Moderate to heavy rain during the early morning hours flooded streets in northern Virginia. Gusty winds with these showers downed trees and branches into power lines.
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.
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.
Moderate to heavy rain during the early morning hours flooded streets in northern Virginia. Gusty winds with these showers downed trees and branches into power lines.
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 May 20, 3:25 AM EST, 3 hours 35 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC 425 AM EDT FRI MAY 20 2005 .SHORT TERM (TODAY)... 00Z RUNS OF THE GFS...GFS ENSEMBLES AND NAM IN VERY GOOD AGREEMENT ON THE TRACK OF THE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WITH ONE CENTER OF LOW PRESSURE LOCATED IN SOUTHERN WV AND A SECOND CENTER FARTHER WEST IN SOUTHEASTERN IN. MODELS TRACK EASTERN PORTION OF THE SFC LOW FROM WEST-CENTRAL VA THIS MORNING AT 12Z TO A POSITION EAST OF THE MARYLAND COAST BY 00Z. STRONGEST AREA OF H85/H7 MOISTURE ADVECTION EAST OF THE BLUE RIDGE THROUGH 18Z...THEN MOVES RAPIDLY TO THE EAST OF THE CWA AFTER 21Z. RR QUAD OF THE H25 JET PIVOTS ACROSS THE CWA BETWEEN 12Z TODAY AND 00Z SATURDAY WHICH SHOULD PROVIDE A WIDE AREA OF UPPER DIVERGENCE TO THE NORTH OF THE TRACK OF THE SFC LOW. APPEARS THAT THE BEST COMBINATION OF DEEP LAYER MOISTURE...SFC CONVERGENCE AND UPPER LEVEL DYNAMICS WILL BE EAST OF THE BLUE RIDGE...WHERE MODEL BLEND OF QPF YIELDS 1.0 TO 2.0 INCHES WITH AMOUNTS AS HIGH AS 2.5 INCHES ALONG THE WESTERN SHORE OF THE CHESAPEAKE BAY. THESE RAINFALL AMOUNTS ARE WELL BELOW THE FLASH FLOOD GUIDANCE VALUES WHICH GENERALLY RANGE FROM 3 TO 4 INCHES ACROSS THE CWA. WEST OF THE BLUE RIDGE...RAINFALL AMOUNTS WILL BE LIGHTER IN THE 0.75 TO NEAR 1.0 INCH RANGE. WITH THE DENSE CLOUD COVER AND RAINFALL TODAY...HIGHS WILL RISE JUST A FEW DEGREES ABOVE EARLY MORNING VALUES AND WILL BE GENERALLY WITHIN A FEW DEGREES OF 60 F. && .LONG TERM (TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY)... WILL MAINTAIN SLGT CHANCE POPS THIS EVENING AS LOW BEGINS TO DEPART TO THE EAST. CLOUDINESS SHOULD BE SLOW TO DECREASE THIS EVENING...BUT HAVE MENTIONED PARTIAL CLEARING AFTER MIDNIGHT OR SO. STILL LOOKS LIKE CLOUDINESS SHOULD INCREASE AGAIN ON SAT AFTN AS SOME ENERGY ROTATES AROUND THE BACK PERIPHERY OF UPPER LOW...WHICH MAY ACTUALLY RETROGRADE A LITTLE TOWARD THE COAST. HAVE ALSO MAINTAINED SMALL POPS OF 30 OR LESS FOR SAT AFTN AND EVNG WITH THIS FEATURE. DOES NOT LOOK LIKE MUCH MORE THAN A FEW HUNDREDTHS INCH OF PRECIP. A RESPITE FROM PRECIP UNTIL SUNDAY AFTN...WHEN ANOTHER LOW DROPS SOUTHEAST FROM THE UPPER OH VLY AND EASTERN GRT LKS...BUT WEAKER THAN THE CURRENT LOW PRES AND MORE STARVED FOR MOISTURE. THIS LOW MOVES INTO THE MID ATLC REGION ON MONDAY AND WE WILL MENTION CHANCE POPS FROM LATE SUN AFTN UNTIL ABOUT TUESDAY...SINCE LOW PRES WILL BE SLOW TO MOVE OFF THE COAST AND UPPER TROUGH MAINTAINS ALONG THE EASTERN SEABOARD. TEMPS GENERALLY SHOULD BE A LITTLE COOLER DURING THIS EXTENDED FORECAST...CONTINUING THE GENERALLY BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURE TREND. ALSO WITH HIGHER AMOUNTS OF CLOUDINESS AT TIMES SAT THROUGH TUESDAY HAVE INDICATED A SMALLER DIURNAL VARIANCE IN TEMPS. && .AVIATION... LOW PRESSURE PASSING TO THE SOUTH OF THE REGION TODAY WILL PRODUCE MVFR AND OCCASIONAL IFR CIGS AND VSBYS THROUGH 12Z AND MVFR CONDITIONS FROM 12Z TO 22Z. CIGS EXPECTED TO REMAIN IN THE MVFR CATEGORY 22Z THROUGH 06Z SATURDAY...BUT VSBYS WILL IMPROVE TO VFR BEGINNING 22Z. && .MARINE... WILL RAISE SCA ALL WATERS FOR TODAY THROUGH SAT AFTN. TIDES RUNNING 1 FT ABOVE PREDICTED AT LEWISETTA AND SOLOMONS IS (THE LOWER PORTION OF THE BAY) WHILE IN THE POTOMAC AND THE UPPER BAY TIDES ARE RUNNING CLOSER TO PREDICTED LEVELS. STORM SURGE MODEL INDICATES TIDE LEVELS ON THE LOWER BAY WILL BEGIN TO RUN A LITTLE INTO THE MINOR FLOODING CATEGORY...INCLUDING ANNAPOLIS AND FURTHER SOUTH. AT DC AND BALT LEVELS SHOULD BE BELOW MINOR COASTAL FLOODING LEVEL...NEAR PREDICTED TIDE LEVELS. LOW PRES NEAR THE WATERS ON MONDAY...BUT GRAD NOT QUITE STRONG ENOUGH FOR SCA WINDS AT THIS TIME. && LWX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... DC...NONE. MD...NONE. VA...NONE. WV...NONE. MARINE...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR ANZ530>537 UNTIL 5 PM SATURDAY. && SHORT TERM...SMITH LONG TERM...JB AVIATION...SMITH MARINE...JB
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC 430 AM EDT FRI MAY 20 2005 ANZ530>537-DCZ001-MDZ002>007-009>011-013-014-016>018-VAZ021- 025>031-036>042-050>057-WVZ048>055-211030- CHESAPEAKE BAY NORTH OF POOLES ISLAND MD- CHESAPEAKE BAY FROM POOLES ISLAND TO SANDY POINT MD- CHESAPEAKE BAY FROM SANDY POINT TO NORTH BEACH MD- CHESAPEAKE BAY FROM NORTH BEACH TO DRUM POINT MD- CHESAPEAKE BAY FROM DRUM POINT MD TO SMITH POINT VA- TIDAL POTOMAC FROM KEY BRIDGE TO INDIAN HEAD MD- TIDAL POTOMAC FROM INDIAN HEAD TO COBB ISLAND MD- TIDAL POTOMAC FROM COBB ISLAND MD TO SMITH POINT VA- DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA-ALLEGANY-WASHINGTON-FREDERICK MD-CARROLL- NORTHERN BALTIMORE-HARFORD-MONTGOMERY-HOWARD-SOUTHERN BALTIMORE- PRINCE GEORGES-ANNE ARUNDEL-CHARLES-ST. MARYS-CALVERT-HIGHLAND- AUGUSTA-ROCKINGHAM-SHENANDOAH-FREDERICK VA-PAGE-WARREN-CLARKE- NELSON-ALBEMARLE-GREENE-MADISON-RAPPAHANNOCK-FAUQUIER-LOUDOUN- ORANGE-CULPEPER-PRINCE WILLIAM/MANASSAS/MANASSAS PARK-FAIRFAX- ARLINGTON/FALLS CHURCH/ALEXANDRIA-STAFFORD-SPOTSYLVANIA- KING GEORGE-GRANT-MINERAL-HAMPSHIRE-MORGAN-BERKELEY-JEFFERSON- PENDLETON-HARDY- 430 AM EDT FRI MAY 20 2005 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR MARYLAND WEST OF THE EASTERN SHORE INCLUDING THE CHESAPEAKE BAY AND EAST OF GARRETT COUNTY...EASTERN WEST VIRGINIA...NORTHERN AND CENTRAL VIRGINIA... WASHINGTON DC AND THE TIDAL POTOMAC RIVER. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SMALL CRAFT ADVISORIES ARE IN EFFECT FOR THE TIDAL POTOMAC AND CHESAPEAKE BAY THROUGH SATURDAY. DUE TO A PROLONGED ONSHORE WIND...MINOR COASTAL FLOODING WILL BE POSSIBLE AT HIGH TIDE TODAY AND TONIGHT...SOUTH OF BALTIMORE ON THE CHESAPEAKE...AND SOUTH OF DC ON THE POTOMAC. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED. JB
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 flood, 1 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Lawyers Road, east of Hunter Mill Road and Prosperity Avenue at Hillside Road were closed due to standing water. The bridge on Fairfax Station Road, just west of Old Ox Road was also closed, covered by 2 feet of water.
Gust measured from Reagan National Airport.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Virginia in 2005Every state in 2005This day in weather historyWarnings in Virginia, May 2005
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: 5463568, 5463569, 5463570.