Strong Wind — Western Chesterfield, Virginia

2025-02-16 · Western Chesterfield, Virginia

Event narrative

The 911 Call Center reported a fallen tree in Chesterfield County due to the strong winds through the day, both ahead of and behind a cold front, on top of the saturated soil. A mesonet in western Chesterfield measured a gust to 37 miles per hour.

Wider weather episode

A strong area of low pressure tracked from eastern Ohio across Pennsylvania and into New England on February 16, pushing a strong cold front across the region. A warm front lifted north across the region ahead of the cold front with a strong low level jet allowing for gusty southwest winds to develop across central Virginia on the morning of February 16. A west wind developed in the afternoon behind the cold front. The combination of gusty winds of 30 to 45 mph in the afternoon on top of the saturated soil was enough to result in several fallen trees across portions of central Virginia.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1238454. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.