Thunderstorm Wind in Vinton County, Ohio

A tree brought down power lines onto Vandyke Road outside the community of Bolins Mills.

Early in the morning of March 16th, a strong cold front swept through southeast Ohio. Accompanied with this boundary was a broken line of strong to severe thunderstorms. While minor tree damage was observed in Vinton County when the storms passed overhead, a member of the public noted a 60 mile per hour wind gust in Lawrence County in the storm that passed over their home. Additionally, a period of elevated synoptic winds took shape across southeast Ohio after the storms swept through. Peak wind gusts ranging from 36 to 56 miles per hour were observed by several Mesonet and AWOS sites in the area just before sunrise on March 16th. Surface winds decreased quickly heading into the daytime hours amid building high pressure from the west.