Rainfall was mainly confined to the typical summertime showers and thunderstorms for much of the month of August. Drought conditions in the moderate category at the beginning of the month, worsened to severe by August 12th.
Every event with a place to put it; 6 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 RNK wrote it up.
Rainfall was mainly confined to the typical summertime showers and thunderstorms for much of the month of August. Drought conditions in the moderate category at the beginning of the month, worsened to severe by August 12th. The effects of the remnants of Tropical Storm Fay toward the end of the month in terms of the long-term drought were significant. Nearly all areas experienced a one category improvement in the September 2nd issuance of the U.S. Drought Monitor.
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 11, 7:37 PM EST, 4 hours 23 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA 837 PM EDT MON AUG 11 2008 .SYNOPSIS... HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE MIDDLE ATLANTIC AND SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES WILL GIVE WAY TO AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE MOVING THROUGH THE CAROLINAS ON WEDNESDAY. A STORM WILL SLOWLY MOVE THROUGH THE MIDWEST LATE THIS WEEK...BRINGING A WARM FRONT THROUGH THE TENNESSEE VALLEY THIS WEEKEND. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TUESDAY/... CU FADING WITH LOSS OF HEATING WILL LEAD TO A COOL NIGHT UNDER MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES AS HIGH PRESSURE DRIFTS IN FROM THE NW BY MORNING. THIS SHOULD ALLOW FOR EXCELLENT RADIATIONAL COOLING CONDITIONS SO TWEAKING LOWS DOWN A BIT MORE IN THE VALLEYS WHERE A FEW 30S POSSIBLE GIVEN SUCH DRY AIR. SOME FOG POSSIBLE ACROSS THE RIVER VALLEYS BUT LIKELY ONLY IN ISOLATED SPOTS LATE. OTRW UPDATING TO REMOVE EVENING WORDING AND ADJUST WINDS/DEWPOINTS DOWN A LITTLE OVERNIGHT. UPPER TROF AXIS ACROSS EAST COAST TODAY...QUICKLY MOVES EAST ALLOWING FOR A MORE ZONAL FLOW TO DEVELOP TUESDAY. MODELS ARE IN BETTER AGREEMENT TODAY THAT A SHORT WAVE MOVES INTO CENTRAL/EAST TENNESSEE BY 00Z WEDNESDAY. WITH WEAK SFC WINDS...LOW LEVEL MOISTURE REMAINS SOUTH OF THE FORECAST AREA TUESDAY...BUT HIGH LEVEL CLOUDS WILL INCREASE DURING THE DAY WHICH MAY KEEP HIGH TEMPS DOWN FOR TUESDAY...ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING THE COOL START TO THE DAY. AS A RESULT...GENERALLY LEANED TOWARD THE COOLER NAM MOS GUIDANCE FOR HIGHS TUESDAY. && .SHORT TERM /TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT/... ALTHOUGH THE OP NAM IS RETURNING CLOSER TO MODEL CONSENSUS FOR WEDNESDAYS STORMS...IT REMAINS A NORTHERN OUTLIER. THIS IS PROB DUE TO ITS STRENGTH BIAS IN REGARDS TO CLOSED H5 LOWS...WITH THE VORTEX OVER THE CANADIAN MARITIMES TOO STRONG...THUS PULLING THE SURFACE LOW THROUGH THE SOUTHEAST TOO FAR NORTH. PREFERRED MORE OF A UKMET/GEFS SOLUTION...AND ALTHOUGH SOME QPF IS DRAGGED NORTH OF THE NC/VA BORDER...THERE FIGURES TO BE A STRONG DRY SLOT WHICH SHOULD ALLOW FOR NOTHING MORE THAN MIDLEVEL CLDS NORTH OF THE NC/VA BORDER...WHICH THE MODELS HAVE TROUBLE RESOLVING BETWEEN PRESSURE LEVELS. WESTERN HIGH COUNTRY OF NC HAS THE BEST CHC OF MEASURABLE PRECIP. KEPT SLT CHC TO CHC POPS BASICALLY AS IS. LOWERED MAX T WED UNDERNEATH THE THICKEST CLDS ANOTHER FEW DEGREES. OBVIOUSLY AN ODD SETUP FOR THE MIDDLE OF AUGUST...AS THIS SUMMER CONTINUES TO BE ONE OF EXTREMES ON THE COLD AND WARM SIDE. && .LONG TERM /FRIDAY THROUGH MONDAY/... STRANGE PATTERN CONTINUES INTO THE LONG TERM...BUT AS COMMONLY HAPPENS DURING THE COOL SEASON...H5 CLOSED LOW DROPPING INTO THE MIDWEST FOLLOWING A WEDGE IS PROGGED FARTHER AND FARTHER WEST WITH EACH RUN. THIS BODES WELL FOR THIS WEEKEND...AS THIS SYSTEM WILL BE SLOWED AND WEAKENED BY THE RIDGING WHICH IS PUMPED UP TO ITS EAST. BULK OF PRECIP WHICH DEVELOPS BECAUSE OF THIS LOW MAY NOT ARRIVE UNTIL MONDAY...WITH POP UP CONVECTION SAT AND SUNDAY AS IT WARMS BACK UP INTO THIS WEEKEND AND THE BEGINNING OF NEXT WEEK. && .AVIATION /00Z TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/... VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL THROUGH THE PERIOD. AFTERNOON VFR CUMULUS CLOUDS AND WIND GUSTS OF 15-20KT WILL DIMINISH AROUND SUNSET THIS EVENING AND TUESDAY EVENING. A WAVE OF LOW PRESSURE ALONG A FRONT ACROSS THE CAROLINAS MAY BRING SHOWERS AND TSTMS BACK INTO THE AREA WEDNESDAY. MOST LIKELY SITE TO BE AFFECTED WOULD BE KDAN. OTHERWISE SHOWERS/TSTMS WILL BE ISOLATED TO WIDELY SCTD THRU THE END OF THE WEEK. && .CLIMATE... RECORDS FOR THE MORNING OF 8/12 ROA...51/1930 LYH...53/1954 DAN...54/1954 BLF...49/1967 RNK...47/1963 && .RNK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... VA...NONE. NC...NONE. WV...NONE. && SYNOPSIS...KM NEAR TERM...JH/PH SHORT TERM...KM LONG TERM...KM AVIATION...RCS CLIMATE...
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA 330 AM EDT MON AUG 11 2008 NCZ001>006-018>020-VAZ007-009>020-022>024-032>035-043>047-058-059- WVZ042>045-120730- ASHE-ALLEGHANY NC-SURRY-STOKES-ROCKINGHAM-CASWELL-WATAUGA-WILKES- YADKIN-TAZEWELL-SMYTH-BLAND-GILES-WYTHE-PULASKI-MONTGOMERY-GRAYSON- CARROLL-FLOYD-CRAIG-ALLEGHANY VA-BATH-ROANOKE-BOTETOURT-ROCKBRIDGE- PATRICK-FRANKLIN-BEDFORD-AMHERST-HENRY-PITTSYLVANIA-CAMPBELL- APPOMATTOX-BUCKINGHAM-HALIFAX-CHARLOTTE-MERCER-SUMMERS-MONROE- GREENBRIER- 330 AM EDT MON AUG 11 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA...NORTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA...CENTRAL VIRGINIA...SOUTH CENTRAL VIRGINIA...SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA...WEST CENTRAL VIRGINIA AND SOUTHEAST WEST VIRGINIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
6 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
Severe drought conditions returned to the southwest portion of the county August 12th, and overspread the county by the latter half of the month.
Severe drought conditions returned to the southern portion of the county August 12th, and overspread the county by the latter half of the month.
Severe drought conditions returned to the southern portion of the county August 12th, and overspread the county by the latter half of the month.
Severe drought conditions returned to the county August 12th and persisted for the rest of the month.
Severe drought conditions returned to the southern half of the county August 12th and overspread the rest of the county during the latter half of the month.
Severe drought conditions returned to the southwest portion of the county August 12th and overspread the rest of the county during the latter half of the month.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Virginia in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Virginia, August 2008
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: 132350, 132351, 132352, 132353, 132354, 132355.