Slow-moving and persistent storms across parts of central and southern Grayson County produced rainfall of 1 to 3 inches with isolated amounts up to 5 inches in a few hours. 20 inches in 4 hours ending at 0400 LST (2300Z) on May 12.
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.
Slow-moving and persistent storms across parts of central and southern Grayson County produced rainfall of 1 to 3 inches with isolated amounts up to 5 inches in a few hours. The IFLOWS rain gage at Bethel (BTHV2) measured 5.20 inches in 4 hours ending at 0400 LST (2300Z) on May 12. The gage is located in the South Branch of Elk Creek near where flash flooding was reported.
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 May 11, 2:44 PM EST, 2 hours 46 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA 344 PM EDT MON MAY 11 2015 .SYNOPSIS... LOW PRESSURE WAS OVER THE GREAT LAKES WITH A COLD FRONT TRAILING INTO EASTERN TEXAS. THIS FRONT WILL MOVE EAST TONIGHT AND WILL BE OFF THE COAST BY TUESDAY NIGHT. HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS IN AND WILL KEEP THE AREA COOL AND DRY THROUGH THURSDAY. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TUESDAY/... AS OF 325 PM EDT MONDAY... REMNANTS OF ANA HAS PULLED AWAY FROM THE AREA...BUT HAS LEFT THE REGION IN A TROPICAL AIRMASS. WITH SOME WEAK CONVERGENCE AND AFTERNOON HEATING OVER THE WEST...HAS GENERATED SLOW MOVING PULSE STORMS THIS AFTERNOON. THESE STORMS WILL DRIFT TO THE EAST-NORTHEAST THROUGH EARLY THIS EVENING. THESE PULSE STORMS WILL FADE WITH LOSS OF HEATING BUT MAY NOT COMPLETELY GO AWAY OVERNIGHT AS INSTABILITIES LINGER UNTIL MIXING INCREASES WITH THE APPROACHING COLD FRONT TONIGHT. PREFRONTAL SHOWERS WILL MOVE IN ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS LATE THIS EVENING. AS THE FRONT TRACKS ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS TONIGHT...WEST WINDS INCREASE WITH DOWNSLOPING LIMITING CONVECTION ACTIVITY EAST OF THE BLUE RIDGE. THE BEST CHANCE FOR CONVECTION EAST OF THE BLUE RIDGE WILL BE THIS EVENING. DYNAMICS WITH THE FRONT SPLIT WITH THE MAIN PIECE OF ENERGY TRACKING NORTH INTO THE GREAT LAKES AND OHIO VALLEY AND THE OTHER SOUTH INTO THE SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI VALLEY OVERNIGHT. WITH WEAK DYNAMICS...DO NOT EXPECT ANY SEVERE STORMS THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT. SOME PULSE STORMS THIS AFTERNOON COULD FLIRT CLOSE TO SEVERE WITH HAIL...BUT OVER ALL ACTIVITY WILL BE THE RUN-OF- THE-MILL THUNDERSTORMS. THE FRONT CROSSES THE MOUNTAINS TONIGHT AND WILL BE EAST OF THE PIEDMONT BY LATE TUESDAY MORNING. THE DEW POINT FRONT LAGS BEHIND AND DOES NOT CLEAR THE AREA UNTIL TUESDAY AFTERNOON. WITH CLEARING BEHIND THE FRONT AND A WARM START TO THE DAY...HIGH TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN ABOVE NORMAL WITH UPPER 70S WEST TO UPPER 80S EAST. PRESSURE RISES BEHIND THE FRONT WILL ALSO BRING BREEZY AND GUSTY CONDITIONS DURING THE DAY TUESDAY. NOTHING CLOSE TO ADVISORY CRITERIA. && .SHORT TERM /TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT/... AS OF 330 PM EDT MONDAY... HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD ACROSS THE AREA FOR MID WEEK...PROVIDING FAIR DRY CONDITIONS...TEMPERATURES CLOSE TO THE SEASONAL NORM. THE PRESSURE GRADIENT WILL BE STRONG ENOUGH FOR BREEZY CONDITIONS TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY...BUT AS THE HIGH DRIFTS OVERHEAD WEDNESDAY NIGHT...THE WINDS WILL DIMINISH. MODEL GUIDANCE IS IN GOOD AGREEMENT AND WAS GENERALLY FOLLOWED FOR BOTH THE MAX AND MINS. TRIMMED DEWPOINTS A FEW DEGREES COMPARED TO GUIDANCE PER POTENTIAL TO MIX DOWN DRIER AIR ALOFT. THIS RESULTED IN AFTERNOON RELATIVE HUMIDITY MINIMUMS 10 PERCENT DRIER THAN PREV FORECASTS. && .LONG TERM /FRIDAY THROUGH MONDAY/... AS OF 300 PM EDT MONDAY... WEATHER PATTERN FAVORS THE RETURN OF THE AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE SOUTHEAST UNITED STATES WITH BUILDING HEIGHTS ACROSS OUR FORECAST AREA. THIS WILL RESULT IN AN UPWARD TREND OF TEMPERATURES AND DEWPOINTS WITH AN OVERALL RETURN TO SUMMER-LIKE WEATHER WITH TEMPERATURES 5 TO 10 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL IN ADDITION TO A DAILY THREAT FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. && .AVIATION /20Z MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/... AS OF 135 PM EDT MONDAY... A SLOW MOVING COLD FRONT WILL CROSS OVER THE MOUNTAINS THIS EVENING...THEN OVER THE PIEDMONT TUESDAY MORNING. AHEAD OF THIS FRONT...SLOW MOVING PULSE STORMS ARE FORMING ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS. THESE STORMS WILL CONTINUE INTO THE EVENING...THEN FADE WITH LOSS OF HEATING. MORE SHOWERS EXPECTED AS THE FRONT CROSSES OVER THE REGION OVERNIGHT. CONFIDENCE AND TIMING OF THESE AFTERNOON PULSE STORMS OVER A PARTICULAR AIRPORT IS LOW...THEREFORE WILL CARRY VICINITY THUNDERSTORMS AT ALL SITES THROUGH THE AFTERNOON. A MUCH DRIER AIR MASS COMES INTO THE REGION WITH VFR CONDITIONS TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. GUSTY NORTHWEST WINDS ARE EXPECTED ON TUESDAY AND POSSIBLY WEDNESDAY. THE NEXT CHANCE OF SUB VFR WEATHER AND PRECIPITATION WILL BE ON FRIDAY. && .CLIMATE... AS OF 425 AM EDT MONDAY... A FEW MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE RECORDS MAY BE SET TODAY. HERE ARE THE CURRENT RECORD HIGHS... ROANOKE 91 IN 1953 LYNCHBURG 94 IN 1896 DANVILLE 94 IN 1953 BLUEFIELD 83 IN 2007 LEWISBURG 82 IN 2007 BLACKSBURG 84 IN 2007 && .RNK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... VA...NONE. NC...NONE. WV...NONE. && SYNOPSIS...RCS NEAR TERM...RCS SHORT TERM...PM LONG TERM...PM AVIATION...RCS CLIMATE...AMS
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA 345 PM EDT MON MAY 11 2015 NCZ001>006-018>020-VAZ007-009>020-022>024-032>035-043>047-058-059- WVZ042>044-507-508-121945- 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- EASTERN GREENBRIER-WESTERN GREENBRIER- 345 PM EDT MON MAY 11 2015 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...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. .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
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
546 PM EDT MON MAY 11 2015
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0541 PM HAIL 5 E BEECH MOUNTAIN 36.21N 81.80W
05/11/2015 E0.25 INCH WATAUGA NC TRAINED SPOTTER
&&
16PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
551 PM EDT MON MAY 11 2015
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0530 PM DEBRIS FLOW 1 SSE BEECH MOUNTAIN 36.20N 81.88W
05/11/2015 WATAUGA NC LAW ENFORCEMENT
THE BEECH MOUNTAIN POLICE DEPARTMENT REPORTED MULTIPLE
MUDSLIDES AND DEBRIS FLOWS ACROSS THE BEECH MOUNTAIN
AREA.
&&
16PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
557 PM EDT MON MAY 11 2015
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0550 PM HAIL LEXINGTON CITY 37.78N 79.45W
05/11/2015 E0.88 INCH CITY OF LEXINGTON VA 911 CALL CENTER
&&
16PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
604 PM EDT MON MAY 11 2015
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0515 PM HAIL BEECH MOUNTAIN 36.21N 81.89W
05/11/2015 E1.00 INCH WATAUGA NC TRAINED SPOTTER
&&
BDSPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
619 PM EDT MON MAY 11 2015
VAZ035-047-112315-
BUCKINGHAM VA-AMHERST VA-
619 PM EDT MON MAY 11 2015
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BLACKSBURG HAS ISSUED A
* SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT FOR...
BUCKINGHAM COUNTY IN CENTRAL VIRGINIA...
EAST CENTRAL AMHERST COUNTY IN CENTRAL VIRGINIA...
* UNTIL 715 PM EDT
* AT 618 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS
TRACKING STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM 6 MILES
SOUTH OF SCHUYLER TO NEAR WINGINA TO NEAR NEW GLASGOW...MOVING TO
THE SOUTHEAST AT 50 MPH.
* PEA SIZE HAIL AND WIND GUSTS UP TO 40 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THESE
STORMS.
* LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
CLIFFORD...
DILLWYN...
SHEPPARDS...
NEW GLASGOW...
AND BUCKINGHAM.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
DO NOT STAY IN THE OPEN OR SHELTER UNDER TREES WHEN LIGHTNING
THREATENS. SEEK SHELTER INSIDE A STURDY BUILDING OR IN A VEHICLE.
&&
LAT...LON 3734 7846 3733 7852 3737 7858 3740 7859
3738 7863 3742 7864 3743 7868 3755 7882
3756 7886 3753 7889 3768 7908 3766 7896
3754 7889 3760 7881 3763 7882 3764 7872
3770 7869 3768 7865 3774 7864 3756 7830
TIME...MOT...LOC 2216Z 308DEG 44KT 3770 7867 3759 7872 3764 7894
RABPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
625 PM EDT MON MAY 11 2015
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0624 PM HAIL INDEPENDENCE 36.62N 81.15W
05/11/2015 E0.25 INCH GRAYSON VA TRAINED SPOTTER
&&
BDThe Roanoke radar (KFCX), 96 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:31 UTC.
1 flash flood, 1 debris flow. Local standard time, as filed.
Big Ridge Road was flooded by waters from South Fork Elk Creek.
The Sheriff's office reported a mudslide that closed a portion of Peach Bottom Road. Location is approximate.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Virginia in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Virginia, May 2015
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: 569609, 569611.