Strong Wind in Northwest Raleigh, West Virginia

A tree fell across Clear Fork Road near Middle Lawson Road outside the town of Whitesville. Power lines were also downed in the process.

Strong winds infiltrated the region on the afternoon of March 25th in the wake of a cold front. A tightened pressure gradient took residence over West Virginia during the early afternoon hours, which resulted in strong winds from aloft mixing down to the surface. Across West Virginia, the highest wind gusts that were observed occurred at the Clarksburg airport (64 mph) and at a mesonet station in Snowshoe (61 mph). Elsewhere, it was not uncommon to see winds between 45-55 mph through the course of the afternoon.

These strong surface gusts, coupled with saturated grounds from previous rainfall, resulted in not only downed trees and power lines, but a few instances of roof damage. A local motor vehicle business in Bridgeport lost part of the roof awning that evening around the time the aforementioned 64 mph wind was observed in Clarksburg. In Roane County, strong winds destroyed a mobile home in the town of Colt Ridge, with multiple reports of additional roof damage within the neighborhood. In the midst of the strong winds, a man died after a tree fell on him in Cabell County as he attempted to secure items that were blowing in the wind.

Once the low pressure system quickly departed towards New England on the evening of March 25th, surface winds weakened.