A cold front moved over and stalled across the region. Abundant showers, and some isolated thunderstorms, developed along it.
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 RNK wrote it up.
A cold front moved over and stalled across the region. Abundant showers, and some isolated thunderstorms, developed along it. A single storm increased to severe levels and produced damaging winds near Ferrum in Franklin County 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 Sep 26, 8:38 PM EST, 49 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA 938 PM EDT MON SEP 26 2011 .SYNOPSIS... A PERSISTENT UPPER LEVEL LOW OVER THE UPPER MIDWEST WILL MAINTAIN MOIST SOUTHWEST FLOW ACROSS THE REGION THROUGH EARLY TUESDAY WITH SCATTERED SHOWERS AND STORMS LIKELY ALONG A SLOW MOVING COLD FRONT TONIGHT. DRIER AIR WILL FOLLOW THE FRONT FOR THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TUESDAY/... AS OF 935 PM EDT MONDAY... RADAR SHOWED SEVERAL CLUSTER OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS AHEAD OF A SLOW MOVING COLD FRONT. AT 00Z/8PM THE FRONT EXTENDED FROM CENTRAL OHIO TO EASTERN TENNESSEE. VERY SLOW EASTWARD PROGRESS IS EXPECTED WITH THE FRONT OVERNIGHT. HOWEVER...ALL MODELS BRING THE DRIER AIR INTO THE COUNTY WARNING AREA BY TUESDAY AFTERNOON. HAVE MADE ADJUSTMENTS TO THE TIMING OF THE HIGHEST PROBABILITY OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS BASED ON THE LATEST RADAR TRENDS...THE LOCAL WRF AND THE HRRR. THERE SHOULD BE AT LEAST AT SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDER OVERNIGHT. MSAS STILL SHOWED LIFTED INDEX VALUES AROUND -4 IN THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN COUNTY WARNING AREA WITH CAPES AS HIGH AS 1500 J/KG. SINCE DEW POINTS WILL NOT DROP UNTIL TUESDAY....LOWS WILL STAY IN THE 60S TONIGHT. MADE MINOR ADJUSTMENTS TO MINIMUM TEMPERATURES BASED ON CURRENT OBSERVATIONS AND THE LATEST LAV GUIDANCE. AS OF 315 PM EDT MONDAY... THE UPPER LEVEL LOW CONTINUES TO RESIDE OVER IL LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND WILL MAKE VERY SLIGHT EASTWARD PROGRESS OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS. A FRONTAL BOUNDARY EXTENDING SOUTHEAST FROM THE LOW WAS POSITIONED ACROSS FAR WESTERN OHIO DOWN THROUGH CENTRAL KY AND TN. THIS FRONT HAS ALSO BEEN MAKING VERY HALTING PROGRESS TOWARD THE EAST. SUBSTANTIALLY DRIER IF NOT A WHOLE LOT COOLER AIR IS LOCATED BACK BEHIND THE BOUNDARY WITH SURFACE DEW POINTS 10 TO 15 DEGREES LOWER. A BROAD AREA OF LIFT ALONG AND AHEAD OF THE FRONT IN THE VERY MOIST AIR MASS TO THE EAST IS HELPING TO TRIGGER NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE EASTERN OHIO VALLEY. THE AIR MASS OVER THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN AREA REMAINS QUITE MOIST WITH MORNING PWATS RANGING FROM 1.2 TO 1.7 INCHES ON 12Z SOUNDINGS AT RNK AND GSO. SOME OF THE SLOWER MOVING CELLS MAY PRODUCE SUBSTANTIAL RAINFALL...UP TO 1 TO 2 INCHES IN A FEW AREAS...PROBABLY NOT ENOUGH FOR FLASH FLOODING UNLESS A PARTICULAR BASIN IS ON THE RECEIVING END OF SEVERAL ROUNDS OF PRECIPITATION. SOME SEVERE POTENTIAL STILL EXISTS THIS EVENING AS SPC MESOSCALE ANALYSIS SHOW UP TO 1000 ML CAPE OVER THE WESTERN MOUNTAINS AT 18Z AND 0-6 KM BULK SHEAR OF 40 KT+. THE LINE SHOULD WEAKEN OVERNIGHT AND THE PIEDMONT WILL HAVE LESSER CHANCES FOR PRECIP. WITH THE HEAVY CLOUD COVER TEMPS WILL REMAIN QUITE MILD FOR LATE SEPTEMBER...IN THE 60S IN NEARLY ALL AREAS. THE BOUNDARY SLIDES SLOWLY EAST ON TUESDAY WITH DRIER AIR WORKING IN AND POPS DIMINISHING FROM W TO E. AS NOTED ABOVE THE AIR NOT REALLY MUCH COOLER BEHIND THE FRONT WITH H85 TEMPS FALLING ONLY A FEW DEGREES EVEN IN THE FAR NW AND NOT REALLY AT ALL IN THE SE BY TUESDAY EVENING. HENCE SHOULD SEE MILD HIGHS AGAIN TOMORROW REACHING LOW 80S OUT EAST AND MID-70S NW. && .SHORT TERM /TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT/... AS OF 315 PM EDT MONDAY... THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY WILL LIKELY STALL IN THE VA/NC PIEDMONT TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY. AT THIS TIME...MODELS HAVE BOUNDARY TO THE EAST OF RNK CWA. A SURFACE LOW IS EXPECTED TO TRACK ALONG THIS BOUNDARY AND LIFT NORTH WEDNESDAY MORNING. THIS BOUNDARY COULD BUCKLE BACK TO THE WEST AND INTO RNK PIEDMONT TO BRING A FEW STRAY SHOWERS. WEDNESDAY NIGHT...THE UPPER LEVEL LOW THAT WAS IN THE UPPER MID WEST TRACKS ACROSS THE OHIO VALLEY. A STRONG SHORT WAVE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS LOW COULD BRING SHOWERS TO SOUTHEAST WEST VIRGINIA WEDNESDAY NIGHT. BULK OF THE LIFT AND HEAVY RAIN WILL REMAIN NORTH OF THE AREA AND INTO THE OHIO VALLEY. TEMPERATURES DURING THE PERIOD WILL BE ABOVE NORMAL BY 3F-5F DEGREES. && .LONG TERM /THURSDAY THROUGH MONDAY/... AS OF 315 PM EDT MONDAY... THE UPPER MID WEST AND OHIO VALLEY FINALLY GETS RID OF THE UPPER LEVEL LOW THAT HAS PLAGUED THE REGION FOR A WEEK. MODELS ARE FORECASTING ANOTHER UPPER LEVEL LOW TO MOVE OVER THE GREAT LAKES ON THURSDAY. THIS LOW WILL NOT BECOME STATIONARY AS ITS PREDECESSOR. AS THIS LOW TRACKS ACROSS THE OHIO VALLEY...A WEAK COLD FRONT WILL SWEEP ACROSS THE WEST THURSDAY NIGHT-FRIDAY. RAIN WITH THIS FRONT WILL MAINLY BE ALONG WESTERN SLOPES OF SOUTHEAST WEST VIRGINIA. PRECIPITATION CHANCES MOVING EAST WILL BE LESS IN NORTHWEST FLOW. ANOTHER LOW IS EXPECTED TO TRACK OVER PENNSYLVANIA SATURDAY. THIS SYSTEM WILL BRING ANOTHER LOW CHANCE OF SHOWERS TO THE WEST AND VERY LITTLE IN THE EAST. THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE PERIOD LOOKS DRY WHILE TEMPERATURES GET COOLER WITH EACH PASSING FEATURE. TEMPERATURES THIS WEEKEND WILL BE BELOW NORMAL WITH SOME 30S POSSIBLE ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS. && .AVIATION /02Z TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/... AS OF 735 PM EDT MONDAY... MSAS ANALYSIS SHOWED A SURFACE BOUNDARY FROM CENTRAL OHIO TO CENTRAL TENNESSEE MONDAY EVENING. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE LINED UP IN THE DEEPER MOISTURE ALONG AND JUST AHEAD OF THIS FRONT. ALL MODELS BRING THE LINE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS INTO SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA AND NORTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA OVERNIGHT. THE EASTWARD MOVEMENT OF THE LINE WAS VERY SLOW BUT SHOWERS WERE STARTING TO DEVELOP UPSTREAM OF BLF AND BCB. USED A COMBINATION OF LOCAL WRF AND HRRR TIMING...AS WELL AS RECENT RADAR TRENDS TO DETERMINE THE TIMING OF THE SHOWERS IN THE TAFS. LOWER CONFIDENCE ABOUT THE AMOUNT OF STRATUS AND FOG THAT WILL DEVELOP BEHIND THE RAIN. MODEL SHOWED DRYING BEHIND THE FRONT ON BY TUESDAY AFTERNOON...BUT THERE COULD BE PROLONGED PERIOD OF IFR CONDITIONS LATE TONIGHT AND EARLY TUESDAY MORNING. THE SLOWLY MOVING UPPER LEVEL LOW BEGINS TO FILL ON TUESDAY AND MOVES ACROSS THE GREAT LAKES BY THURSDAY. THIS WILL CONTINUE THE THREAT OF AFTERNOON SHOWERS...AND POSSIBLY LOW CLOUDS/FOG DURING THE OVERNIGHT PERIODS. ANOTHER COLD FRONT MAY BRING SOME UPSLOPE LOW CLOUDS TO NW SECTIONS FOR THE FORECAST AREA ON FRIDAY. VFR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED EAST OF THE BLUE RIDGE. && .RNK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... VA...NONE. NC...NONE. WV...NONE. && SYNOPSIS...AMS/PC NEAR TERM...AMS/PC SHORT TERM...RCS LONG TERM...RCS AVIATION...AMS/PC
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA 315 PM EDT MON SEP 26 2011 NCZ001-002-018-VAZ007-009>020-022>024-WVZ042>045-271915- ASHE-ALLEGHANY NC-WATAUGA-TAZEWELL-SMYTH-BLAND-GILES-WYTHE-PULASKI- MONTGOMERY-GRAYSON-CARROLL-FLOYD-CRAIG-ALLEGHANY VA-BATH-ROANOKE- BOTETOURT-ROCKBRIDGE-MERCER-SUMMERS-MONROE-GREENBRIER- 315 PM EDT MON SEP 26 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA...SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA...WEST CENTRAL VIRGINIA AND SOUTHEAST WEST VIRGINIA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. THERE IS A THREAT OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS BEGINNING THIS EVENING...AROUND 700 PM AND LINGER INTO THE EARLY MORNING HOURS TUESDAY. THESE STORMS COULD BRING GUSTY...AND POTENTIALLY DAMAGING WINDS. IN ADDITION...SLOW MOVING LINES OF STORMS MAY BRING LOCALLY VERY HEAVY RAINFALL. .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. NCZ003>006-019-020-VAZ032>035-043>047-058-059-271915- SURRY-STOKES-ROCKINGHAM-CASWELL-WILKES-YADKIN-PATRICK-FRANKLIN- BEDFORD-AMHERST-HENRY-PITTSYLVANIA-CAMPBELL-APPOMATTOX-BUCKINGHAM- HALIFAX-CHARLOTTE- 315 PM EDT MON SEP 26 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA...NORTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA...CENTRAL VIRGINIA...SOUTH CENTRAL VIRGINIA...SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA AND WEST CENTRAL VIRGINIA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. THERE IS A THREAT OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS LATER THIS EVENING...AFTER 1000 PM...AND LINGERING INTO THE EARLY MORNING HOURS TUESDAY. THESE STORMS COULD BRING GUSTY...AND POTENTIALLY DAMAGING WINDS. IN ADDITION...SLOW MOVING LINES OF STORMS MAY BRING LOCALLY VERY HEAVY RAINFALL. .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. RCS
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
812 PM EDT MON SEP 26 2011
VAZ007-009-010-WVZ042-270045-
BLAND VA-MERCER WV-SMYTH VA-TAZEWELL VA-
812 PM EDT MON SEP 26 2011
...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL AFFECT BLAND...MERCER...SMYTH AND
TAZEWELL COUNTIES...
AT 807 PM EDT...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE ALONG A LINE FROM 11 MILES
SOUTH OF WELCH TO SALTVILLE...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.
WIND GUSTS TO 40 MPH ARE POSSIBLE WITH THIS LINE OF STORMS. HEAVY
RAIN WILL ALSO FALL FROM THESE STORMS...AND MAY CAUSE WATER TO POND
ON ROADS AND QUICKLY FILL ROADSIDE DITCHES AND SMALL STREAMS.
THESE STORMS WILL BE NEAR HUNGRY MOTHER STATE PARK AROUND 820 PM...
TAZEWELL AROUND 825 PM...TIPTOP AROUND 830 PM...COALDALE AROUND 835
PM...WENONAH AROUND 840 PM AND MONTCALM AROUND 845 PM.
LAT...LON 3695 8182 3696 8179 3701 8181 3721 8177
3725 8172 3721 8168 3721 8156 3726 8150
3728 8142 3741 8133 3742 8129 3746 8131
3752 8122 3700 8131 3696 8138 3692 8134
3682 8174 3691 8183
16SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA 927 PM EDT MON SEP 26 2011 NCZ004-VAZ032-043-270200- HENRY VA-PATRICK VA-STOKES NC- 927 PM EDT MON SEP 26 2011 ...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT HENRY...PATRICK AND STOKES COUNTIES... AT 924 PM EDT...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED OVER DANBURY... MOVING NORTH AT 35 MPH. WIND GUSTS TO 30 MPH AND PEA-SIZED HAIL ARE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM. THIS STORM WILL BE NEAR SANDY RIDGE AROUND 935 PM...STUART AROUND 945 PM...CRITZ AROUND 950 PM AND BUFFALO RIDGE AROUND 955 PM. LAT...LON 3676 8029 3668 7997 3633 8018 3640 8039 16
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
954 PM EDT MON SEP 26 2011
VAZ032-033-043-270300-
FRANKLIN VA-HENRY VA-PATRICK VA-
954 PM EDT MON SEP 26 2011
...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT FRANKLIN...HENRY AND PATRICK
COUNTIES...
AT 949 PM EDT...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED 5 MILES NORTHEAST
OF STUART...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.
WIND GUSTS TO 30 MPH ARE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM. VERY HEAVY RAIN
WILL FALL FROM THIS STORM...AND WILL CAUSE WATER TO POND ON ROADS AND
QUICKLY FILL ROADSIDE DITCHES AND SMALL STREAMS.
THIS STORM WILL BE NEAR SANVILLE AROUND 1000 PM...CHARITY...AND
FIELDALE AROUND 1005 PM...FAIRY STONE STATE PARK...PHILPOTT
DAM...AND BASSETT AROUND 1010 PM...ENDICOTT AROUND 1015 PM...OAK
LEVEL AROUND 1020 PM AND FERRUM AROUND 1025 PM.
FOR ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION...VISIT US ON THE WEB AT
HTTP://WEATHER.GOV.
LAT...LON 3667 8034 3715 8000 3714 7996 3715 7994
3705 7969 3654 8004
AMSThe Roanoke radar (KFCX), 22 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:28 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Thunderstorm winds blew trees down on Ferrum Mountain Road. Very moist soil conditions may have also contributed to the falling trees. Damage values are estimated.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Virginia in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Virginia, September 2011
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: 347514.