Thunderstorm Wind — Mcdowell, West Virginia

2009-02-11 · near Marytown, Mcdowell, West Virginia

Event narrative

The gym roof of the Twin Branch Pentecostal Christian Academy was lifted up and shifted by the wind. The entire roof fell back down onto its cinderblock support walls. This caused the walls to collapse. Debris fell onto nearby vehicles. A 35 year old female was killed by the falling debris as she was standing in the parking lot near the building. She was attending the wake for her brother in the church across the street.

The narrow and steep valley along the Tug Fork River may have helped funnel the winds through this Twin Branch location. However, trees in the valley were not damaged.

Wider weather episode

A strong low pressure center tracked from Missouri to Michigan. Meanwhile, its associated upper level trough pushed a cold front through West Virginia on either side of sunset. A fast moving band of rain, along and immediately ahead of the front, featured a narrow line of embedded showers. These convective showers helped mix down the winds that were located at 4 to 6 thousand feet above the ground. Surface wind gusts of 55 to 65 mph were common. A gust to 73 mph was recorded at the Parkersburg airport. A gust to 85 mph was recorded on top of the exposed Bee Mountain in eastern Kanawha County.

Trees and large branches fell onto power lines and blocked roads. The major utility company for north central West Virginia reported around 100,000 customers lost electricity before restoration began. The highest concentration of these outages were in Harrison and Doddridge counties followed closely by Lewis, Upshur, Jackson, and Wood Counties. In the southern counties, the major power company reported over 83,000 customers had lost electricity

Several buildings and homes sustained minor structural damages, while a few other buildings had significant or major damage. At Twin Branch near Davy of McDowell County, winds caused the entire roof of a church gym to separate from the rest of the structure. The roof then fell back down onto the cinderblock walls and nearby automobiles. A 35 year old woman was killed while standing near the building.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (37.4758, -81.6686)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 151754. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.