Cold/Wind Chill, Loudoun
- When
- January 15, 11:00 PM EST to January 16, 11:00 AM EST
- Where
- Loudoun forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Cold in Virginia, January 15 to 16, 2004
A fast moving storm system brought light snow to the region on the 14th and 15th. Most areas of Northern Virginia only received a trace of snowfall.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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.
A fast moving storm system brought light snow to the region on the 14th and 15th. Most areas of Northern Virginia only received a trace of snowfall. However, there was some very cold air behind this system. Minimum temperatures across the region were in the single digits and teens. Strong northwest and west winds (20 to 25 mph with gusts to 35 mph) produced wind chills of 5 to 10 below zero on the night of the 15th and the early morning of the 16th.
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 Jan 15, 3:03 PM EST, 7 hours 57 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jan 15, 3:03 PM EST, 7 hours 57 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC 305 PM EST JAN 15 2003 .SHORT TERM... TONIGHT AND FRIDAY... JUST COLD TO DEAL WITH IN THE SHORT TERM. WIND CHILL ADVISORY WILL REMAIN UP FOR MOST OF THE FORECAST AREA WITH THE EXCEPTION OF CENTRAL VIRGINIA AND LOWER SOUTHERN MARYLAND. WIND CHILLS WILL FALL TO AROUND 5 BELOW AFTER MIDNIGHT WHICH IS THE EDGE OF WIND CHILL ADVISORY. THE WESTERN HIGHLANDS OF COURSE WILL BE FURTHER INTO ADVISORY TERRITORY WITH WIND CHILLS FALLING TO AROUND 10 BELOW. THE CORE OF THE SUPER COLD AIR FALLS OFF THE COAST OF NEW ENGLAND AND GETS WARMED BY THE GULF STREAM WATERS. IT WILL STILL BE COLD AND WINDY FOR OUR AREA HOWEVER AS NORTHWEST FLOW REMAINS. THE HUMIDITY IN THE ATMOSPHERE WILL DRY OUT OVERNIGHT... AND OTHER THAN SOME UPSLOPE CLOUDINESS DO NOT THINK THERE WILL BE ANYTHING TO SUPPORT ANYTHING OTHER THAN FEW CU CLOUDS FRIDAY. ALSO CONTINUED THE MARINE WEATHER STATEMENT FOR BLOWOUT TIDES ON THE WATERS. MOST CURRENT TIDES ARE A FOOT BELOW NORMAL AND FALLING. && .LONG TERM (FRI NGT - THU)... XTND PD STARTS OUT W/ CONTINUED COLD TEMPS W/ ARCTIC AIR MASS BLDG DOWN INTO THE MID ATLC RGN 10-15 DEGS MOST PLACE. SOME MODERATION OF TEMPS ON SAT W/ LOW PRES DVLPG IN THE MS VLLY AND WARM AIR BEING ADVECTED NWD INTO CWA. HOWEVER WL STILL STAY ON THE LOW SIDE OF NRMCL GUIDNC. AM HVG SOME DIFFICULTY DTERMINING WHAT/IF ANY...TYPE OF PCPN WL FALL IN ASSO W/ WARM FNT DURG SAT OVRNGT. IF ENOUGH WARM AIR GETS IN ARND 900-850 MB AND TEMPS STAY SUBFRZNG AT SFC...FZRA. HOWEVER WERE STILL SVRL DAYS OUT...AND FOR NOW WL KEEP THINGS SIMPLE AND SAY CHC OF SN...IF NEEDED WELL GET MORE SPECIFIC AS THE SITUATION DVLPS. MDLS PUSH LOW PRES RAPIDLY E ON SUN W/ ASSO CD FNT SE OF THE AREA BY SUN AFTN. AS SUCH WL CUT THE PCPN OFF. ONCE AGN THERE COULD BE SOME WRAPAROUND SNSH IN THE NWRN CRNR OF THE CWA. HIGH PRES RETURNS FOR A FEW DAYS. MAN PROG/MDLS INDICATE ANOTHER CD FNT WL APPROACH THE AREA FOR NEXT THU...BUT ATTM WOULD PREFER TO LV THE AREA DRY. THX PHL FOR COORD. && .LWX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... DC...NONE. MD...NONE. VA...NONE. WV...NONE. MARINE....SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY MD CHESAPEAKE BAY AND TIDAL POTOMAC. && STRONG/WOODY
Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 15, 11:15 AM EST, 11 hours 45 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC 1115 AM EST THU JAN 15 2004 DCZ001-MDZ002>007-009>011-013-014-016>018-VAZ021-025>031-036>042- 050>057-WVZ048>055-161000- ALBEMARLE VA-ALLEGANY MD-ANNE ARUNDEL MD- ARLINGTON/FALLS CHURCH/ALEXANDRIA VA-AUGUSTA VA-BERKELEY WV- CALVERT MD-CARROLL MD-CHARLES MD-CLARKE VA-CULPEPER VA- DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA DC-FAIRFAX VA-FAUQUIER VA-FREDERICK VA- FREDERICK MD-GRANT WV-GREENE VA-HAMPSHIRE WV-HARDY WV-HARFORD MD- HIGHLAND VA-HOWARD MD-JEFFERSON WV-KING GEORGE VA-LOUDOUN VA- MADISON VA-MINERAL WV-MONTGOMERY MD-MORGAN WV-NELSON VA- NORTHERN BALTIMORE MD-ORANGE VA-PAGE VA-PENDLETON WV- PRINCE GEORGES MD-PRINCE WILLIAM/MANASSAS/MANASSAS PARK VA- RAPPAHANNOCK VA-ROCKINGHAM VA-SHENANDOAH VA-SOUTHERN BALTIMORE MD- SPOTSYLVANIA VA-ST. MARYS MD-STAFFORD VA-WARREN VA-WASHINGTON MD- THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR ENTER YOUR AREA HERE. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT... TEMPERATURES TONIGHT WILL FALL IN TO THE SINGLE DIGITS AND LOW TEENS. THIS WILL COMBINE WITH STRONG WINDS TO PRODUCE VERY LOW WIND CHILL VALUES TONIGHT THROUGH EARLY FRIDAY. IN THE POTOMAC HIGHLANDS...NORTHERN SHENANDOAH VALLEY AND NORTH CENTRAL MARYLAND...WIND CHILL VALUES TONIGHT MAY REACH 10 TO 20 BELOW ZERO. FURTHER SOUTH ACROSS THE BALTIMORE AND WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREAS...NORTHERN VIRGINIA...AND THE CENTRAL SHENANDOAH VALLEY...WIND CHILLS MAY REACH 5 TO 15 BELOW ZERO. SOUTHERN MARYLAND AND PORTIONS OF CENTRAL VIRGINIA...WIND CHILL VALUES WILL FALL TO NEAR ZERO. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... CHANCE OF SNOW SUNDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY. STRONG
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
3 cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
Cold/Wind Chill, Fairfax
- When
- January 15, 11:00 PM EST to January 16, 11:00 AM EST
- Where
- Fairfax forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 38.841, -77.291 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Cold/Wind Chill, Arlington / Alexandria / Falls Church
- When
- January 15, 11:00 PM EST to January 16, 11:00 AM EST
- Where
- Arlington / Alexandria / Falls Church forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 38.855, -77.106 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
What these are
- Cold/Wind Chill
- Cold or wind chill below warning criteria that caused deaths, injuries or damage.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Cold in Pennsylvania, January 15 to 16, 2004
- Cold in Illinois, January 15, 2004
- Cold in New York, January 15 to 16, 2004
- Cold in Vermont, January 15 to 16, 2004
- Cold in Pennsylvania, January 15 to 16, 2004
- Cold in New York, January 15 to 16, 2004
- Cold in New Jersey, January 15 to 16, 2004
- Cold in New York, January 15 to 16, 2004
- Heavy Snow in New York, January 15, 2004
- Cold in New York, January 15 to 16, 2004
- Cold in Connecticut, January 15 to 16, 2004
- Cold in Maryland, January 15 to 16, 2004
More
Every storm in Virginia in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Virginia, January 2004
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: 5381686, 5381687, 5381688.