Strong Wind — Northwest Webster, West Virginia

2024-12-05 · Northwest Webster, West Virginia

Wider weather episode

During the late evening hours of December 4th, a cold front progressed through the Ohio Valley and promoted strong to gusty winds in its wake. The front arrived into West Virginia around midnight and swept through the state during the early morning on the 5th. The strongest winds were measured along the Ohio River Valley, with a member of the public observing a 51 mile per hour gust at their home near Point Pleasant. Gusts of 30 to 35 miles per hour were common around the state during that time as the front continued its passage overhead. Downed trees and power lines resulted in thousands of power outages to customers within West Virginia. After celebrating the Christmas Tree lighting at the capitol in Charleston earlier that evening, the front caused the tree to be knocked down and broke numerous ornaments that were placed along it. Winds subsided quickly after sunrise on the 5th as high pressure built into the Tennessee Valley.

In addition to the contribution of strong winds from the frontal passage, moderate to heavy snow showers were observed along the higher terrain of the West Virginia mountains. One to four inches of snow fell from the evening of December 4th into the next afternoon, with the highest accumulations observed in Randolph County. The aforementioned building surface high led to snow showers diminishing quickly on December 5th.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1225134. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.