A cold front moved through the Mid-Atlantic in the evening. Dry air was slow to move in behind it and low level moisture was able to get trapped under the nocturnal inversion before sunrise.
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 LWX wrote it up.
A cold front moved through the Mid-Atlantic in the evening. Dry air was slow to move in behind it and low level moisture was able to get trapped under the nocturnal inversion before sunrise. This resulted in dense fog.
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 Aug 6, 7:37 PM EST, 2 hours 38 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC 837 PM EDT WED AUG 6 2014 .SYNOPSIS... A COLD FRONT IS PASSING THROUGH THE AREA. HIGH PRESSURE WILL RETURN THURSDAY BEFORE SHIFTING INTO NEW ENGLAND FRIDAY THROUGH THE WEEKEND. WAVES OF LOW PRESSURE WILL RIDE ALONG A BOUNDARY TO OUR SOUTH DURING THIS TIME...BRINGING UNSETTLED CONDITIONS THIS WEEKEND INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. && .NEAR TERM /TONIGHT/... FNT RMNS IN THE SRN PART OF THE FCST AREA. PCPN CONTINUES TO BE ON THE WANE. HV RMVD TSTMS FM THE PCPN WORDING...AND CUT THE POPS BACK TO THE GNRL AREA OF WHERE THE RW ARE CURRENTLY OCCURRING. DRIER AIR WILL BE SLOW TO FILTER IN OVRNGT. && .SHORT TERM /THURSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/... HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS OVER THE GREAT LAKES ON THURSDAY...WITH NORTHERLY FLOW ACROSS THE MID-ATLANTIC. SHOULD BE DRY AND SLIGHTLY LESS HUMID WITH HIGHS IN THE LOW/MID 80S. THE UPPER TROUGH PULLS AWAY ON FRIDAY...AND ZONAL FLOW DEVELOPS...ALLOWING WEAK DISTURBANCES TO SWING ACROSS THE REGION. ALTHOUGH THE SFC FRONT WILL BE WELL TO THE SOUTH...A POTENTIAL INVERTED TROUGH FEATURE WILL BE POSSIBLE ALONG WITH OVERRUNNING PRECIP. THE QUESTION IS HOW FAR NORTH THAT PRECIPITATION CAN GET. MODELS CONTINUE TO DISAGREE...WITH THE ECMWF JUST GRAZING OUR SOUTHERN COUNTIES...BUT OTHER GLOBAL MODELS FURTHER NORTH /AND POTENTIALLY HEAVY/. DELAYED THE START OF POPS ON FRIDAY TO THE AFTERNOON...AND CONFINED THEM TO THE SWRN HALF /SHEN VALLEY AND CHARLOTTESVILLE AREAS/. I GRADUALLY BRING THOSE POPS NORTHWARD BY SATURDAY AS THE SFC HIGH BEGINS TO SLIDE INTO NEW ENGLAND. IF THE HEAVIER/STEADIER SOLUTIONS PAN OUT FOR THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY...TEMPS COULD STRUGGLE TO REACH 70 AND IT COULD BE A TOTAL WASHOUT. DC/BALT METRO AREAS HAVE MORE POTENTIAL TO BE DRIER/WARMER. && .LONG TERM /SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... QUASI-STATIONARY BOUNDARY ACROSS CENTRAL WEST VIRGINIA/SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA WILL REMAIN IN PLACE THROUGH THE WEEKEND. HIGH PRESSURE WEDGE AND ASSOCIATED DAMMING WILL BUILD BACK OVER THE MID-ATLANTIC SUNDAY. CLOSED SURFACE LOW OVER THE MID OHIO VALLEY WILL DRIFT TOWARD THE GREAT LAKES BEFORE FILLING WHEN THE 500MB LOW SWEEPS TO THE SOUTHEAST TUESDAY. BOUNDARY WILL MOVE OFFSHORE WEDNESDAY IN RESPONSE TO THE PASSAGE OF THE UPPER LEVEL LOW. MOISTURE...PVA AND STALLED FRONT WILL SUPPORT DEVELOPMENT OF SHOWERS/ THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE CWA THROUGH THE PERIOD. && .AVIATION /01Z THURSDAY THROUGH MONDAY/... COLD FRONT SWINGS THROUGH THE ENTIRE AREA THIS EVENING...AND DRY CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED WITH VFR. VFR EXPECTED THURSDAY AND FRIDAY AT ALL TERMINALS. COULD SEE SOME SHRA AT KCHO BY FRIDAY...AND ESPECIALLY ON SATURDAY. OTHER TERMINALS HAVE A CHANCE OF SHRA BUT ONLY A CHANCE. SOME VSBY/CIG RESTRICTIONS ARE POSSIBLE IN THE STEADY RAIN...MOST LIKELY AT CHO. NOT INCLUDING THUNDER AT THIS TIME. SHRA POTENTIAL SPREADS EVEN A LITTLE FURTHER NORTH ON SUNDAY. && .MARINE... NORTHERLY CHANNELING COULD DEVELOP ON THURSDAY IN THE WAKE OF THE FRONT. GUSTS APPROACHING SCA CRITERIA ARE POSSIBLE...BUT REACHING THRESHOLD IS MARGINAL POTENTIALWISE...SO DID NOT ISSUE SCA. HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS IN FOR FRIDAY/SATURDAY WITH LIGHT WINDS. EASTERLY FLOW DEVELOPS SUNDAY INTO MONDAY...AND SCA GUSTS ARE POSSIBLE IN THE LOWER BAY/LOWER TIDAL POTOMAC DURING THAT TIME. && .LWX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... DC...NONE. MD...NONE. VA...NONE. WV...NONE. MARINE...NONE. && UPDATE...WOODY! PRVS...JCE/CEM
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC 735 PM EDT WED AUG 6 2014 ANZ530>543-DCZ001-MDZ006-007-011-013-014-016>018-VAZ052>057- 071245- 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- PATAPSCO RIVER INCLUDING BALTIMORE HARBOR- CHESTER RIVER TO QUEENSTOWN MD-EASTERN BAY- CHOPTANK RIVER TO CAMBRIDGE MD AND THE LITTLE CHOPTANK RIVER- PATUXENT RIVER TO BROOMES ISLAND MD- TANGIER SOUND AND THE INLAND WATERS SURROUNDING BLOODSWORTH ISLAND-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- 735 PM EDT WED AUG 6 2014 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...TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED TONIGHT. MDZ003>005-009-010-501-502-VAZ025>031-036>040-042-050-051-501>504- WVZ050>053-055-501>506-071245- WASHINGTON-FREDERICK MD-CARROLL-MONTGOMERY-HOWARD- EXTREME WESTERN ALLEGANY-CENTRAL AND EASTERN ALLEGANY-AUGUSTA- ROCKINGHAM-SHENANDOAH-FREDERICK VA-PAGE-WARREN-CLARKE-NELSON- ALBEMARLE-GREENE-MADISON-RAPPAHANNOCK-LOUDOUN-ORANGE-CULPEPER- NORTHERN FAUQUIER-SOUTHERN FAUQUIER-WESTERN HIGHLAND- EASTERN HIGHLAND-HAMPSHIRE-MORGAN-BERKELEY-JEFFERSON-HARDY- WESTERN GRANT-EASTERN GRANT-WESTERN MINERAL-EASTERN MINERAL- WESTERN PENDLETON-EASTERN PENDLETON- 735 PM EDT WED AUG 6 2014 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...TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED TONIGHT.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 dense fog. Local standard time, as filed.
Visibilities of a quarter mile or less were measured at Luray Airport.
Visibilities of a quarter mile or less were measured at Warrenton Airport.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Virginia in 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyWarnings in Virginia, August 2014
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: 540176, 540177.