Virginia, 2019

Winter Weather in Virginia, January 29, 2019

January 29, 2019 · NWS LWX · 12 events in 12 counties and zones

A strong surface cold front crossed the region from west to east on January 29th. As it did so, a wave of low pressure developed along the frontal boundary over southwestern Virginia and moved northeastward to a position near Philadelphia by the evening of the 29th.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 11 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
1
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
12

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.

A strong surface cold front crossed the region from west to east on January 29th. As it did so, a wave of low pressure developed along the frontal boundary over southwestern Virginia and moved northeastward to a position near Philadelphia by the evening of the 29th. This led to a rain and snow mix developing ahead of the cold front, but changing over to all snow following the frontal passage. In general, 1 to 3 inches of snow were observed across northern Virginia, with less amounts south and west.

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 29, 9:40 AM EST, 2 hours 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 29, 9:40 AM EST, 2 hours 20 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>
Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 29, 5:00 AM EST, 7 hours before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jan 29, 8:38 AM EST, 3 hours 22 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>
Local storm report, Jan 29, 11:08 AM EST, 52 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>
Local storm report, Jan 29, 11:10 AM EST, 50 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>
Local storm report, Jan 29, 11:13 AM EST, 47 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

12 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Weather, Western Loudoun

When
January 29, 12:00 PM EST to 7:00 PM EST
Where
Western Loudoun forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
39.091, -77.636 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Snowfall amounts of 2 to 3 inches were observed across western Loudoun County, with 3.0 inches reported near Purcellville.

Winter Weather, Eastern Loudoun

When
January 29, 12:00 PM EST to 7:00 PM EST
Where
Eastern Loudoun forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
39.091, -77.636 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Snowfall amounts of 2 to 3 inches were observed across eastern Loudoun County, with 3.0 inches reported near Ashburn.

Winter Weather, Fairfax

When
January 29, 12:00 PM EST to 7:00 PM EST
Where
Fairfax forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
38.841, -77.291 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Snowfall amounts of 2 to 3 inches were observed across Fairfax County, with 3.0 inches reported near Vienna.

Winter Weather, Northern Fauquier

When
January 29, 12:00 PM EST to 7:00 PM EST
Where
Northern Fauquier forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
38.739, -77.809 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Snowfall amounts of 2 to 3 inches were observed across northern Fauquier County.

Winter Weather, Southern Fauquier

When
January 29, 12:00 PM EST to 7:00 PM EST
Where
Southern Fauquier forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
38.739, -77.809 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Snowfall amounts of 1 to 3 inches were observed across southern Fauquier County.

Winter Weather, Prince William

When
January 29, 12:00 PM EST to 7:00 PM EST
Where
Prince William forecast zone
Deaths
0 direct, 1 indirect
Reported by
Trained Spotter

Snowfall amounts of 1 to 3 inches were observed across Prince William County, with 2.5 inches reported near Sudley. An indirect fatality occurred when a 22-year old man from Woodbridge, VA was killed in a single-vehicle crash on Sowego Road. Snow caused many roads across Prince William County to become slick and treacherous.

Winter Weather, Frederick

When
January 29, 12:00 PM EST to 7:00 PM EST
Where
Frederick forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
39.195, -78.213 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Snowfall amounts of 1 to 3 inches were observed across Frederick County, with 2.5 inches reported near Winchester.

Winter Weather, Warren

When
January 29, 12:00 PM EST to 7:00 PM EST
Where
Warren forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
38.909, -78.207 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Snowfall amounts of 1 to 3 inches were observed across Warren County, with 2.0 inches reported near Front Royal.

Winter Weather, Shenandoah

When
January 29, 12:00 PM EST to 7:00 PM EST
Where
Shenandoah forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
38.858, -78.571 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Snowfall amounts of 1 to 3 inches were observed across Shenandoah County, with 2.5 inches reported near Toms Brook.

Winter Weather, Clarke

When
January 29, 12:00 PM EST to 7:00 PM EST
Where
Clarke forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
39.112, -77.997 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Snowfall amounts of 1 to 3 inches were observed across Clarke County.

Winter Weather, Northern Virginia Blue Ridge

When
January 29, 12:00 PM EST to 7:00 PM EST
Where
Northern Virginia Blue Ridge forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
38.573, -78.412 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Snowfall amounts of 2 to 3 inches were observed across the northern Virginia Blue Ridge, with 3.0 inches measured near Panorama.

Winter Weather, Page

When
January 29, 12:00 PM EST to 7:00 PM EST
Where
Page forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
38.620, -78.484 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Snowfall amounts of 1 to 3 inches were observed across Page County, with 3.0 inches measured near Luray.

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

EventDateAgeSexWhereKind
Winter Weather, Prince William2019-01-2922MaleVehicle/Towed TrailerIndirect

What these are

Winter Weather
Snow, sleet or freezing rain below warning levels that still caused disruption, damage or casualties.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Virginia in 2019Every state in 2019This day in weather historyWarnings in Virginia, January 2019

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 801728, 801729, 801730, 801731, 801732, 801733, 801734, 801735, 801736, 801737, 801738, 801739.