Wildfire — Hardy, West Virginia

2024-03-20 to 2024-03-21 · Hardy, West Virginia

Event narrative

Several fires were sparked by very strong westerly winds in excess of 50 mph and extremely low relative humidity values on the afternoon of March 20th. While there were several smaller fires throughout the county, there were two that were that required federal assistance to contain. Those were the Waites Run Fire, which burned 6,233 acres and the Cove Mountain Fire, which burned 155 acres. These were both combined to be a part of a greater complex of fires, named the North Zone Complex. In total, 13 residences were a total loss, with 6 more sustaining damage. Additionally, 17 non-residential structures were destroyed, with 4 others sustaining damage.

Wider weather episode

The combination of an anomalously strong westerly wind event and extremely low relative humidity across the region sparked numerous wildfires across the entire region. Especially hard hit were communities across eastern West Virginia into the Shenandoah Valley of northwestern Virginia. Several large fires burned a total of 17,008 acres in these areas. Several other smaller fires were noted, but were able to be contained quick enough to cover relatively small areas.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1166144. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.