Flash Flood — Waynesboro (c), Virginia

1999-09-09 · near Waynesboro, Waynesboro (c), Virginia

Event narrative

Small streams out of banks, Kirby Avenue and A Street flooded

Wider weather episode

A round of thunderstorms producing damaging winds, hail, and very heavy rainfall moved across Northern Virginia between 2:30 PM and 9:00 PM EDT. The city of Waynesboro reported downed trees and power lines after winds between 50 and 60 MPH moved through. A quick 1.79 inches of rain flooded many roads including Kirby and A Streets, and sent small creeks out of their banks. Nelson County reported a long period of stormy weather. Pea to dime sized hail fell on Afton Mountain between 2:45 PM and 2:50 PM EDT. Heavy rains fell across the remainder of the county for the following two hours, flooding roadways and causing a mudslide that blocked Highway 29 near Route 617. Streets were flooded in Lovingston and Faber. A gauge at Rockfish recorded 1.77 inches of rain in 60 minutes, and another gauge 10 miles south of Schuyler reported a total of 2.44 inches. High winds also knocked down a number of trees and power lines across Nelson County. Albemarle County reported 227 power outages after high winds downed trees onto power lines in the Free Union area. Heavy rain also pounded the county, flooding roads between Charlottesville and Afton Mountain. In Greene County, the North Fork of the Rivana River swelled out of its banks. High winds across Madison County downed several trees between 6:15 PM and 6:30 PM EDT. The city of Madison received 2.59 inches of rain, and a gauge northwest of town on the edge of Shenandoah National Park reported 1.93 inches. In Culpeper County, several streets in the city of Culpeper flooded. The city of Sperryville in Rappahannock County also reported flooded roadways. Castleton reported 2.2 inches of rain and Massie's Corner reported 1.52 inches. Nearby in Front Royal, 2.38 inches fell. In Loudoun County, city streets were flooded in Leesburg and Arcola. Dulles International Airport received a total of 1.33 inches. The community of Arcola was also hit by 50 to 60 MPH winds which downed trees onto Route 621 and 659. Fairfax County also reported high winds which downed trees between McLean and the city of Fairfax.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5717954. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.