Most of southwest Virginia had near normal rainfall during the month of July. However, a small pocket of below normal rainfall allowed for Severe Drought condition to expand north into parts of the area.
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 RNK wrote it up.
Most of southwest Virginia had near normal rainfall during the month of July. However, a small pocket of below normal rainfall allowed for Severe Drought condition to expand north into parts of the area.
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 Jul 8, 6:00 AM EST, 1 hour earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA 700 AM EDT TUE JUL 8 2008 .SYNOPSIS... UPPER LEVEL LOW SHIFTS EAST OF THE FORECAST AREA TODAY BUT STILL SOME SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED TODAY AND WEDNESDAY. A FRONT OVER THE UPPER MIDWEST WILL MAKE SLOW PROGRESS TOWARD THE AREA BY EARLY THURSDAY. BUT IT WILL REMAIN VERY WARM AND HUMID AHEAD OF IT. && .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 PM THIS EVENING/... ACTIVE OVERNIGHT PERIOD AS STORMS DEVELOPED MAINLY OVER THE PIEDMONT SHORTLY AFTER MIDNIGHT AND BECAME SEVERE..SOME WITH HEAVY RAINFALL. THE 500 MB UPPER LEVEL LOW RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ACTIVE COUPLE OF DAYS FINALLY SHIFTS EAST OF THE AREA TODAY AS 500 MB TEMPS WARM SLIGHTLY DURING THE DAY FROM -10C TO -8. SPC PLACED A SEE TEXT ACROSS THE AREA CITING DECENT 0-6 KM BULK SHEAR OF 25-30 KT AND MODERATE INSTABILITY. SREF 21Z MODEL SB LIS 0F -3 TO -5 WITH THE HIGHEST VALUES IN THE EAST. CAPES GENERALLY AT OR ABOVE 1000 J/KG. NOT MUCH CHANGE IN AVAILABLE MOISTURE AS BASIC AIR MASS REMAINS ACROSS THE AREA...PWATS RANGING FROM 1.25 INCHES IN THE EAST TO 1.75 INCHES IN THE EAST...CERTAINLY SUFFICIENT TO PRODUCE HEAVY RAINFALL AND POCKETS OF FLOODING IN ANY SLOW MOVING STORMS. NOT MUCH CAHNGE IN THE TEMPERATURES TODAY...MAYBE ADDING A FEW DEGREES TO THE HIGH..LOW 80S IN THE WEST TO UPPER 80S IN THE EAST. && .SHORT TERM /6 PM THIS EVENING THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT/... SCATTERED CONVECTION TODAY SHOULD DIMINISH AFTER SUNSET ALTHOUGH CAN NOT RULE OUT STORMS DEVELOPING ALONG OUTLFOW BOUNDARIES AND DUE TO COOLING ALOFT SIMILAR TO THIS EVENINGS EVENT. MILD OVERNIGHT TEMPS WITH PLENTY OF DEBRIS CLOUDS AND POSSIBLE SHOWERS LINGERING PLUS HIGH AMBIENT MOISTURE. WEDNESDAY COULD BE YET ANOTHER RERUN OF MONDAY AND POSSIBLY TUESDAY. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS LIKELY TO DEVELOP ALTHOUGH UPPER SUPPORT NOT AS SUBSTANTIAL AS MONDAY WITH UPPER LOW OUT OF THE PICTURE. STILL A MOIST UNSTABLE ENVIRONMENT WITH SIMILAR PWATS TO TODAY AND MODERATE INSTABILITY DUE TO STRONG JULY SUN. SPC HAS SEE TEXT GOING AND MENTIONS THE LACK OF SHEAR AS A LIMITING FACTOR IN THE SEVERE POTENTIAL AND IN FACT FLOOD THREAT MAY BE THE BIGGER ISSUE. SOME AREAS HAVE HAD FAIRLY IMPRESSIVE RAINFALL IN RECENT DAYS AND FLASH FLOOD GUIDANCE WILL BE REDUCED. REPEAT CONVECTION OVER THE SAME BASINS LIKELY TO ENHANCE RUNOFF EFFICIENCY AND PRODUCE LOCALIZED FLOOD PROBLEMS. HPC QPF FOR DAY 2 FOCUSED BACK TO THE WEST CLOSER TO THE BOUNDARY DROPPING SLOWLY THRU THE OH VALLEY BUT A BROAD BRUSH OF 0.25 TO 0.50 INCHES IS SHOWN FOR THE 24 HR ENDING THU AT 12Z...BUT OF COURSE UNIFORM RAINFALL IS VERY UNLIKELY AND SOME AREAS MAY RECEIVE 3-INCH PLUS AMOUNTS SIMILAR TO RECENT DAYS. TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN AROUND OR SOMEWHAT ABOVE NORMAL THROUGH THE PERIOD...WITH OVERNIGHT MINS HELD UP MORE BY THE VERY HUMID CONDITIONS. DID NOT DEPART GREATLY FROM MAV GUIDANCE ON TEMPS. && .LONG TERM /THURSDAY THROUGH MONDAY/... FRONT FINALLY MAKES IT INTO THE AREA EARLY THURSDAY AND EVENTUALLY WASHES OUT TO OUR SOUTH BY THE WEEKEND. MADE ONLY MINOR CHANGES TO THE EXTENDED GRIDS AS FORECAST SYNOPTIC PATTERN HAS NOT CHANGED DRASTICALLY. STRONG STORMS POSSIBLE WITH THE FRONTAL PASSAGE THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THE PRIME AREA WILL BE ALONG THE VA/NC BORDER SOUTH. DRY AIR WITH NORTHWEST FLOW SHOULD EMBRACE THE ENTIRE AREA BY FRIDAY MORNING. HIGH PRESSURE WILL BRING DRY WEATHER TO THE REGION FOR THE WEEKEND...BUT A WEAK TROUGH ALOFT CLOUD ALSO BRING AN ISOLATED SHOWER TO THE MOUNTAINS. EVEN WITH THE FRONTAL PASSAGE...DO NOT EXPECT TEMPERATURES TO COOL OFF MUCH. WITH DRY AIR AND A STRONG SUMMER SUN...TEMPERATURES COULD EASILY WARM TO ABOVE NORMAL. 850 MB TEMPERATURES ARE FORECAST TO BE +18C TO +20C OVER THE WEEKEND. && .AVIATION /12Z TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/... SCATTERED SHOWERS AND STORMS AGAIN TODAY MAY BRIEFLY LOWER VSBY/CIGS TO MVFR OR IFR DEPENDING ON PROXIMITY TO TERMINALS ALONG WITH GUSTY WINDS. SLOW MOVING UPPER LOW CONTINUES TO MOVE TO 0UR EAST TODAY BUT ENOUGH INSTABILITY EXPECTED FOR ADDITIONAL STORMS TO FIRE IN THE AFTERNOON. CHOSE TO CARRY CB IN THE CLOUD GROUPS TO REFLECT THIS POSSIBILITY AS LOCATIONS ARE UNCERTAIN...WITH EXCEPTION OF A VCTS AT DANVILLE WHERE MORE UNSTABLE CONDITIONS ARE FORECAST. COOL FRONT PASSES ACROSS THE MID ATLANTIC REGION ON WEDNESDAY CONTINUING THE CHANCE FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS BUT ALLOWING SLIGHTLY DRIER AIR FOR LATE WEEK. && .RNK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... VA...NONE. NC...NONE. WV...NONE. && SYNOPSIS...PC NEAR TERM...PC SHORT TERM...PC LONG TERM...PC/RCS AVIATION...PC
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA 558 AM EDT TUE JUL 8 2008 NCZ001>006-018>020-VAZ007-009>020-022>024-032>035-043>047-058-059- WVZ042>045-091000- 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- 558 AM EDT TUE JUL 8 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 SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS THE REGION. THE PRIMARY THREAT FROM THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE HEAVY RAINFALL. A FEW STORMS MAY CONTAIN LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS...ALONG WITH FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE AGAIN POSSIBLE WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA WITH MORE HEAVY RAIN AND DAMAGING WIND POSSIBLE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
403 AM EDT TUE JUL 08 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1222 AM HAIL 4 WNW INGRAM 36.77N 79.21W
07/08/2008 E0.75 INCH PITTSYLVANIA VA PUBLIC
&&
KMThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
A Severe (D2) Drought began across the southern half of the county on the 8th of the month. This level and location of severity continued through the end of the month.
A Severe (D2) Drought began across the far southern portion of the county on the 8th of the month. This location and severity of drought continued through the end 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, 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: 123044, 123045.