Flash Flood in Ritchie County, West Virginia

A bridge was washed out in the Washburn and Chevaux-De-Frise area.

The middle of the month proved to be active across the state of West Virginia in response to a stalled frontal boundary across Ohio, southern Pennsylvania, and northern West Virginia while an upper level disturbance pivoted overhead. Showers and storms began to develop in the moist and unstable environment by the night of June 13th. A lull in precipitation occurred the morning of the 14th, then activity redeveloped and persisted through the next couple of days as the front meandered across the middle Ohio Valley and Central Appalachians. The front finally began to lift north as a warm front and pulled away from the area on the 17th.

Storms during this time were very efficient rainfall producers, evidenced by two rainfall reports from West Virginia which noted nearly an inch and a quarter of rain falling within the space of thirty minutes. A few other locations reported daily rainfall amounts in excess of three inches. In addition to rapid rainfall accumulations, multiple rounds of rain over several days helped to saturate the ground and led to flash flooding across portions of the area. Excess runoff also led to rises on smaller creeks and streams.

Flash flooding impacted several counties including Calhoun, Doddridge, Harrison, Jackson, Kanawha, Pocahontas, Ritchie, Upshur, Webster, and Wood. In addition to numerous flooded roadways across the area, a mudslide occurred in Doddridge County, water rescues were needed in Webster County due to windshield high floodwaters, and one Jackson County road was rendered impassable from logs and other debris deposited by floodwaters.

In addition to the high water observations from storms during this event period, storms grew strong enough to produce damaging wind gusts on the afternoon of June 13th. The combination of strong June solar heating and the nearby frontal boundary resulted in storms to form across the western portions of the state during the peak of the afternoon and tracked eastward as the evening progressed. This produced a swath of of tree and power line damage from Wayne County and northeastward through Upshur County in the midst of the adverse weather. Since storms were primarily diurnally driven, activity quickly waned after sunset on the evening of the 13th.