Community Corner

Rain in Reston Was Once-in-500-Years Event

NWS says 6+ inches in an afternoon is very rare.

Surveying the damage at your house Looking for heavy-duty caulk to keep the water out when it happens again?

It might not happen again. At least in your lifetime.

The National Weather Service says that the Reston gauge in  recorded 6.57 inches in six hours, which is also approximately a 500-year rainfall.

Find out what's happening in Restonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Thursday's storm caused flash flooding and property damage, washing out bridges, causing sinkholes and

In general, the rain that fell in the DC-Baltimore area was a once every 10-25 year event.

Find out what's happening in Restonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Ft. Belvoir received 7.03 inches of rain in three hours. The NWS says  that amount of rain in that amount of time was an above a 1,000-year rainfall. 

Of course, it COULD happen again, it is just not likely.  A 1 in 100 year rain means that there is a 1 percent chance of seeing that amount of rain in any given year. A 0.1 percent chance is true for a 1 in 1000 year event, the NWS says.

To read about rainfall totals across the region, check out The Capital Weather Gang blog.


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