On this date in 2019, a calendar-day record 3.44 inches of rain fell, most of it in one hour. Some parts of the D.C. area saw up to 4 inches in an hour, triggering flash flooding. Arlington, Virginia, was hit particularly hard.
“The sheets of rain, with nowhere to run off, turned major roads into rivers while streams and creeks shot up 10 feet in less than an hour,” the Capital Weather Gang wrote. “The rushing water stranded scores of people in their vehicles, poured into businesses and the Metro system, submerged cars in parking lots, swamped basements and caused some roads to cave in, forming massive sinkholes.”
The National Weather Service declared its first-ever flash flood emergency for D.C. (such alerts began in 2011), reserved for the most serious events that are “life-threatening” and “particularly dangerous” situations.
Additional reading on this event:
- Monday morning’s downpour rivaled the heaviest on record in Washington
- After extreme flooding, residents begin cleaning up and drying out
- Residents assess damage a day after Washington’s deluge
- Here’s what D.C. looked like this morning after an intense downpour
- Arlington manager declares state of emergency after Monday floods
Here are other notables from this day:
- Average high: 90
- Average low: 72
- Record high: 102 (2012)
- Record low: 54 (1892)
- Record rainfall: 3.44 inches (2019)
