Severe drought (D2) conditions persisted during the entire month of November for the same area. Basically this area encompassed the New River Valley, southwest into the Mountain Empire of southwest Virginia.
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.
Severe drought (D2) conditions persisted during the entire month of November for the same area. Basically this area encompassed the New River Valley, southwest into the Mountain Empire of southwest Virginia.
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 Oct 31, 8:34 PM EST, 3 hours 26 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA 934 PM EDT FRI OCT 31 2008 .SYNOPSIS... HIGH PRESSURE WILL REMAIN OVER THE REGION THROUGH SATURDAY. A WEAK COLD FRONT WILL DROP SOUTH INTO THE AREA SATURDAY NIGHT. && .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 AM SATURDAY MORNING/... NO GHOULISH WEATHER PROBLEMS TONIGHT. CLEAR SKIES...LIGHT WINDS...PERFECT FOR THE LITTLE GHOSTS AND GOBLINS. TEMPS COOLEST IN THE VALLEYS AND WARMEST ALONG THE RIDGE TOPS. && .SHORT TERM /6 AM SATURDAY MORNING THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT/... HIGH PRESSURE WILL BE OVER THE AREA SATURDAY YEILDING SIMILAR SENSIBLE WX SITUATION COMPARED TO FRIDAY. A WEAK BACKDOOR FRONT DROPS SOUTH THROUGH THE COUNTY WARNING AREA SATURDAY NIGHT THEN A 1039 MB HIGH BUILDS DOWN THE APPALACHIANS THROUGH MONDAY. THE MODELS HOLD THE BAND OF DEEPER MOISTURE ALONG THE FRONT JUST TO THE NORTH OF THE FORECAST AREA SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY. WOULD MAKE SENSE THAT DEPTH OF FRONT WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO MAKE A LOT OF PROGRESS SOUTH AGAINST A LARGE RIDGE. SINCE 850 MB TEMPERATURES WILL BE WARM AND WITH SUCH A DRY AIRMASS THERE WILL CONTINUE TO BE A LARGE SPREAD BETWEEN THE RIDGES AND THE VALLEYS. TRENDS FROM THE PAST FEW NIGHTS HAVE BEEN USED TO ADJUST MAV GUIDANCE FOR LOWS. WILL STAY CLOSE TO A BLEND OF GUIDANCE FOR THE REST OF THE SHORT RANGE PERIOD. BY SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY LOW LEVEL WINDS ARE FROM THE SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST. THERE MAY BE ENOUGH LOW LEVEL MOISTURE FROM OFF THE ATLANTIC FOR SOME CLOUD COVER...ESPECIALLY EAST OF THE BLUE RIDGE. INCREASED IN THE CLOUDS BUT WAS STILL NOT VERY AGGRESSIVE THIS TIME FRAME. && .LONG TERM /TUESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY/... DIFFERENCES IN THE EXTENDED MODELS START TO SHOW UP ON MONDAY AND TUESDAY WITH THE TRACK OF THE COASTAL LOW AND THEN WITH THE TIMING OF THE STRONG FRONT AT THE END OF THE WEEK. HPC WILL BE TAKING A BLEND OF GFS AND ECMWF FOR THE COASTAL LOW WHICH KEEPS MOST OF THE DEEP MOISTURE SOUTHEAST OF THE FORECAST AREA AND PROBABLY OFFSHORE. EXPECT THE STRONG FRONT TO COME THROUGH FRIDAY...SLIGHTLY SLOWER THAN THE GFS TIMING AT THIS POINT...SO WILL INTRODUCE A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ON FRIDAY. SINCE TUESDAY IS EXPECTED TO BE DRY AND GFS OPERATIONAL MOS IS ALREADY MUCH COOLER THAN ENSEMBLES...WILL WARM UP HIGHS THAT DAY. ON FRIDAY WITH PRECIPITATION AND FRONTAL PASSAGE AND WITH THE OPERATIONAL NUMBERS MUCH WARMER THAN THE ENSEMBLES...WILL GO COOLER THAN GUIDANCE FOR HIGH TEMPERATURES. && .AVIATION /01Z SATURDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... A LARGE HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEM AND VERY DRY AIRMASS WILL KEEP VFR CONDITIONS ACROSS THE REGION THROUGH SATURDAY. A WEAK BACKDOOR COLD FRONT WILL DRIFT SOUTH INTO THE AREA SUNDAY WITH POTENTIAL FOR SOME MVFR LEVEL LOW CLOUDS ALONG/EAST OF THE BLUE RIDGE LATER SUNDAY INTO EARLY MONDAY. HIGH PRESSURE OFF THE MID ATLANTIC COAST SHOULD RE-ESTABLISH OVERALL VFR CONDITIONS EARLY NEXT WEEK. && .RNK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... VA...NONE. NC...NONE. WV...NONE. && SYNOPSIS...PM NEAR TERM...PM SHORT TERM...AMS LONG TERM...AMS AVIATION...PM
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA 312 AM EDT FRI OCT 31 2008 NCZ001>006-018>020-VAZ007-009>020-022>024-032>035-043>047-058-059- WVZ042>045-010715- 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- 312 AM EDT FRI OCT 31 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...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. 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 remained in place during the entire month of November for much of Giles County.
Severe drought conditions remained in place during the entire month of November for much of Montgomery County.
Severe drought conditions remained in place during the entire month of November, mainly for the portion of Floyd County west of the Blue Ridge.
Severe drought conditions remained in place during the entire month of November, mainly for the portion of Carroll County north of the Blue Ridge mountains.
Severe drought conditions remained in place during the entire month of November for Pulaski County.
Severe drought conditions remained in place during the entire month of November for Bland County.
Severe drought conditions remained in place during the entire month of November for Wythe County.
Severe drought conditions remained in place during the entire month of November for the northern half of Grayson County.
Severe drought conditions remained in place during the entire month of November for Smyth County.
Severe drought conditions remained in place during the entire month of November for Tazewell County.
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, November 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: 140824, 140825, 140826, 140827, 140828, 140829, 140830, 140831, 140832, 140833.