Thunderstorm Wind — Stafford, Virginia

2019-04-15 · near Aquia, Stafford, Virginia

Event narrative

A tree fell onto a house on Doyle Place, injuring an 82 year old male and killing a 78 year old female who were asleep in the house at the time.

Wider weather episode

A warm front crossed central and northern Virginia from south to north during the morning hours of April 14th, allowing for increasing warm and moist air to move overhead. During the afternoon and evening, low pressure moved through the Ohio Valley and into the eastern Great Lakes, leading to an increase in the wind field across all levels and therefore an increase in deep layer shear. Instability remained somewhat limited, but was enough to produce showers and scattered thunderstorms during the afternoon and evening hours, some of which became severe. A second round of showers and thunderstorms then moved across central and northern Virginia as a strong cold front crossed the region during the late evening and overnight hours. These thunderstorms took the form of a quasi-linear convective system which became severe and produced locally damaging winds.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (38.4200, -77.3700)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 816762. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.