Thunderstorm Wind in Nicholas County, West Virginia

Lines observed down on Old Nicholas Road.

A low pressure system traversed the Great Lakes Region on the night of June 17th, then continued across southern Ontario into southern Quebec on the 18th. This system lifted a warm front north through the area during the early morning hours of the 18th, then pulled a cold front southeast into the area during the day. Meanwhile, a strong shortwave trough helped steer a strong jet over portions of the middle Ohio Valley and central Appalachians.

Rain started to spread across southeast Ohio and over into western and north central West Virginia the evening of the 17th. Severe thunderstorms and heavy downpours then tracked across this same area overnight before sinking southeast the morning of the 18th. While the bulk of precipitation departed southeast Ohio and northern West Virginia by mid-morning, the lingering front combined with a feed of moisture from a Gulf system allowed showers and a few storms to persist across Northeast Kentucky, southern West Virginia, and southwest Virginia through the 18th. Precipitation finally came to an end on the morning of the 19th.

The heaviest rain occurred near Parkersburg in Wood County, where two to three and a half inches of rain resulted in flash flooding, impacted local roads and stranded vehicles. Additional areas of one to two inches fell across north-central West Virginia, as well as the southern coalfields. Severe thunderstorms produced damaging winds that downed numerous trees and powerlines across much of the state during the morning of the 18th. One notable area of damage was in southern Upshur County, where an NWS storm survey found significant swaths of tree damage indicative of up to 100 mile per hour straight line winds.