After a brief recovery period from overnight convection, scattered showers and storms formed across the higher elevations of Virginia and West Virginia on May 11th thanks to a quasi-stationary boundary. A few of these storms became severe as they impacted portions of the Roanoke Valley east into the Virginia Piedmont.
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.
After a brief recovery period from overnight convection, scattered showers and storms formed across the higher elevations of Virginia and West Virginia on May 11th thanks to a quasi-stationary boundary. A few of these storms became severe as they impacted portions of the Roanoke Valley east into the Virginia Piedmont. Large hail and wind damage were reported with the strongest storms that did form.
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, 12:36 PM EST, 2 hours earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Blacksburg VA 136 PM EDT WED MAY 11 2016 .SYNOPSIS... A stationary front will remain overhead for this afternoon through Thursday, which will continue to be the focus for scattered showers and thunderstorms. A cold front should sweep through the Mid Atlantic on Friday. Much cooler air will arrive for the upcoming weekend. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... As of 1200 PM EDT Wednesday... A decaying mesoscale convective system moved through the area this morning. This situation has created a much more stable atmosphere, which will make convective development more difficult to achieve. Thus, chances of thunder were delayed until the late afternoon and evening for any possible redevelopment. The latest HRRR model still does not show much coverage, but enough destabilization to the west where the skies have cleared could be the area to watch. Another large temperature gradient should likely be in place due to the stationary front overhead. For tonight, models are all over the place with respect to potential precipitation. Some of the models indicate nothing versus others entertaining the idea of more upstream showers/storms moving into the area along the stationary frontal boundary. Since this turned out to the the case last night, at least a chance threat was maintained for showers tonight. At the very least, if showers do not materialize, it will be a moist night with areas of fog and drizzle due to low-level stratus that would likely develop and get lifted up against the east side of the mountains from the shallow easterly low-level wind. && .SHORT TERM /THURSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/... As of 330 AM EDT Wednesday... A stationary front will remain over the area through Thursday night. This front will continue to be a focus for scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms. Storms on Thursday afternoon may gel into a line with a few becoming strong to severe. Confidence is low on severe potential as front is lacking jet dynamics. However, breaks in the clouds, especially across the south, will increase instabilities. Convection on Thursday afternoon will help maintain relatively cool wedge on the east side of the mountains through Thursday night. A strong cold front will approach from the west early Friday morning. With the front coming in during the morning and pushing the wedge east, the atmosphere should remain stable enough for mainly rain showers. Models move the front east of the Piedmont by Friday afternoon. Another front will slide across the region on Saturday. Light rain showers are possible over the mountains during Saturday afternoon. Temperatures will remain warmer than normal until the third front crosses the region on Saturday. Generally, one can expect temperatures in the west to range in the 70s with low to mid 80s east. && .LONG TERM /SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY/... As of 330 PM EDT Tuesday... The upper level pattern will remain progressive as it becomes quasi-zonal through early next week. Sunday looks to be mostly dry with high pressure at the surface, but a frontal boundary will once again sag into the region from the north and linger through the early part of next week. This looks to keep a chance for some showers in our forecast for Sunday night through Monday. A better chance for precipitation exists by Tuesday as developing low pressure moves out of the lower Mississippi valley. Temperatures look to remain a few degrees below normal through this period. && .AVIATION /18Z WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY/... As of 135 PM EDT Wednesday... A stationary front continues to linger over the Mid Atlantic. Ceilings still remain at MVFR for KLYH/KDAN. Elsewhere, enough clearing has allowed conditions to reach VFR. With this frontal boundary still overhead, it shall continue to spark scattered showers and thunderstorms if the atmosphere becomes unstable. However, there is still not enough confidence to pinpoint locations where convection will eventually track later this evening, so just VCTS was kept for all TAF sites. With recent rainfall and a wet ground, fog and drizzle appear likely to form again tonight. Confidence is quite high that ceilings should lower to IFR/LIFR for all sites except KBLF, which could potentially not drop all the way down to those levels. Recovery from these low ceilings will take most of Thursday morning, and some scattered showers from remnant upstream convection could arrive west of the Blue Ridge during this time. EXTENDED DISCUSSION... More showers and thunderstorms are possible for Thursday. Periods of drizzle, fog, and low ceilings are likely again on Thursday night. By Friday, a cold front should cross over the Mid Atlantic. A much cooler air mass should arrive behind this frontal passage for the upcoming weekend. Scattered showers and MVFR ceilings are possible in the mountains on Saturday, but all sites should be VFR for Sunday and Monday as high pressure builds overhead. && .RNK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... VA...None. NC...None. WV...None. && SYNOPSIS...PW NEAR TERM...PM/PW SHORT TERM...RCS LONG TERM...MBS AVIATION...PW
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA 311 PM EDT WED MAY 11 2016 NCZ001>006-018>020-VAZ007-009>020-022>024-032>035-043>047-058-059- WVZ042>044-507-508-121915- 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- 311 PM EDT WED MAY 11 2016 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. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE LATER THIS EVENING INTO TONIGHT. THERE IS A MARGINAL RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER. LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS ARE THE MAIN THREATS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY. THERE IS A LOW PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. PW
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
953 AM EDT WED MAY 11 2016
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0645 PM HAIL 1 NE BOONSBORO 37.46N 79.25W
05/10/2016 E1.00 INCH BEDFORD VA PUBLIC
QUARTER SIZE HAIL NEAR BOONSBORO COUNTRY CLUB
&&
FISHERSPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA 317 PM EDT WED MAY 11 2016 VAZ018-022-023-034-112015- CRAIG-ROANOKE-BOTETOURT-BEDFORD- 317 PM EDT WED MAY 11 2016 ...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT SOUTHEASTERN CRAIG...NORTHERN ROANOKE...CITY OF ROANOKE... SOUTHWESTERN BOTETOURT AND WEST CENTRAL BEDFORD COUNTIES... AT 316 PM EDT...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS OVER HOLLINS...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 20 MPH. WINDS IN EXCESS OF 30 MPH AND PEA SIZE HAIL ARE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM. LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE... ROANOKE... SALEM... VINTON... BEDFORD... AND STEWARTSVILLE. THIS INCLUDES ROANOKE REGIONAL AIRPORT. TORRENTIAL RAINFALL IS ALSO OCCURRING WITH THIS STORM...AND MAY CAUSE LOCALIZED FLOODING. DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE THROUGH FLOODED ROADWAYS. LAT...LON 3739 8026 3745 8022 3735 7953 3718 7963 TIME...MOT...LOC 1916Z 293DEG 19KT 3735 7997 KK
The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 43 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:33 UTC.
6 thunderstorm wind, 5 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Thunderstorm winds downed a few trees along Williamson Road.
A severe thunderstorm produced quarter sized hail and downed a large tree along Finney Road.
Thunderstorm winds resulted in the toppling and snapping of numerous trees along a hillside east of Roanoke City. Damage caused by strong straight-line winds.
Thunderstorm winds downed a tree along Coopers Cove Road.
Thunderstorm winds downed a tree along Edwardsville Road.
Thunderstorm winds brought down a tree along Booker T Washington Highway.
Hail covered the ground, and was several inches deep in some spots. Largest stone was estimated to be the size of a nickel.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Virginia in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Virginia, May 2016
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: 639512, 639509, 639510, 639507, 639513, 639516, 639500, 639514, 639501, 639506, 639499.