Flash Flood — Fairfax (c), Virginia

2008-09-06 · near Fairfax, Fairfax (c), Virginia

Event narrative

Route 123 southbound was closed near Route 50 due to flash flooding.

Wider weather episode

Tropical Storm Hanna tracked up the Mid-Atlantic coast on the 6th with maximum sustained winds around 50 mph. Hanna originally made landfall near the border of North and South Carolina around 3:20 AM on the 6th. Hanna tracked across eastern North Carolina during the early afternoon hours before turning northeast across southeastern Virginia later in the afternoon. Hanna eventually tracked across the Chesapeake Bay and into Delaware during the evening hours. With the track of Hanna being to the east, the strongest winds were also confined to our east. However, Hanna was still responsible for heavy rain along with Tropical Storm force winds across northern and central Virginia. Rainfall amounts totaled around 4 to 8 inches across many locations with locally higher amounts over 9 inches. Numerous roads were closed throughout northern and central Virginia due to flash flooding. Tropical Storm force winds were responsible for downed trees and power lines across northern and central Virginia as well. The worst conditions occurred during the late morning and afternoon hours as the storm passed by just to the east.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (38.8598, -77.3077)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 135846. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.