospital and within a few hours regained feeling in his legs. On his property, two cars would not start after the computer ignition systems were damaged by the strike. Also, the radio in the squad car was fried by the bolt.
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 Mar 21, 3:00 PM EST, 2 hours 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC 300 PM EST FRI MAR 21 2003 AFTER BEING IN THE SOUP MOST OF THE DAY...SOME SITES FINALLY STARTED TO BREAK OUT IN THE AFTERNOON. WITH THE STRONG SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST WINDS TEMPS IN THE FAR WEST ZONES EASILY CLIMBED INTO THE 70S. LATEST SATELLITE/SURFACE OBS SHOW CLOUDS STILL LINGERING OVER THE EAST ZONES. THIS HAS LIMITED THE INSTABILITY OVER THE FAR EAST. WITH THE FRONT STILL PROGGED TO COME THROUGH THIS EVENING...BELIEVE THERE WILL BE ENOUGH FORCING/INSTABILITY FOR SOME THUNDERSTORMS. MID LEVEL COLD POOL NOT AS STRONG...BUT A FEW STRONG STORMS ARE STILL POSSIBLE. PWATS ARE STILL CLOSE TO ONE INCH SO BRIEF HEAVY DOWNPOURS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE. WILL CARRY CHANCE POPS EVERYWHERE UNTIL AROUND MIDNIGHT. CROSS SECTIONS SHOW LOW LEVEL MOISTURE LINGERING ACROSS THE REGION THROUGH TONIGHT. WILL GO PARTLY CLOUDY ON SATURDAY AS AIRMASS ABOVE H7 IS REALLY DRY. PREFER MAV TEMPS FOR THE FIRST TWO PERIODS...BASED ON CURRENT TRENDS. .LONG TERM SAT NIGHT THROUGH FRI... CONTINUES TO LOOK MOSTLY QUIET THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. A DRY CDFNT WILL MOVE THROUGH SAT NGT TO HELP COOL SUNDAY OFF BUT THIS WILL BE SHORT LIVED. WAA RETURNS MON WITH SFC RDG OVERHEAD SHIFTING E. TUE STILL LOOKS TO BE THE WARMEST DAY WITH TEMP GETTING NEAR 70 WITH GOOD SUNSHINE AND SW FLOW. NEXT SYSTEM WITH ASSOCIATED STRONG CDFNT WILL AFFECT THE AREA BY WED/THU WI A CHC TRW. THEN IMPROVING CONDITIONS BY FRIDAY WITH MORE SEASONAL TEMPS. 17 .LWX... DC...NONE. MD...NONE. VA...NONE. WV...NONE. MARINE...NONE.
DCZ001-MDZ002>007-009>011-013-014-016>018-VAZ021-025>031-036>042- 050>057-WVZ048>055-212200- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC 1100 AM EST FRI MAR 21 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...THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY TONIGHT... THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY TONIGHT. ONCE CLOUDS BREAK OUT TODAY...TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO RISE RAPIDLY. MOISTURE WILL ALSO BE ON THE INCREASE. A COLD FRONT WILL THEN APPROACH THE AREA FROM THE WEST. BY THAT TIME THE AIRMASS OVER THE AREA WILL BE MODERATELY UNSTABLE DUE TO THE EXPECTED HEATING...STRONG WINDS AND COLD AIR ALOFT. STRONG TO DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL ARE POSSIBLE WITH THESE STORMS. MAINSTEM RIVER FLOODING CONTINUES IN PARTS OF THE POTOMAC AND RAPPAHANNOCK RIVER BASINS. REFER TO THE LATEST FLOOD STATEMENTS FOR SPECIFIC DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE REQUIRED EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. 09
DCZ001-MDZ002>007-009>011-013-014-016>018-VAZ021-025>031-036>042- 050>057-WVZ048>055-212300- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC 1145 AM EST FRI MAR 21 2003 ...THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING... A COLD FRONT WILL APPROACH FROM THE WEST THIS AFTERNOON. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ALONG AND AHEAD OF THE FRONT. ONCE CLOUDS BREAK OUT TODAY...TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO RISE RAPIDLY. MOISTURE WILL ALSO BE ON THE INCREASE. BY THAT TIME THE AIRMASS OVER THE AREA WILL BE MODERATELY UNSTABLE DUE TO THE EXPECTED HEATING...STRONG WINDS AND COLD AIR ALOFT. SOME OF THE STRONGER STORMS MAY CONTAIN DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL. THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE EAST OF THE AREA BY EARLY THIS EVENING...ENDING THE THREAT FOR SEVERE WEATHER. MAINSTEM RIVER FLOODING CONTINUES IN PARTS OF THE POTOMAC AND RAPPAHANNOCK RIVER BASINS. REFER TO THE LATEST FLOOD STATEMENTS FOR SPECIFIC DETAILS. SKYWARN ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED LATER THIS AFTERNOON. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL MEDIA FOR FURTHER DETAILS OR UPDATES. ND
VAZ030-031-041-042-212145- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC 416 PM EST FRI MAR 21 2003 AT 416 PM EST...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR NINEVEH...MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH. THIS STORM WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING WIND GUSTS TO 50 MPH AND SMALL HAIL. THE COMMUNITIES OF DELAPLANE...MARSHALL...MIDDLEBURG...THE PLAINS...WHITE POST... UPPERVILLE...PHILOMONT...LINDEN AND NINEVEH WILL BE AFFECTED BY THIS STORM THROUGH 445 PM EST. MMARGRAF
VAZ041-051-212300- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC 527 PM EST FRI MAR 21 2003 AT 527 PM EST...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM NEAR ALANTHUS TO NEAR CULPEPER...MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH. THESE STORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING SMALL HAIL AND WIND GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH. THE COMMUNITIES OF CULPEPER... REMINGTON...RIXEYVILLE...CARDOVA...CATALPA...ELKWOOD... JEFFERSONTON...REVA...STEVENSBURG...BEALETON...MORRISVILLE AND OPAL WILL BE AFFECTED BY THESE STORMS THROUGH 600 PM EST. MMARGRAF
The Sterling radar (KLWX), 68 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:32 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A deputy sheriff was struck by lightning while walking to his car.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Virginia in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Virginia, March 2003
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: 5347579.