A slow moving upper level trough moving through the area, combined with weak steering flow aloft, and ample heat and humidity allowed for numerous slow-moving severe thunderstorms to develop across Virginia, bringing large and damaging hail and severe wind gusts. A barn was destroyed by severe wind, lightning caused an apartment fire and hail up to two inches in diameter fell in Roanoke City…
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.
A slow moving upper level trough moving through the area, combined with weak steering flow aloft, and ample heat and humidity allowed for numerous slow-moving severe thunderstorms to develop across Virginia, bringing large and damaging hail and severe wind gusts. A barn was destroyed by severe wind, lightning caused an apartment fire and hail up to two inches in diameter fell in Roanoke City resulted in thousands of dollars in damage across Virginia. In addition, very heavy rainfall occurred especially in parts of northeast Bedford County and the City of Lynchburg where 3 to 4 inches of rain fell in several hours causing some flash flooding.
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 1, 6:37 AM EST, 23 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Blacksburg VA 737 AM EDT Thu Aug 1 2019 .SYNOPSIS... Little change in the weather pattern is expected through Saturday. An old frontal boundary will combine with upper level disturbances to keep showers and thunderstorms with heavy rainfall in the forecast. The boundary will continue to weaken and erode Sunday through Tuesday. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... As of 310 AM EDT Thursday... Will be using persistence as the starting point for the forecast for today and tonight as synoptic pattern and air mass is not changing during this time frame. A few differences from Wednesday. First, starting off with less cloud cover this morning so maximum temperatures will be warmer than on Wednesday. Next, a stalled, weak boundary may provide some low level convergence, but better coverage of thunderstorms this afternoon and evening may be with a weak short wave in southern Ohio that crosses into Virginia. Will still have some relatively cooler mid level temperatures today leading to larger lapse rates. Hazardous weather outlook will continue to highlight localized threat of strong to severe storms and very heavy rain. Will have highest probability of precipitation after 18Z/2PM and will continue chance in the piedmont through midnight. Fog had filled in the typical valleys mainly west of the Blue Ridge early this morning. Fog will burn off by 9AM, but until then visibility over western rivers and lakes will be limited. && .SHORT TERM /FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT/... As of 230 AM EDT Thursday... This portion of the forecast still is expected to be on the wet side thanks to a slowly moving upper level trough across the area with plenty of moisture making its way into the region from off the coast of the Carolinas. The combination of the two will yield daily good chances of showers and storms with little in the way of a steering flow. This will yield the potential for heavy rain producing showers and storms, especially during the Friday and Saturday time periods. Sunday into Sunday night is a bit more questionable. Guidance offers more variability as to the position of this upper trough, with some solutions having as much potential for precipitation across the area on Sunday as compared to Saturday. Others shift the axis of the trough farther southeast of the region, thus likewise with the location of the best precipitation chances and amounts. Our forecast for Sunday and Sunday night will reflect an average of the two extremes. High temperatures during this time period are expected to average a few degrees below normal with low temperatures averaging a few degrees above normal. Confidence in this portion of the forecast is moderate. The greatest challenge is the forecast of day-to-day locations of the heaviest rainfall, its location, and any potential for flooding that may incur from it. && .LONG TERM /MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... As of 345 PM EDT Wednesday... Little to no change in the overall synoptic pattern across the U.S. is expected during the longer range periods. A massive hot upper ridge will dominate the western U.S. with general and broad troughing in the east. A weak frontal boundary separating true tropical air from semi-tropical air will likely linger through the weekend and into early next week across the TN Valley and into the Carolinas. The flow aloft will be northwest and a series of weak disturbances will likely traverse the flow and enhance convection from time-to-time. Given the warm, moist, atmosphere remaining in place across the region, development of showers and a few thunderstorms will be easy to come by. As the upper trough axis drifts a bit further east next week, the coverage of convection should decrease a bit, but remain in the chance to high chance category as literally no change in the air mass or overall synoptic pattern is expected. The main concern going into the weekend and early next week will be the growing threat for heavy rain and localized flooding. With tropical moisture or at least semi-tropical moisture in place and weak steering currents, thunderstorms/showers will be efficient rain producers and areas that see repeated rainfall day-after-day or where thunderstorms persist over a short period of time, could trigger localized flooding. Little change in temperature is expected during the period as well with low temperatures in the 60s west to the 70s east with high temperatures held mainly into the 70s mountains and 80s Piedmont. Humidity levels will be high, so it will basically feel pretty muggy. && .AVIATION /12Z THURSDAY THROUGH MONDAY/... As of 735 AM EDT Thursday... Fog had developed in the typical valleys of the central Appalachians as seen on satellite images. The fog will dissipate and conditions will improve back to VFR between 13-14Z/9-10AM. Thunderstorms will fire once today with showers developing by midday, leading to deeper convection during the afternoon. Winds near thunderstorms will be variable and gusty. Heavy rain will result in MVFR visibility. Surface and low level winds tonight will be less than 10 knots but generally out of the east to southeast. This may form stratus along the east slopes of the Blue Ridge so have included MVFR to IFR clouds in KROA and KLYH late tonight. Confidence above average for ceiling, visibility and wind today. Confidence average for the timing and location of thunderstorms this afternoon and evening. Confidence is below average reguarding the formation of low clouds tonight. .Extended Aviation Discussion... A weak boundary will remain close to the region through Saturday. Scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms with periods of sub-VFR ceilings can be expected through Sunday or Monday with coverage becoming less by early next week. This pattern will also result in MVFR or lower clouds and MVFR fog due to moist low levels, especially at night. && .RNK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... VA...None. NC...None. WV...None. && SYNOPSIS...AMS NEAR TERM...AMS SHORT TERM...DS LONG TERM...RAB AVIATION...AMS/JH
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Blacksburg VA 456 AM EDT Thu Aug 1 2019 NCZ001>006-018>020-VAZ007-009>020-022>024-032>035-043>047-058-059- WVZ042>044-507-508-020900- 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- 456 AM EDT Thu Aug 1 2019 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...Today and tonight. Scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms may produce locally heavy rainfall this afternoon until late this evening. Localized flooding is possible. A few of the more intense storms may be strong to severe, with the primary threat damaging wind. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Friday through Wednesday. Scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms are expected both Friday and Saturday. The main hazard will be locally heavy rainfall. The repeated may result in localized flooding. A few storms could also be strong to severe, with the primary threat damaging wind. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not expected at this time.
Special Weather Statement National Weather Service Blacksburg VA 632 AM EDT Thu Aug 1 2019 NCZ001-002-018-VAZ007-009>020-022>024-WVZ042>044-507-508-011315- Ashe-Alleghany NC-Watauga-Tazewell-Smyth-Bland-Giles-Wythe- Pulaski-Montgomery-Grayson-Carroll-Floyd-Craig-Alleghany VA-Bath- Roanoke-Botetourt-Rockbridge-Mercer-Summers-Monroe- Eastern Greenbrier-Western Greenbrier- Including the cities of West Jefferson, Sparta, Boone, Tazewell, Marion, Bland, Pearisburg, Wytheville, Radford, Pulaski, Blacksburg, Independence, Whitetop, Troutdale, Volney, Galax, Floyd, New Castle, Clifton Forge, Covington, Hot Springs, Roanoke, Salem, Fincastle, Lexington, Buena Vista, Bluefield, Flat Top, Hinton, Hix, Union, Lewisburg, White Sulphur Springs, Alderson, Quinwood, Duo, and Rainelle 632 AM EDT Thu Aug 1 2019 ...Areas Of Fog This Morning... Fog filled many of the western river valleys this morning, including along the New and Greenbrier Rivers. Visibility ranged from a few miles to less than one half mile. Use caution and allow some extra time when traveling this morning. Plan on rapid changes in visibility, including along Route 460 and Interstate 77. The fog is expected to lift by 9AM.
The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 104 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 11:55 UTC.
9 thunderstorm wind, 4 hail, 3 heavy rain, 1 lightning, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
CoCoRaHS observer (VA-LYC-1) reported 3.50 inches in 24 hours, most of which fell in several hours during the evening of August 1st.
Large and damaging hail up to two inches in diameter fell across portions of southwest Roanoke City, including Grandin Court. Some cars were damaged by the hail.
A couple of trees were blown down by severe thunderstorm winds in western Floyd County.
Close to a dozen trees were blown down by severe thunderstorm winds near the town of Simmonsville.
A few trees were blown down by severe thunderstorm winds near the intersection of Cumberland Gap Road and Mountain Side Drive.
A tree was blown down by severe thunderstorm winds blocking both lanes of Meeks Road near the Virginia and North Carolina state line.
A lightning strike struck an apartment complex, caused a fire, and resulted in fire damage to a 12-unit apartment structure in Danville City. In addition to the structure fire, another lightning strike struck a tree a few blocks from the apartment fire. This caused the tree to fall apart and crush a car and take down power lines.
A CoCoRaHS observer (VA-LYC-4) in Lynchburg reported 4.10 inches in 2.5 hours that fell from 715 to 945 PM local time (EDT). According to the observer the creek behind their house was the highest seen in 32 years. Per NOAA Atlas 14, the 4.10 inches in 2.5 hours is roughly a 200-year rain event (.005 annual chance occurrence).
One large tree limb was blown down by severe thunderstorm winds along U.S. 60 in northern Rockbridge County.
A CoCoRaHS observer (VA-AH-5) reported 2.70 inches of rain in several hours with the heaviest falling in 45 minutes.
Multiple large tree branches were blown down by severe thunderstorm winds in the 300 block of Summit Street in Lexington.
A few trees were blown down by severe thunderstorm winds along Cedar Gate Road and High Peak Road.In addition, a barn was destroyed and a car was flipped over in this area.
A few trees and power lines blown down by severe thunderstorm winds in Lynchburg City.
There were numerous reports of flash flooding around Lynchburg as 3 to 4 inches of rain fell in a few hours during the late evening. A tributary of Blackwater creek flooded a portion of Greenwood Drive, near Sandusky Drive and a tributary to Tomahawk Creek flooded, but did not affect any homes. A culvert under a portion of Lake Vista Drive in Forest collapsed due to the heavy runoff and was repaired by VDOT. Vehicles were reported to be stuck in water at 1200 Wythe Road and in the 3900 block of Old Forest Rd. Several other roads were reported to have flooded including Fort Avenue Drive and McConville Rd.
Several tree tops were snapped off by severe thunderstorm winds.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Virginia in 2019Every state in 2019This day in weather historyWarnings in Virginia, August 2019
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: 851659, 848261, 848260, 848259, 848262, 848264, 848265, 848267, 848270, 848287, 851658, 848272, 851660, 848274, 848277, 848275, 851666, 848284.