A cold front pushed slowly southeast from lower southern Maryland into southern Virginia during the early morning hours of July 14th. A few thunderstorms developed during overnight hours.
Every event with a place to put it. 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.
A cold front pushed slowly southeast from lower southern Maryland into southern Virginia during the early morning hours of July 14th. A few thunderstorms developed during overnight hours. Lightning was blamed for a hotel fire in Warren County.
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 Jul 13, 9:15 PM EST, 3 hours 45 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC 1015 PM EDT SUN JUL 13 2008 .SYNOPSIS... A COLD FRONT WILL CROSS THE WATERS EARLY MONDAY MORNING. HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD ACROSS THE REGION LATER ON MONDAY...AND CONTINUE THROUGH THE MIDDLE PART OF NEXT WEEK AND BRING DRY AND PLEASANT CONDITIONS. && .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 AM MONDAY MORNING/... FIRST LINE OF CONVECTION THAT MOVED ACROSS THE REGION EARLIER THIS AFTERNOON/EVENING AT 945 PM EXTENDS FROM THE NORTHERN CHESAPEAK BAY TO WESTERN ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY THEN SOUTHWEST TO WESTERN ST. MARYS AND CALVERT COUNTIES IN MARYLAND. THROUGHOUT THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING THE LINE AT TIMES PRODUCED COPIOUS AMOUNTS OF LIGHTNING ACTIVITY ALONG WITH WIND GUSTS IN THE UPPER 20KT TO LOWER 30 KT RANGE. ONLY A FEW REPORTS RECEIVED OF ANY WIND GUSTS ABOVE 35 KT...AND THOSE WERE LIMITED A REPORTS OF 38 AND 45 KT NEAR BRISTOW VA AROUND 640 PM IN CENTRAL PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY...AND A 38 KT REPORT FROM MT. AIRY MD IN HOWARD COUNTY AROUND 5 PM. PRECIP THIS EVENING AMOUNTED TO BETWEEN ONE HALF TO ONE INCH WERE FAIRLY COMMON IN AREA THAT HAD THUNDERSTORMS...DULLES AIRPORT HAD NEARLY ONE INCH...AN INCH FELL IN LUTHERSVILLE MD...AND A FEW SPOTS HAD OVER AN INCH...1.40 INCHES IN MANASSAS AND 1.20 INCHES IN ADAMSTOWN MD. LATEST OBSERVATIONS SHOW A COLD FRONT OUT TO THE WEST ACROSS WESTERN PA...WESTERN WV AND MOVING SLOWLY EAST. THE FRONT WILL CROSS OUR REGION STARTING IN WESTERN SECTION AFTER 2 AM...AND BE NEAR THE CHES BAY TOWARDS DAYBREAK. WINDS WILL SHIFT TO THE NORTHWEST BEHIND THE FRONT. LATEST MESOSCALE MODEL GUIDANCE FROM OUR LOCAL WRF-ARW 4KM ALONG WITH EXPERMNTL HOURLY RUNS OF THE NOAA/GSD HIGH RESOLUTION RAPID REFRESH 3KM WRF/ARW MODEL SUGGEST THE CURRENT RADAR DEPICTION OF THE GENERAL LINE OF CONVECTION ACROSS EASTERN SECTIONS...AND THEN ANOTHER LINE OF CONVECTION FURTHER WEST THAT WILL CONTINUE TO AFFECT THE ENTIRE CWA FOR THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. AFTER WATCHING THE MODEL HANDLING THESE TWO CONVECTION AREAS FAIRLY CONSISTENTLY THROUGHOUT THE AFTERNOON/EVENING...WILL KEEP MENTION OF PRECIP FOR THE OVERNIGHT HOURS THROUGHOUT THE CWA. && .SHORT TERM /6 AM MONDAY MORNING THROUGH 6 PM MONDAY/... THE FRONT WILL BE OVER THE EASTERN PORTION OF THE CWA EARLY MONDAY. PARALLEL FLOW ALOFT TO THE SURFACE FRONT WILL KEEP CLOUDS IN THE AREA EAST OF THE BLUE RIDGE THROUGH THE MORNING HOURS...AND THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF LINGERING SHOWER ACTIVITY ACROSS SOUTHERN MARYLAND INCLUDING THE LOWER TIDAL POTOMAC AND THE BAY. BY NOONTIME...WILL DROP MENTION OF PRECIP FOR ALL AREA...AND LOTS OF SUN SHOULD OVERSPREAD THE REGION AS THE CLOUD RETREAT EAST. SURFACE DEW POINTS WILL BE NOTICEABLY LOWER ON MONDAY MAKING FOR A DECENT SUMMER DAY. MAX TEMPS MONDAY WILL RANGE FROM NEAR 70 IN THE POTOMAC HIGHLANDS TO THE MIDDLE 80S IN WASHINGTON AND BALTIMORE. && .LONG TERM /MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY/... PLEASANT WX XPCTD THRU MID WEEK AS HIPRES BUILDS IN SFC AND ALOFT. MINIMAL CLD CVR AND INCRG HEIGHTS AS HIPRES NOSES NWD SHOULD YIELD WARMING MAXIMA MID TO END OF WEEK. NO POPS THRU MID WEEK AS DRIER LOW LVLS LIMIT INSTBY. SUBTLE SHRTWV TROFS ROUNDING UPR RDG APRCH FRI AND SAT...AND HAVE INCLUDED SLGT CHC POPS DURG AFTN AND EVE HRS THESE PDS AS MSTR XPCTD TO RETURN ON SLY LOW LVL FLOW LATE WEEK. && .AVIATION /02Z MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY/... EXPECT GENERALLY VFR CONDITIONS OVERNIGHT...WITH SOME MVFR VIS RESTRICTION POSSIBLE IN SHOWER ACTIVITY OVERNIGHT...AND FOG. WINDS LATE TONIGHT WILL GRADUALLY SHIFT TO A LIGHT WEST COMPONENT...THEN BY DAYBREAK TO THE NORTHWEST. FAIR WX MID WEEK SHOULD PRECLUDE AVIATION CONCERNS. && .MARINE... WILL CONTINUE WITH SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR THE OVERNIGHT HOURS FOR THE LOWER TIDAL POTOMAC AND FOR THE BAY BELOW THE BAY BRIDGE. WIND GUSTS UP TO 20 KNOTS EXPECTED. THE COLD FRONT WILL CROSS THROUGH THE WATERS EARLY MONDAY. SHOWER ACTIVITY POSSIBLE DURING THE MORNING HOURS ACROSS THE BAY AND LOWER POTOMAC...WITH GRADUAL CLEARING DURING THE AFTERNOON AS WINDS TURN THE NW TO N AS HIGH PRES BUILD ACROSS THE AREA LATE MON. HIPRES CONTINUES TUE AND WED...WITH LGT NLY TO VRB WINDS XPCTD. && .LWX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... DC...NONE. MD...NONE. VA...NONE. WV...NONE. MARINE...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY UNTIL 5 AM EDT MONDAY FOR ANZ532>534-537. && SYNOPSIS...SMZ NEAR TERM...SMZ SHORT TERM...SMZ LONG TERM...MRK AVIATION...SMZ MARINE...SMZ
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC 858 PM EDT SUN JUL 13 2008 ANZ530>537-DCZ001-MDZ006-007-011-013-014-016>018-VAZ052>057- 141000- 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-NORTHERN BALTIMORE-HARFORD- SOUTHERN BALTIMORE-PRINCE GEORGES-ANNE ARUNDEL-CHARLES-ST. MARYS- CALVERT-PRINCE WILLIAM/MANASSAS/MANASSAS PARK-FAIRFAX- ARLINGTON/FALLS CHURCH/ALEXANDRIA-STAFFORD-SPOTSYLVANIA- KING GEORGE- 858 PM EDT SUN JUL 13 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE MARYLAND PORTION OF THE CHESAPEAKE BAY...TIDAL POTOMAC RIVER...AND ADJACENT COUNTIES IN CENTRAL MARYLAND AND NORTHERN VIRGINIA AS WELL AS THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. .DAY ONE...OVERNIGHT SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL AFFECT THE IMMEDIATE WESTERN SHORE COUNTIES OF THE BAY...AND LOWER SOUTHERN MARYLAND THROUGH MIDNIGHT. THEN ALL STORM ACTIVITY WILL MOVE EAST OF THE BAY OVERNIGHT. WIND GUSTS TO 35 MPH ARE POSSIBLE UNTIL MIDNIGHT AS STORMS MOVE ACROSS LOWER SOUTHERN MARYLAND..OVER THE LOWER TIDAL POTOMAC AND OVER THE MARYLAND PORTION OF THE CHESAPEAKE BAY. A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR MIDDLE AND LOWER PORTIONS OF BOTH THE TIDAL POTOMAC AND MARYLAND PORTION OF THE CHESAPEAKE BAY OVERNIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS ANTICIPATED. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT REQUIRED OVERNIGHT. MDZ003>005-009-010-501-502-VAZ021-025>031-036>042-050-051- WVZ050>055-501>504-141000- WASHINGTON-FREDERICK MD-CARROLL-MONTGOMERY-HOWARD- EXTREME WESTERN ALLEGANY-CENTRAL AND EASTERN ALLEGANY-HIGHLAND- AUGUSTA-ROCKINGHAM-SHENANDOAH-FREDERICK VA-PAGE-WARREN-CLARKE- NELSON-ALBEMARLE-GREENE-MADISON-RAPPAHANNOCK-FAUQUIER-LOUDOUN- ORANGE-CULPEPER-HAMPSHIRE-MORGAN-BERKELEY-JEFFERSON-PENDLETON- HARDY-WESTERN GRANT-EASTERN GRANT-WESTERN MINERAL-EASTERN MINERAL- 858 PM EDT SUN JUL 13 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN WEST VIRGINIA... NORTHERN AND CENTRAL VIRGINIA...AND CENTRAL AND WESTERN MARYLAND WITH THE EXCEPTION OF GARRETT COUNTY. .DAY ONE...OVERNIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS ANTICIPATED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS ANTICIPATED. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT REQUIRED OVERNIGHT. SMZ
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC 848 PM EDT SUN JUL 13 2008 MDZ006-007-011-014-140130- NORTHERN BALTIMORE MD-ANNE ARUNDEL MD-HARFORD MD- SOUTHERN BALTIMORE MD- 848 PM EDT SUN JUL 13 2008 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS TO AFFECT SOUTHEAST BALTIMORE...NORTHERN ANNE ARUNDEL...AND HARFORD COUNTIES... AT 848 PM EDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM HAMILTON TO 6 MILES SOUTHEAST OF FORT HOWARD... MOVING NORTHEAST AT 27 MPH. WIND GUSTS OF 30 MPH...FREQUENT AND DANGEROUS CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING...SMALL HAIL...AND HEAVY RAINFALL OF 1 TO 2 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE WITH THIS ACTIVITY. PEA SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED IN BALTIMORE CITY WITH THESE STORMS. THE COMMUNITIES OF FULLERTON...ESSEX...ROSSVILLE...MIDDLE RIVER... PERRY HALL...NOTTINGHAM...WHITE MARSH...BOWLEYS QUARTERS...CHASE AND UPPER FALLS MAY BE AFFECTED BY THESE STORMS. ROGOWSKI
The Sterling radar (KLWX), 62 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 06:01 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning sparked a fire at the Scottish Inn in Front Royal. The blaze damaged the roof above 2 rooms.
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, July 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: 117897.