Thunderstorm Wind — Smyth, Virginia

2024-05-26 · near Mc Crady, Smyth, Virginia

Event narrative

A large tree limb was blown down into the road near the intersection of Upper Poor Valley Road and Saltville Highway, and another tree was blown down along the same road, taking down power lines and a power meter.

Wider weather episode

A line of thunderstorms quickly progressed across southwest and central Virginia through the afternoon as an MCS (Mesoscale Convective System) tracked from the Ohio Valley into the Mid Atlantic and Central Appalachians. Strong daytime heating ahead of the line and high dewpoints lead to high surface based CAPE (Convective Available Potential Energy), and DCAPE (Downdraft Convective Available Potential Energy) values exceeding 1000 J/kg. This led to widespread damaging winds, and resulted in numerous power outages from downed trees and power lines. This complex of storms also spawned an EF-1 tornado in the city of Salem.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (36.9000, -81.7400)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1181582. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.