Thunderstorm Wind — Botetourt, Virginia

2012-06-29 · near Glen Wilton, Botetourt, Virginia

Event narrative

Thunderstorm winds blew thousands trees down countywide. Power lines also came down as a result of the strong winds and trees falling upon them. Less than twenty structures sustained damage where their roofs blew off. In the community of Blue Ridge, trees fell upon and damaged several mobile homes. Flying debris injured five people at the Buchanan Carnival. A two-vehicle accident, with two injuries, occurred when the driver of one vehicle swerved to avoid an already downed tree. Falling trees and limbs injured three others at the Middle Creek Campground. Unknown causes resulted in three additional people taken to medical facilities.

Wider weather episode

A derecho of historic proportion rolled through the region and caused widespread, significant damage. Numerous power outages occurred. Some customers were without power for 12 days which coincided with a prolonged period of excessive heat. The derecho had its origin around Chicago, Illinois around 1:00 pm EST. By 7:00 pm EST the derecho had reached southeast West Virginia. Only two hours later, it was pushing through Southside Virginia. By midnight EST it had reached the Atlantic coast.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (37.7200, -79.7900)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 392367. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.