Thunderstorm Wind — Preston, West Virginia

2025-03-16 · near Bretz, Preston, West Virginia

Event narrative

A tree was down in the road along with power lines at the intersection of Long Hollow Road and Pebble Rock Lane.

Wider weather episode

A strongly forced band of convection developed over West Virginia during the morning of March 16th ahead of an approaching front, and quickly lifted north-northeastward into Pennsylvania through the early afternoon. Despite relatively modest instability, very strong deep layer shear, along with largely unidirectional southerly flow and elongated hodographs, supported the continuation of significant severe storms. Large impact was felt from straight-line wind, with gusts in the 60 to 70 MPH range, locally higher, causing widespread damage to trees, power lines, and structures.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (39.5354, -79.7771)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1249369. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.