Thunderstorm Wind — Wood, West Virginia

2025-07-17 · near Meldahls, Wood, West Virginia

Event narrative

Multiple trees were blown down in and around the town of Washington.

Wider weather episode

Several days of active weather took place across West Virginia from July 14th to the 17th in response to a cold front festering over the area. A warm, moist, and unstable environment in the midst of the front's residency conjured up daily chances for afternoon and evening showers and thunderstorms. While one instance of flooding took place on the front end of this active period, the predominant impacts observed during this stretch occurred within bursts of damaging wind gusts from strong thunderstorms. During peak heating hours, strong thunderstorms would fire up around the Ohio River Valley and progress eastward through West Virginia until weakening and moving out of the area. Downed trees and power lines occurred in the midst of these storms each afternoon on the 16th and 17th before the cold front finally pressed through and brought severe weather concerns to an end.

Storms on the 14th were very efficient rainfall producers, easily depositing one to two inches of precipitation in a short period of time. The highest rain amounts, around two to three inches, fell across portions of southeast Ohio and northwest West Virginia. One community in Roane County experienced flash flooding on local roadways after three inches of rain fell.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (39.2400, -81.6700)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1278496. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.