Winter Weather in Virginia, January 26 to 27, 2004

Name: Winter Weather in Virginia, January 26 to 27, 2004
Start: 2004-01-26T15:30
End: 2004-01-27T22:30
Location: Virginia

January 26 to 27, 2004 · NWS LWX · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

An area of low pressure moved across the area on the 26th and 27th. This low produced a second round of freezing rain and snow across the region.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 2
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.

An area of low pressure moved across the area on the 26th and 27th. This low produced a second round of freezing rain and snow across the region. Due to the inclement weather Federal agencies in the Washington DC Metropolitan area closed three hours early on the 27th. Two fatalities were reported in Loudoun County from separate automobile accidents. The motorists died when their vehicles rear ended snow plows. Other less severe injuries were also blamed on the ice, along with scattered power outages and breaks in natural gas services. Some schools were closed again on the 27th.

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 25, 6:25 PM EST, 21 hours 5 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 25, 6:25 PM EST, 21 hours 5 minutes before

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The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Weather, Loudoun

When: January 26, 3:30 PM EST to January 27, 10:30 PM EST
Where: Loudoun forecast zone
Deaths: 2 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Winter Weather, Fairfax

When: January 26, 3:30 PM EST to January 27, 10:30 PM 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)

Winter Weather, Arlington

When: January 26, 3:30 PM EST to January 27, 10:30 PM EST
Where: Arlington forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 38.855, -77.106 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Winter Weather, Loudoun	2004-01-27	45	Male	Vehicle/Towed Trailer	Direct
Winter Weather, Loudoun	2004-01-27	38	Male	Vehicle/Towed Trailer	Direct

What these are

Winter Weather: Snow, sleet or freezing rain below warning levels that still caused disruption, damage or casualties.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Virginia in 2004 Every state in 2004 This day in weather history Warnings 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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5381715, 5381716, 5381717.