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 19th.
Every event with a place to put it; 10 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 19th. 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 18, 6:38 PM EST, 5 hours 22 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA 738 PM EDT MON AUG 18 2008 .SYNOPSIS... HIGH PRESSURE WILL REMAIN IN CONTROL THROUGH TUESDAY. A BACKDOOR COLD FRONT WILL ENTER THE REGION WEDNESDAY INTO THURSDAY. REMNANTS OF FAY MAY BRING RAIN TO PARTS OF THE AREA STARTING THIS WEEKEND. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TUESDAY/... VERY LITTLE CHANGE IN AIRMASS OF OVERALL WEATHER PATTERN TONIGHT AND TUESDAY. HEIGHTS AT 500 MB AREA GRADUALLY RISING ALONG WITH 850MB TEMPERATURES. KEPT PATCHY FOG IN THE GREENBRIER RIVER VALLEY LATE TONIGHT. SLIGHTLY RAISED MAXIMUM TEMPERATURES FOR TUESDAY. && .SHORT TERM /TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY/... HIGH PRESSURE WILL CONTINUE TO BE IN CONTROL OF OUR WEATHER PATTERN HEADING INTO WEDNESDAY. A BACKDOOR COLD FRONT WILL TRY TO SLIP INTO THE REGION LATE WEDNESDAY INTO WEDNESDAY NIGHT...BUT NOT ANTICIPATING MUCH ACTIVITY WITH IT. WE WILL NEED TO WATCH LATE WEDNESDAY NIGHT INTO EARLY THURSDAY FOR SOME LIGHT EASTERN FLOW OVERRUNNING TO BEGIN ACROSS NC AND NEIGHBORING PARTS OF VA AS AS THE CENTER OF THE SURFACE HIGH SHIFTS EAST. && .LONG TERM /THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY/... THERE IS NOTABLE UNCERTAINTY FOR THIS SEGMENT OF THE FORECAST. JUST WHICH DIRECTION AND AT WHAT SPEED THE REMNANTS OF T.S. FAY MOVE GIVEN THE INFLUENCE OF THE UPPER RIDGE IS THE QUESTION. WILL BE GOING WITH A SOLUTION THAT BRINGS THE SYSTEM NORTH INTO WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA ON SATURDAY MORNING. THE FORECAST WILL REFLECT GRADUALLY INCREASING CHANCES OF PRECIPITATION AND CLOUD COVER. WILL FAVOR HIGHS A LITTLE LOWER THAN THE MOS GUIDANCE AND LOWS AND LITTLE MILDER AS THAT SOLUTION KEEPS THE REMNANTS OF RAY SOUTH AND WEST OF THE REGION. && .AVIATION /00Z TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/... ISOLATED CONVECTION ALONG THE HIGHER TERRAIN OF NORTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA WILL DIMINISH QUICKLY WITH LOSS OF HEATING. HIGH PRESSURE WILL REMAIN IN CONTROL THROUGH TUESDAY. VFR CONDITIONS EXPECTED TONIGHT EXCEPT FOR MVFR CONDITIONS AT DAN/LYH/BLF IN FOG AFTER 06Z. MID CLOUDS KEPT VISIBILITY UP THIS MORNING AT LWB. HOWEVER FOR TONIGHT...LWB WILL BE CLEAR WITH CALM WINDS AND LOWER TO LIFR CONDITIONS IN FOG AROUND 08-13Z. MORNING FOG WILL LIFT QUICKLY TUESDAY...LEAVING VFR CONDITIONS. A PERSISTENT FORECAST OF OVERNIGHT RIVER VALLEY FOG GENERALLY MVFR/IFR AND VFR CUMULUS IN THE AFTERNOON CONTINUES THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT. THURSDAY AND FRIDAY...TROPICAL STORM FAY WILL BE INFLUENCING OUR WEATHER WITH AN INCREASING AND LOWERING CLOUDS. && .RNK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... VA...NONE. NC...NONE. WV...NONE. && SYNOPSIS...DS NEAR TERM...AMS SHORT TERM...DS LONG TERM...DS AVIATION...AMS/KK
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA 356 AM EDT MON AUG 18 2008 NCZ001>006-018>020-VAZ007-009>020-022>024-032>035-043>047-058-059- WVZ042>045-190800- 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- 356 AM EDT MON AUG 18 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.
10 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
Severe drought conditions crept into the extreme southern areas of the county for the latter half of the month.
Severe drought conditions crept into the extreme southern areas of the county for the latter half of the month.
Severe drought conditions returned to the southern two-thirds of the county for the latter half of the month.
Severe drought conditions returned to the southern half of the county for the latter half of the month.
Severe drought conditions returned to the extreme southern portion of the county for the latter half of the month.
Severe drought conditions returned to the southern one third of the county for the latter half of the month.
Severe drought conditions returned to the county for the latter half of the month.
Severe drought conditions returned to most of the county for the latter half of the month.
Severe drought conditions returned to extreme southern tip of county for the latter half of the month.
Severe drought conditions returned to the county for 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: 132356, 132357, 132358, 132359, 132360, 132362, 132363, 132364, 132366, 132367.