Top 5 Weather Events of 2013

At the surface, cold air was already in place, and lower humidity levels allowed temperatures drop further. Rain changed over to heavy, wet snow over the mountains. This heavy wet snow weighed down large limbs and power lines, which led to many power outages.  About 4 to 7" of snow was reported in some spots in the Piedmont. In the mountains, several locations had more than a foot of snow, including Princeton at 15 inches, and Creston at 14 inches.

Snow continued to fall until the main low pressure system reformed along the coast of the Carolinas and moved northeast, taking most of the precipitation with it.

Significant accumulations of heavy, wet snow fell across northern portions of the area, including 10" in Clifton Forge and Lexington, 12-17" in Bath County and 12" in extreme northern Rockbridge and Buckingham Counties. Between 6-8" of snow were common in parts of Greenbrier County. These areas experienced widespread power outages due to the heavy snow on limbs and power lines, which were also exasperated by wind gusts of 30-40 mph in some places.

This snow event had a large range of amounts over relatively small distances. This was caused in part by changes in elevation, but was also due to some heavier bands of snow which developed for much of the day on the 6th. Locations north of our area, especially along the Blue Ridge, picked up 20" or more.

Rain began around midday on the 30 ^th,  but was most intense during a 6 to 8 hour period in the evening along an axis from Roanoke County southwest to Watauga County. There were widespread reports of road closures and a number of water rescues.

The most serious flooding occurred in Watauga County, where rainfall of 4 to 6 inches pushed numerous streams out of their banks. Several swift water rescues were reported in and around the Boone area.

Significant flooding also occurred in Radford with flooded parking lots and cars, as well as Glen Lyn where several campgrounds and trailer parks along the New River flooded.

This event would be considered a very low-end derecho compared to the extreme event that impacted this region on June 29th, 2012, and based on some more stringent definitions in the scientific literature it may not fit all possible definitions. However, it certainly still had a significant impact on this region in terms of widespread straight-line wind damage to trees, power lines, homes, and vehicles with thousands of power outages.

There were two fatalities in North Carolina, either directly or indirectly caused by the winds.  Winds of 68 MPH were measured at Roanoke and three-quarters of a million dollars in damage occurred in Caswell County. In Rockingham County a half million dollars in damage was reported. In Campbell County damage was estimated around 200,000 dollars.

July 2013 was the wettest July on record at Roanoke (12.73 inches) and Danville (11.50 inches).  In Blacksburg, it was the third wettest July on record (7.78 inches). Frequent bouts of intense rain during the month cause several significant flooding and flash flooding events including:

July 3-4:  Five to eight inches of widespread rain fell on saturated grounds causing significant and record-breaking flooding. At the Walnut Creek gauge site in Roanoke the crest on the Roanoke River was the highest since 2004 and the first time this site has flooded in July since 1905. Evacuations took place in Salem and Roanoke. One person died as he was swept into Dry Creek near Salem. A second flood-related death occurred in Botetourt County when a man attempted to clear a blocked culvert and was swept away.

July 10 Flash Flood:  3.88 inches of rain fell at Roanoke, making it the most precipitation in one day in July on record. Twenty-one swift water rescues took place between 3:30 pm and 5:44 pm in northeast Roanoke.

July 11-12 Flash Flooding:  In Lynchburg, two to four inches of rain fell in a short period of time resulting in flooding of several roads. A few hours later, a water rescue was required on Afton Road north of Danville with 3-5" of rain fell. A car was stranded and a family rescued on White Falls Road. Another swift water rescue took place in Danville early on the 12th with five people rescued. Three additional people were rescued when a vehicle was trapped near Riverside Drive.