Portsmouth, Virginia
Hurricane Irene sent a few showers and dense fog on its extreme northern edges
as is moved northeast off the FL coast Saturday night (10/16). Clouds and
rainbands moved rapidly north from the weakened storm Sunday with rain beginning
in earnest during early morning. Showers and fog presisted throughout the
day and winds were generally light. By mid and late afternoon, rains became
moderate to heavy with 2.00" recorded between 5 and 6 PM EDT. Flooding followed
for most all secondary roads at this site with major highways affected later
in the evening Sunday (10/17) into early Monday (10/18).
Storm rainfall total was 10.07" with
7.82" falling on Sunday (10/17). This daily rainfall rate established
a NEW DAILY PRECIP RECORD (10/17) and established the ALLTIME DAILY PRECIP RECORD
at this site since records began on 7/1/76.
Rainfall across SE Virginia varied from 1-3" well inland (to the west and to the
north) to over 10" in a swath
from Norfolk south across Eastern Portsmouth and into Western Virginia Beach and
south through central Chesapeake. The usual, expected flash flood warnings were
verified as extensive flooding of flood prone areas was observed in many areas
where excessive rainfall fell. Waters ranging from 1/2 foot to up to 4 feet of
water covered many roadways in the areas where heaviest rainfall amounts were recorded.
Rainfalls between 3 and 6" were reported over the Peninsula area or northside
Hampton Roads.
Winds from the Hurricane locally were not noteworthy until Monday morning (10/18) when
gusts into the 30 MPH and 40 MPH range were observed. Highest sustained and
gusty winds remained to the east of the storm's center as it paralleled
the Southeast US coast but remained offshore late Sunday (10/17).
The lowest barometric pressure recorded here was 29.456" early Monday morning
(10/18) as the storm pulled E and NE of Cape Hatteras on its way to sea and well
to the SE of this site.
The storm moved across the western tip of Cuba, north-northeast crossing central
South Florida, then NNE paralleling the Florida coast, then NE offshore and
paralleling the South Carolina and North Carolina coasts. The storm was
barely minimum hurricane strength during that trekk until it moved well ENE of
Cape Hatteras and ESE of Virginia Beach, Virginia when it deepened with winds sustained
to 105 MPH and higher gusts to near 130 MPH. This sent some stronger backside
storm winds gusting to the 40 MPH range locally Monday morning.
A tornado touched down south of here in NE NC in the Weeksville community.
Here's a report from NWS Wakefield, VA:
During Sunday evening (10/18) a tornado warning was posted for portions of Southern
Chesapeake.
Station daily rainfall amounts associated with Irene:
0630 PM WEEKSVILLE NC TORNADO
10/17/99 PASQUOTANK *** 1 INJ ***
A STRONG F1...BORDERLINE F2 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN 1 MILE NORTH OF THE TOWN OF
WEEKSVILLE NEAR THE INTER SECTION OF TOXEY ROAD AND N.C. ROUTE 34. THE TORNADO
MOVED DUE NORTH FOR ABOUT 1/5 MILE WITH A PATH WIDTH OF 50 YARDS. 2 TRAILERS WERE
TOTALLY DESTROYED. 1 TRAILER WAS FLIPPED OVER AND ANOTHER SUSTAINED SOME DAMAGE. A
MODULAR HOME SUSTAINED SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE WITH SEVERAL VEHICLES IN THE FRONT
YARD TURNED 90 DEGREES. ONE VEHICLE WAS THROWN UP INTO A TREE AND WRAPPED PARTIALLY
AROUND THE TREE. A CINDERBLOCK BUILDING SUSTAINED A WALL FAILURE AND
A PARTIAL COLLAPSE OF THE ROOF. CLAY ROOFING TILES FROM THIS BUILDING WERE THROWN
100 YARDS FROM THE BUILDING. SEVERAL OTHER STRUCTURES SUSTAINED MINOR DAMAGE.
2 TREES...A PINE AND WILLOW TREE WERE COMPLETELY STRIPPED OF ALL BRANCHES.
IN ADDITION A REFRIGERATOR WAS CARRIED THE ENTIRE PATH LENGTH OF THE TORNADO AND
DEPOSITED IN THE FRONT YARD OF THE MODULAR HOME.
Sunday, 10/17 - 7.82"
Monday, 10/18 - 2.21"
Total - 10.07"
Note: File extends beyond right margin on smaller screens.
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TH Temp Wind Hi Low Hum Dew Wind Temp Hum Arc
Date Time Index Out Chill Temp Temp Out Pt. Speed Hi Dir Rain Barom In In Per
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10/16/99 11:00p 74.6 72.3 72.3 72.4 72.3 93 70.2 4.0 10.0 NNE 0.04 30.073 79.0 56 60
10/16/99 11:59p 74.6 72.1 72.1 72.3 71.8 93 70.0 0.0 5.0 NE 0.00 30.041 78.6 56 60
10/17/99 1:00a 74.8 71.5 71.5 71.9 71.4 94 69.7 0.0 6.0 NE 0.00 30.029 78.2 56 60
10/17/99 2:00a 74.8 71.6 71.6 71.7 71.4 94 69.8 0.0 4.0 NE 0.00 30.021 78.2 55 60
10/17/99 3:00a 75.0 71.6 71.6 71.7 71.5 95 70.1 0.0 6.0 NE 0.00 29.995 77.9 57 60
10/17/99 4:00a 75.0 71.5 71.5 71.6 71.3 95 70.0 0.0 5.0 NE 0.00 29.985 77.3 57 60
10/17/99 5:00a 75.4 71.5 71.5 71.6 71.4 97 70.6 0.0 7.0 NNE 0.00 29.973 77.0 58 60
10/17/99 6:00a 75.2 71.6 71.6 71.6 71.5 96 70.4 0.0 6.0 NNE 0.00 29.956 76.7 58 60
10/17/99 7:00a 74.2 71.4 71.4 71.6 71.3 96 70.2 0.0 6.0 NNE 0.00 29.947 76.5 58 60
10/17/99 8:00a 74.6 71.3 71.3 71.4 71.2 98 70.7 4.0 6.0 NE 0.28 29.940 76.5 57 60
10/17/99 9:00a 75.6 71.5 71.5 71.7 71.2 98 70.9 0.0 4.0 NE 0.05 29.946 78.8 56 60
10/17/99 10:00a 75.8 71.7 71.7 71.9 71.6 99 71.4 4.0 7.0 NNE 0.12 29.927 79.6 56 60
10/17/99 11:00a 75.6 72.3 72.3 72.7 71.8 98 71.7 5.0 11.0 NE 0.04 29.894 83.3 54 60
10/17/99 12:00p 76.6 72.8 -- 72.9 72.6 98 72.2 5.0 13.0 NE 0.05 29.883 81.4 55 60
10/17/99 1:00p 76.6 72.7 72.7 72.9 72.6 98 72.1 4.0 11.0 NNE 0.22 29.841 81.6 55 60
10/17/99 2:00p 76.6 72.9 72.9 73.2 72.6 98 72.3 4.0 12.0 NE 0.04 29.796 81.4 56 60
10/17/99 3:00p 76.6 73.2 73.2 73.3 73.0 98 72.6 4.0 11.0 NE 0.08 29.752 81.2 56 60
10/17/99 4:00p 76.8 72.7 72.7 73.3 71.9 99 72.4 5.0 11.0 NNE 0.47 29.723 80.9 56 60
10/17/99 5:00p 76.0 71.5 71.5 71.9 71.3 100 71.5 6.0 14.0 N 0.75 29.692 81.6 56 60
10/17/99 6:00p 75.0 70.9 70.9 71.3 70.6 100 70.9 5.0 13.0 N 2.00 29.686 81.7 56 60
10/17/99 7:00p 74.0 70.4 70.4 70.6 70.3 100 70.4 6.0 12.0 N 0.55 29.649 79.8 59 60
10/17/99 8:00p 74.0 70.4 -- 70.6 70.3 100 70.4 5.0 14.0 NNE 0.73 29.612 78.3 61 60
10/17/99 9:00p 75.0 70.6 70.6 70.6 70.5 100 70.6 6.0 13.0 NNE 0.80 29.611 78.9 59 60
10/17/99 10:00p 74.0 70.4 70.4 70.6 70.2 100 70.4 7.0 17.0 NNE 0.44 29.583 79.3 61 60
10/17/99 11:00p 74.0 70.2 -- 70.3 70.1 100 70.2 7.0 18.0 N 0.68 29.538 78.0 62 60
10/17/99 11:59p 74.0 70.1 68.9 70.2 70.0 100 70.1 10.0 18.0 NNE 0.52 29.514 78.3 61 60
10/18/99 1:00a 74.0 69.6 68.4 70.1 69.1 100 69.6 10.0 18.0 N 0.84 29.487 77.6 63 60
10/18/99 2:00a 70.0 68.3 66.2 69.1 67.9 100 68.3 11.0 24.0 N 0.87 29.467 77.0 63 60
10/18/99 3:00a 67.7 67.7 64.6 68.0 67.3 100 67.7 12.0 27.0 N 0.47 29.456 76.6 64 60
10/18/99 4:00a 66.8 66.8 63.6 67.4 66.0 100 66.8 12.0 25.0 N 0.03 29.470 76.2 64 60
10/18/99 5:00a 65.5 65.5 62.2 66.0 65.3 100 65.5 12.0 29.0 N 0.00 29.504 75.8 64 60
10/18/99 6:00a 65.0 65.0 -- 65.4 64.6 100 65.0 12.0 27.0 N 0.00 29.543 76.4 62 60
10/18/99 7:00a 64.2 64.2 60.7 64.6 63.5 98 63.6 7.0 18.0 N 0.00 29.610 80.0 59 60
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TH Temp Wind Hi Low Hum Dew Wind Temp Hum Arc
Date Time Index Out Chill Temp Temp Out Pt. Speed Hi Dir Rain Barom In In Per
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RAINFALL TOTALS RECEIVED SO FAR FROM HURRICANE IRENE.
LOCATION AMOUNT (INCHES)
CHESAPEAKE (GREAT BRIDGE) 12.00
PORTSMOUTH 10.02
NORFOLK AIRPORT (ORF) 7.34
COURTLAND VA 7.10
HAMPTON 6.90
ELIZABETH CITY NC 4.92
JAMES CITY COUNTY 4.02
OCEAN CITY MD 3.49
WALLOPS ISLAND VA 3.27
NWS WAKEFIELD 3.86
YORKTOWN 3.29
EMPORIA VA 2.85
SALISBURY MD 2.49
ROANOKE RAPIDS NC 2.33
PETERSBURG 1.52
RICHMOND AIRPORT (RIC) .81