Flash Flood, Mercer
- When
- August 7, 8:45 PM EST to 11:30 PM EST
- Where
- Mercer County, Oakvale
- Property damage
- $10,000
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 37.406, -81.111 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood in West Virginia, August 7, 2003
Heavy rains over eastern Mercer County, produced flash flooding of Pigeon and Cheesy Creeks, and Adair Run, in the town of Oakvale. One home was flooded, and several roads were impassable.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 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
- $10,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
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 RNK wrote it up.
Heavy rains over eastern Mercer County, produced flash flooding of Pigeon and Cheesy Creeks, and Adair Run, in the town of Oakvale. One home was flooded, and several roads were impassable.
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 Blacksburg, VA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 7, 7:45 PM EST, 1 hour earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 7, 7:45 PM EST, 1 hour before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG, VA 845 PM EDT THU AUG 7 2003 RADAR SHOWING PERSISTENT CLUSTERS OF TSRA OVER THE WRN ZONES...BUT MAINLY OUTSIDE THE FLOOD WATCH AREA ATTM. GIVEN THETA RIDGE...WEAK LOW LEVEL VEERING...AND SOME WEAK INSTAB UNDER FRONT OF UPPER COLD POOL...WOULD EXPECT WDLY SCTD COVERAGE TO LINGER A COUPLE MORE HOURS. AFTER THAT...SHOULD SEE SHRA/TSRA FADE SOME AFTER MIDNIGHT...SO ATTM AM PLANNING TO LET GOING WATCH EXPIRE AT 9 PM SINCE EXPECT ANY ADTNL FLOODING TO BE ISOLD. OTRW MAY HANG ON TO LIKELYS W A BIT LONGER BUT LOWER ERN ZONES TO CHCY OVERNIGHT AS BOTH RUC/MESO-ETA SHOW DIMINISHING CONVERGENCE LATER. FOG NUMBERS AGAIN SIMILAR TO LAST NIGHTS WITH COVERAGE LIKELY A BIT MORE WDSPRD TNGT PER LGT ELY FLOW IN WAKE OF DECENT SHRA COVERAGE. TEMPS GNRLY ON TRACK ALTHO MAY TWEAK DOWN IN SPOTS GIVEN TEMPS NEAR FCST LOWS ATTM. .RNK... NC...NONE. VA...NONE. WV...NONE. JH
Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 7, 8:39 PM EST, 6 minutes before
NCZ001>006-018>020-VAZ007-009>020-022>024-032>035-043>047-058-059- WVZ042>045-080345- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA 939 PM EDT THU AUG 7 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST WEST VIRGINIA... WESTERN AND CENTRAL VIRGINIA...AS WELL AS NORTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. WHP
In the hours before
Local storm report, Aug 7, 7:36 PM EST, 1 hour 9 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
836 PM EDT THU AUG 07 2003
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0810 PM BANDY VA FLASH FLOOD
08/07/03 TAZEWELL STREET FLOODING. HOMES
FLOODED. REPORTED BY THE
POLICE DEPARTMENT.The radar
The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 85 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:45 UTC.
Event by event
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Tornado in Florida, August 7, 2003
- Damaging Wind in Louisiana, August 7, 2003
- Flash Flood in New York, August 7 to 8, 2003
- Tornado in Virginia, August 7, 2003
- Flash Flood in South Carolina, August 7, 2003
- Tornado in Florida, August 7, 2003
- Wildfire in Idaho, August 7 to 11, 2003
- Flash Flood in Massachusetts, August 7, 2003
- Flash Flood in Pennsylvania, August 7, 2003
- Damaging Wind in Arizona, August 7, 2003
- Flash Flood and Hail in Georgia, August 7, 2003
- Lightning Strike in Florida, August 7, 2003
More
Every storm in West Virginia in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in West Virginia, August 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: 5332849.