Dry Canadian high pressure, centered over western Ohio to start the day, made its way across the mid Atlantic, resulting in clear skies, very light northeasterly winds and afternoon temperatures roughly 5 to 8 degrees below normal for mid-September for much of the region. The dust devil is thought to be the result of differential heating at the interface between different surface types.
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.
Dry Canadian high pressure, centered over western Ohio to start the day, made its way across the mid Atlantic, resulting in clear skies, very light northeasterly winds and afternoon temperatures roughly 5 to 8 degrees below normal for mid-September for much of the region. The dust devil is thought to be the result of differential heating at the interface between different surface types.
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 14, 2:54 PM EST, 2 hours 6 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA 354 PM EDT SAT SEP 14 2013 .SYNOPSIS... HIGH PRESSURE WILL CONTINUE TO DOMINATE OUR WEATHER PATTERN WITH NO PRECIPITATION AND COOL CONDITIONS THROUGH THE WEEKEND. A WEAK COLD FRONT WILL MOVE INTO THE AREA ON MONDAY...BRINGING SCATTERED SHOWERS TO THE AREA. HIGH PRESSURE QUICKLY RETURNS TO THE AREA BY THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK...ALONG WITH MAINLY DRY CONDITIONS AND MODERATING TEMPERATURES. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT/... AS OF 305 PM EDT SATURDAY... SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE WAS CENTERED OVER OHIO WITH ITS INFLUENCE ALLOWING FOR DRY AND COOL CONDITIONS OVER OUR REGION. AN UPPER LOW WAS MOVING THROUGH NEW ENGLAND WITH ITS ASSOCIATED UPPER TROUGH ALONG THE EAST COAST. OVERNIGHT...BOTH THE SURFACE HIGH AND THE UPPER LOW/TROUGH WILL PROGRESS EASTWARD. THE DEPARTURE OF THE UPPER TROUGH WILL ALLOW FOR THE BUILDING OF A SHORTWAVE RIDGE ALOFT OVER OUR AREA THAT WILL HAVE ITS AXIS JUST EAST OF THE CREST OF THE APPALACHIANS BY DAYBREAK SUNDAY. THIS TRANSITION OF SYSTEMS WILL PLACE OUR REGION...AT LEAST THE WESTERN HALF OF IT...IN A LIGHT PREVAILING SOUTHWEST FLOW BY SUNDAY MORNING. THE RESULT WILL BE A GRADUAL INCREASE IN SURFACE DEW POINTS AND LOW LEVEL MOISTURE. ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS...WE EXPECT OVERNIGHT LOW TEMPERATURES TO BE COMPARABLE OR A BIT MILDER THAN THOSE REALIZED THIS MORNING...AND THERE SHOULD BE MORE SCATTERED CLOUD COVER THAT DEVELOPS DURING THE DAYTIME ON SUNDAY IN THIS AREA. ACROSS THE PIEDMONT...LOW TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO BE COMPARABLE OR UP TO FIVE DEGREES COOLER THAN THOSE REALIZED THIS MORNING AS WINDS WILL BE LIGHTER WITH LESS CLOUD COVER...ESPECIALLY OVER SOUTHSIDE VIRGINIA AND NEIGHBORING NORTH CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA. DURING THE DAY SUNDAY...THE WEAK WARM AIR ADVECTION THAT DEVELOPS SHOULD HELP HIGH TEMPERATURES BE ROUGHLY FIVE TO SEVEN DEGREES WARMER THAN THOSE EXPECTED TODAY. LOOK FOR LOW TO MID 70S IN THE MOUNTAINS AND UPPER 70S TO AROUND 80 ACROSS THE PIEDMONT. && .SHORT TERM /MONDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/... AS OF 330 PM EDT SATURDAY... SUNDAY NIGHT TEMPERATURES WILL BE SEVERAL DEGREES WARMER OVER THOSE OBSERVED SATURDAY NIGHT AS HIGH PRESSURE SHIFTS OFF THE COAST... ALLOWING SOUTHWESTERLY WINDS TO CARRY WARMER AIR ACROSS THE APPALACHIAN CHAIN. CLOUDS WILL BE ON THE INCREASE THROUGH THE NIGHT...WITH A FEW SHOWERS DEVELOPING BY SUNRISE MONDAY...AS ANOTHER COLD FRONT APPROACHES FROM THE NORTH. THE COLD FRONT WILL ENTER OUR SOUTHEAST WEST VIRGINIA AND ALLEGHANY HIGHLAND COUNTIES DURING LATE MONDAY MORNING...AND CONTINUE RAPIDLY SOUTH...EXITING OUR NORTHERN NORTH CAROLINA COUNTIES DURING THE EVENING. MOISTURE RETURN IS NOT VERY DEEP AHEAD OF THE FRONT AND INSTABILITY IS LIMITED...SO BELIEVE SHOWER ACTIVITY WILL ONLY BE SPOTTY DURING THE DAY...WITH BETTER CHANCES NEAR OUR MORE PROMINENT NORTHWEST FACING SLOPES AS THE TERRAIN HELPS IN SHOWER DEVELOPMENT. THE DOWNSLOPE WEST TO NORTHWEST WINDS IMMEDIATELY BEHIND THE FRONT SHOULD HOLD LONG ENOUGH INTO THE AFTERNOON TO ALLOW TEMPERATURES TO TOUCH 80 EAST OF THE BLUE RIDGE...WITH LOW TO MID 70S EXPECTED FURTHER WEST FOR HIGHS. CANADIAN HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING BEHIND THE FRONT WILL CROSS THE GREAT LAKES MONDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING...AND WEDGE SOUTHWARD AGAINST THE EAST SIDE OF THE APPALACHIANS MONDAY NIGHT...QUICKLY SHIFTING OUR WINDS NORTHEASTERLY. MAY SEE A FEW SHOWERS LINGER ACROSS THE NORTH CAROLINA MOUNTAINS AND THE MOUNTAIN EMPIRE TUESDAY AND TUESDAY NIGHT AS ATLANTIC MOISTURE IS FORCED UP THE BLUE RIDGE...BUT ANY SHOWER ACTIVITY WILL REMAIN ISOLATED. && .LONG TERM /TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY/... AS OF 345 PM EDT SATURDAY... HIGH PRESSURE WILL STRETCH FROM NEW ENGLAND SOUTHWARD ALONG THE APPALACHIAN CHAIN WEDNESDAY THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE WORKWEEK...WEAKENING A LITTLE EACH DAY. AS SUCH...EXPECT ONLY A FEW SHOWERS AND PERHAPS A THUNDERSTORM ACROSS THE MOUNTAIN EMPIRE ON WEDNESDAY...WHERE THE HIGH PRESSURE WEDGE IS WEAKEST. DEEPER GULF MOISTURE WILL MAKE A STEADY RETURN ACROSS THE TENNESSEE AND OHIO RIVER VALLEYS THURSDAY AND FRIDAY...AND WILL SEE SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY INCREASE WEST OF THE BLUE RIDGE AS THIS MOISTURE BEGINS TO WORK ITS WAY OVER THE APPALACHIAN CHAIN. MAY HAVE TO KEEP OUR EYES PEELED TO NEXT THURSDAY WITH A WARM FRONT LIFTING NORTHWARD ACROSS THE MIDWEST...AS MODELS ARE HINTING THAT A STRONG DISTURBANCE RIDING ALONG THE FRONT MAY TRIGGER A THUNDERSTORM COMPLEX ACROSS THE OHIO RIVER VALLEY. MOST LIKELY THE STRONGEST STORMS WITH THIS COMPLEX WOULD REMAIN WEST OF OUR AREA...HOWEVER CANNOT RULE OUT AT THIS POINT SEEING THE REMNANTS GRAZE OUR AREA DURING THE EVENING. BELIEVE WE WILL SEE SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS NEXT SATURDAY AS A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM MOVES ACROSS SOUTHERN CANADA...DRAGGING ANOTHER COLD FRONT TOWARD OUR REGION. && .AVIATION /20Z SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/... AS OF 145 PM EDT SATURDAY... HIGH PRESSURE WAS THE DOMINATE WEATHER FEATURE ACROSS THE REGION AND WAS BRING VFR CONDITIONS AND LIGHT AND VARIABLE OR CALM WINDS TO THE ENTIRE REGION. THIS TREND IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE INTO THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. GUIDANCE IS HINTING AT INCREASED RETURN OF SHALLOW LOW LEVEL MOISTURE ACROSS THE WESTERN HALF OF THE REGION AS THE CENTER OF THE RIDGE AXIS SHIFTS EAST OF THE AREA. THIS HAS PROMPTED US TO INCLUDE A BRIEF PERIOD OF SOME MVFR LIGHT FOG AT BOTH KBCB AND KLWB. THIS SAME MOISTURE RETURN ALSO IS EXPECTED TO ALLOW FOR SOME SCATTERED VFR CLOUDS ACROSS THE WESTERN HALF OF THE AREA BY THE LATE MORNING SUNDAY. THERE IS INCREASED CONFIDENCE IS A LIGHT...BUT PREVAILING S-SW WIND ACROSS THE REGION ALSO BY THE LATE MORNING. NEXT POTENTIAL FOR MORE THAN SPOTTY SUB-VFR CONDITIONS WILL BE ON MONDAY WHEN A WEAK COLD FRONT APPROACHES AND THEN MOVES INTO THE AREA. ANY MODERATE TO HEAVY SHOWER OR STORM COULD PRODUCE BRIEF BUT LOCALIZED REDUCED VSBYS AND CIGS. DRIER HIGH PRESSURE RETURNS BY THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK. MAINLY VFR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED. THE EXCEPTION MAY BE LATE NIGHT AND EARLY MORNING RIVER AND MOUNTAIN VALLEY FOG...ESPECIALLY IN AREAS THAT WOULD HAVE RECEIVED RAIN ON MONDAY. && .RNK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... VA...NONE. NC...NONE. WV...NONE. && SYNOPSIS...DS NEAR TERM...DS SHORT TERM...NF LONG TERM...NF AVIATION...DS
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA 401 PM EDT SAT SEP 14 2013 NCZ001>006-018>020-VAZ007-009>020-022>024-032>035-043>047-058-059- WVZ042>045-152015- 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- 401 PM EDT SAT SEP 14 2013 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...TONIGHT. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. 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.
1 dust devil. Local standard time, as filed.
A dust devil lifted several large, tied-down canopy tents into the air. The canopies then dropped down onto a crowd of people. There were six minor injuries, with one person taken to the hospital.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Virginia in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Virginia, September 2013
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: 473051.