Late afternoon storms dropped 2 to 3 inches of rain in a few hours which led some flash flooding in Princeton and near Athens.
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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.
Late afternoon storms dropped 2 to 3 inches of rain in a few hours which led some flash flooding in Princeton and near Athens.
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 Aug 30, 3:45 AM EST, 3 hours 15 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Blacksburg VA 445 AM EDT Thu Aug 30 2018 .SYNOPSIS... High pressure is centered along the southeast Atlantic Coast. A cold front extends from New England to Oklahoma, bisecting the Ohio and Mid Mississippi Valleys. This front is forecast to weaken as it approaches the Mid-Atlantic Region today and Friday, with little or no change in airmass expected for our region. Convergence along the front will aid in the development of scattered showers to numerous showers and thunderstorms. For the Labor Day weekend, the front will dissipate as High Pressure along the southeast Atlantic Coast dominates the weather pattern going into the first full week of September. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... As of 400 AM EDT Thursday... Subtropical ridge of high pressure will remain in place over the southeastern United States, blocking the advancement of any change in airmass for our region. Cold front which moved across the Great lakes yesterday, stretches from NY-OH-OK, but is loosing its southward momentum and will likely wash-out prior to reaching our forecast area. It will however, result in higher chances for measurable rainfall today and Friday as it will provide a boundary for scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms, especially for areas closer to the front. Greatest potential today appears to be from WV into VA where strong heating will lead to MUCAPE of around 2000 J/Kg. Lee trof east of the mountains will bisect the front over northern and central VA, and this is where greatest convergence and pooling of higher theta-e airmass will also occur. Winds aloft remain weak, but with strong surface heating and inverted-V environmental profiles, cold pool from developing storms may allow for storm clusters and better organization. Model guidance suggest storms today will begin over WV, then migrate southeastward, possibly producing strong to locally damaging outflow winds. Attm, threat appears to be marginal, the very warm temperatures aloft and near neutral mid level lapse rates limiting the strength of the thermal profiles. For tonight, loss of daytime heating will bring demise to shower/storm activity with debris cloudiness limiting fog formation. Pending progression of any storm activity during the day, there may be a wind shift from thunderstorm outflow, favoring some sort of northerly component overnight, but light. The 850 mb winds maintain a westerly component, so other than potential rain cooled air, no change in airmass will take place... thus yielding another muggy night with high elevated dewpoints. Temperatures will test the lower 90s again today for areas along and east of the Blue Ridge with 80s in the mountains and mountain valleys. Combine that with dewpoints near 70 and the heat indices will range from near the century mark in the piedmont to near 90 in the mountains. && .SHORT TERM /FRIDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT/... As of 330 AM EDT Thursday... An upper level ridge will remain off the Southeast Coast through Saturday night. Surface front or convergence boundary drops south and weakens Friday into Friday night. Scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms will develop Friday afternoon into Friday night. There will be limited instability and little to no shear for the convection. The Day Two Convective Outlook keeps our forecast are in general thunderstorms. High temperatures on Friday will climb into the mid 70s in the mountains to the upper 80s to around 90 degrees in the piedmont. Mostly cloudy conditions with a few showers are expected for Friday night. Low temperatures Friday night into Saturday morning will generally be from the upper 50s in the west to around 70 degrees in the east. A few weak mid level shortwaves rotating around the ridge will create scattered diurnal showers and thunderstorms Saturday afternoon into Saturday night. High temperatures on Saturday will vary from the mid 70s in the mountains to the the upper 80s in the piedmont. Isolated showers may persist in the east Saturday night under variable cloudiness. Low temperatures will drop into the lower 60s in the west to the upper 60s in the east. Confidence was average for all elements. && .LONG TERM /SUNDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... As of 100 PM EDT Wednesday... 500MB pattern Sunday through Wednesday features an active northern jet stream and a modestly amplified western U.S. trough and eastern ridge. By Tuesday morning 500MB heights are just over two standard deviations above normal over the Mid-Atlantic region. The area will be under the 850MB and surface highs with the best Gulf and Atlantic inflow of moisture west and south of the region. No forcing or synoptic scale features to trigger precipitation so will keep probability of showers and thunderstorms in the slight chance to chance range for each afternoon and evening. Little to no change in air mass is expected through the period. Still muggy each night and humid each day. Highs will be roughly 5 to 10 degrees above normal, and lows 10 to 15 degrees above normal. Confidence was average for all elements. && .AVIATION /08Z THURSDAY THROUGH MONDAY/... As of 430 AM EDT Thursday... Medium/high confidence in forecast trends this period. VFR conditions will continue to prevail across the vast majority of the region during most of the 24 hour TAF valid period. Proximity of frontal boundary will result in better coverage of showers/storms this afternoon and evening, so will have VCTS in most of the terminals for the afternoon...esp across WV/VA. As has been the past couple of nights, early morning IFR/LIFR in the mountain valleys is possible, but debris cloudiness from the frontal boundary should help mitigate any widespread fog potential. Extended Discussion... For Friday, the area will see a repeat round of showers and storms as a cold front moves into the area from the Ohio Valley. This front is expected to dissipate over the area this weekend as high pressure remains anchored along the southeast Atlantic Coast. The general idea is this will be a more active period of the forecast with greater opportunity for variable/gusty winds, and areas of sub-VFR conditions. Once the front dissipates we will return to a more typical pattern with any shower/thundershower threats tied to the diurnal cycle, peak heating part of the day, and cloud-buildups initiating over the higher terrain. && .RNK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... VA...None. NC...None. WV...None. && SYNOPSIS...PM NEAR TERM...PM SHORT TERM...KK LONG TERM...AMS AVIATION...PM
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Blacksburg VA 507 AM EDT Thu Aug 30 2018 NCZ001>006-018>020-310915- Ashe-Alleghany NC-Surry-Stokes-Rockingham-Caswell-Watauga-Wilkes- Yadkin- 507 AM EDT Thu Aug 30 2018 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for north central North Carolina and northwest North Carolina. .DAY ONE...Today and tonight. The probability for widespread hazardous weather is low. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Friday through Wednesday. The probability for widespread hazardous weather is low. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not expected at this time. VAZ007-009>020-022>024-032>035-043>047-058-059-WVZ042>044-507-508- 310915- 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- 507 AM EDT Thu Aug 30 2018 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for central Virginia, south central Virginia, southwest Virginia, west central Virginia and southeast West Virginia. .DAY ONE...Today and tonight. Scattered thunderstorms this afternoon. The severe threat is limited, with the probability of anything severe within 25 miles of a point to be less than 15 percent. Greatest thunderstorm coverage is expected between 200 PM and 800 PM. Severe threat, albeit marginal, would be from a damaging wind gust. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Friday through Wednesday. The probability for widespread hazardous weather is low. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not expected at this time.
The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 87 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 12:00 UTC.
2 flash flood, 1 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.
The COOP observer at Bluestone Dam recorded 1.90 inches for the 24 hours ending at 7 AM on the 31st of August, the highest ever for the date and 6th highest in the month of August.
Several roads were flooded in the Athens area.
County dispatch reported flooded roads in Princeton including portions of Stafford Drive and Kirk Road.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in West Virginia in 2018Every state in 2018This day in weather historyWarnings in West Virginia, August 2018
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: 780498, 780504, 780499.