Virginia, 2018

Extreme Cold and Cold in Virginia, January 4 to 6, 2018

January 4 to 6, 2018 · NWS LWX · 26 events in 22 counties and zones

Arctic air and gusty winds caused low wind chills to develop.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 25 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
26

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS LWX wrote it up.

Arctic air and gusty winds caused low wind chills to develop.

What forecasters said that day

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 Jan 4, 3:36 AM EST, 1 hour 24 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 4, 3:36 AM EST, 1 hour 24 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 4, 3:56 AM EST, 1 hour 4 minutes before
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In the hours before

Local storm report, Jan 4, 12:34 AM EST, 4 hours 26 minutes before
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Local storm report, Jan 4, 1:12 AM EST, 3 hours 48 minutes before
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Local storm report, Jan 4, 1:14 AM EST, 3 hours 46 minutes before
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Local storm report, Jan 4, 1:22 AM EST, 3 hours 38 minutes before
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Local storm report, Jan 4, 1:58 AM EST, 3 hours 2 minutes before
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Local storm report, Jan 4, 4:55 AM EST, 5 minutes before
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The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

22 cold/wind chill, 4 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.

Cold/Wind Chill, Western Highland

When
January 4, 5:00 AM EST to January 5, 2:00 AM EST
Where
Western Highland forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS
Coordinates
38.362, -79.568 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chill values were around -10 to -25 degrees.

Cold/Wind Chill, Northern Virginia Blue Ridge

When
January 4, 5:00 AM EST to January 5, 2:00 AM EST
Where
Northern Virginia Blue Ridge forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS
Coordinates
38.573, -78.412 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chill values were around -10 to -25 degrees.

Cold/Wind Chill, Central Virginia Blue Ridge

When
January 4, 5:00 AM EST to January 5, 2:00 AM EST
Where
Central Virginia Blue Ridge forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS
Coordinates
37.879, -79.034 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chill values were around -10 to -25 degrees.

Cold/Wind Chill, Eastern Highland

When
January 4, 5:00 AM EST to January 5, 2:00 AM EST
Where
Eastern Highland forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS
Coordinates
38.362, -79.568 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chill values were around -10 to -25 degrees.

Cold/Wind Chill, Prince William

When
January 5, 12:00 AM EST to 10:00 AM EST
Where
Prince William forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS

Wind chill were between -5 and -15 degrees.

Cold/Wind Chill, Fairfax

When
January 5, 12:00 AM EST to 10:00 AM EST
Where
Fairfax forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS
Coordinates
38.841, -77.291 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chill were between -5 and -15 degrees.

Cold/Wind Chill, Arlington

When
January 5, 12:00 AM EST to 10:00 AM EST
Where
Arlington forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS
Coordinates
38.855, -77.106 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chill were between -5 and -15 degrees.

Cold/Wind Chill, Southern Fauquier

When
January 5, 12:00 AM EST to 10:00 AM EST
Where
Southern Fauquier forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS
Coordinates
38.739, -77.809 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chill were between -5 and -15 degrees.

Cold/Wind Chill, Eastern Loudoun

When
January 5, 12:00 AM EST to 10:00 AM EST
Where
Eastern Loudoun forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS
Coordinates
39.091, -77.636 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chill were between -5 and -15 degrees.

Cold/Wind Chill, Greene

When
January 5, 12:00 AM EST to 10:00 AM EST
Where
Greene forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS
Coordinates
38.298, -78.467 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chill were between -5 and -15 degrees.

Cold/Wind Chill, Madison

When
January 5, 12:00 AM EST to 10:00 AM EST
Where
Madison forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS
Coordinates
38.414, -78.279 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chill were between -5 and -15 degrees.

Cold/Wind Chill, Rappahannock

When
January 5, 12:00 AM EST to 10:00 AM EST
Where
Rappahannock forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS
Coordinates
38.685, -78.159 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chill were between -5 and -15 degrees.

Cold/Wind Chill, Culpeper

When
January 5, 12:00 AM EST to 10:00 AM EST
Where
Culpeper forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS
Coordinates
38.486, -77.956 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chill were between -5 and -15 degrees.

Cold/Wind Chill, Augusta

When
January 5, 12:00 AM EST to 10:00 AM EST
Where
Augusta forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS
Coordinates
38.109, -78.974 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chill were between -10 and -20 degrees.

Cold/Wind Chill, Rockingham

When
January 5, 12:00 AM EST to 10:00 AM EST
Where
Rockingham forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS
Coordinates
38.481, -78.872 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chill were between -10 and -20 degrees.

Cold/Wind Chill, Shenandoah

When
January 5, 12:00 AM EST to 10:00 AM EST
Where
Shenandoah forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS
Coordinates
38.858, -78.571 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chill were between -10 and -20 degrees.

Cold/Wind Chill, Frederick

When
January 5, 12:00 AM EST to 10:00 AM EST
Where
Frederick forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS
Coordinates
39.195, -78.213 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chill were between -10 and -20 degrees.

Cold/Wind Chill, Page

When
January 5, 12:00 AM EST to 10:00 AM EST
Where
Page forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS
Coordinates
38.620, -78.484 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chill were between -10 and -20 degrees.

Cold/Wind Chill, Warren

When
January 5, 12:00 AM EST to 10:00 AM EST
Where
Warren forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS
Coordinates
38.909, -78.207 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chill were between -10 and -20 degrees.

Cold/Wind Chill, Clarke

When
January 5, 12:00 AM EST to 10:00 AM EST
Where
Clarke forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS
Coordinates
39.112, -77.997 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chill were between -10 and -20 degrees.

Cold/Wind Chill, Northern Fauquier

When
January 5, 12:00 AM EST to 10:00 AM EST
Where
Northern Fauquier forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS
Coordinates
38.739, -77.809 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chill were between -5 and -15 degrees.

Cold/Wind Chill, Western Loudoun

When
January 5, 12:00 AM EST to 10:00 AM EST
Where
Western Loudoun forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS
Coordinates
39.091, -77.636 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chill were between -5 and -15 degrees.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Western Highland

When
January 5, 2:00 AM EST to January 6, 8:00 AM EST
Where
Western Highland forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS
Coordinates
38.362, -79.568 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chills were around -20 to -30 degrees.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Northern Virginia Blue Ridge

When
January 5, 2:00 AM EST to January 6, 8:00 AM EST
Where
Northern Virginia Blue Ridge forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS
Coordinates
38.573, -78.412 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chills were around -20 to -30 degrees.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Central Virginia Blue Ridge

When
January 5, 2:00 AM EST to January 6, 8:00 AM EST
Where
Central Virginia Blue Ridge forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS
Coordinates
37.879, -79.034 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chills were around -20 to -30 degrees.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Eastern Highland

When
January 5, 2:00 AM EST to January 6, 8:00 AM EST
Where
Eastern Highland forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS
Coordinates
38.362, -79.568 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chills were around -20 to -30 degrees.

What these are

Cold/Wind Chill
Cold or wind chill below warning criteria that caused deaths, injuries or damage.
Extreme Cold/Wind Chill
Temperatures or wind chills at or below the local warning criteria, or cold that caused deaths.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Virginia in 2018Every state in 2018This day in weather historyWarnings in Virginia, January 2018

Sources

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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 737174, 737177, 737179, 737181, 737253, 737254, 737255, 737256, 737257, 737258, 737259, 737260, 737261, 737262, 737263, 737264, 737265, 737266, 737267, 737268, 737269, 737270, 737201, 737205, 737207, 737209.