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According to David Stooksbury, a research assistant with the State Climatologist’s office in Charlottesville, the storms brought moisture collected over the Atlantic, and as they moved inland they began to drop the moisture as rain.
“By the time the storms reached Central Virginia, they were no longer tropical storms. But they still had many characteristics of tropical storms, particularly the ability to drop large amounts of rainfall.”
Of the four factors which can produce rain, Mr. Stooksbury explained, three were working last Saturday morning to produce heavier than normal rainfall. The storms themselves, with their load of moisture, rode up against the eastern slope of the mountains. As the storms gained altitude, the moisture cooled and condensed into rain. The presence of a stationary front in the area, he added, also enhanced the rainfall.
The rain, Mr. Wingfield added, fell on saturated ground which had already received more than 3 1/2 inches of rain during the previous three days.
County Administrator John McCarthy said that despite the isolated severe damage, the county probably will not qualify for disaster assistance. “It’s a ‘Catch-22’.” Without a large number of people affected, no disaster will be declared. “But it is still certainly a disaster to those few affected.”
Mr. McCarthy echoed the praise offered by other officials for the county residents who offered assistance as the water rose. “I can’t say enough for the highway department, the fire and rescue services, and the others who pitched in to help.”
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