Thunderstorm Wind — Jefferson, West Virginia

2002-05-14 · near Bloomery, Jefferson, West Virginia

Event narrative

A woman was killed when a large tree fell onto her car on Route 9 about 3 miles west of the Virginia border.

Wider weather episode

Showers that produced damaging winds moved south through the Eastern Panhandle between 3:30 and 5:00 PM EDT. Over 3000 customers lost power as a direct result of the storm. In Grant County, trees were downed in Petersburg. In Mineral County, a 58 MPH wind gust was recorded at the Cumberland Regional Airport just east of Wiley Ford. Trees were downed onto a road in Fort Ashby. Trees fell onto power lines in the Patterson Creek, Ridgeley, and Fountain areas. In Hardy County, a few tree limbs were downed. In Hampshire County, trees and power lines were downed onto Spring Grade Road and Arnold Road. In Morgan County, Route 522 South was closed by downed trees and power lines 10 miles south of Cacapon. Trees and power lines were also downed in Berkeley Springs. Power outages were reported in the Detour Road, Rock Gap Road, Oakland Road areas, in addition to several locations from Berkeley Springs to the Berkeley County border. In Berkeley County, a wind gust of 62 MPH was recorded at the Martinsburg Airport. Trees and power lines were downed countywide. In Jefferson County, a 3-foot diameter oak tree was blown onto a 1987 Toyota Celica traveling along Route 9 about 3.5 miles from the Virginia border. The driver of the vehicle, a 49 year-old woman, was killed. Trees and power lines were also downed in other parts of the county.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (39.2500, -77.8167)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5298206. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.