Strong Wind — Northwest Raleigh, West Virginia

2020-01-11 to 2020-01-12 · Northwest Raleigh, West Virginia

Wider weather episode

A strong storm system moved through the Great Lakes on the 11th and 12th. Ahead of this system, temperatures on the afternoon of the 11th soared into the 70s and low 80s, driven by strong southerly winds. Gusts were regularly measured in the 40-50 mph range. A line of showers and thunderstorms developed in the lower Ohio River Valley along a cold front, and quickly raced eastward through the late afternoon and evening. By the time these got to the middle Ohio River Valley and central Appalachians, no lightning was present, but the convective showers were still packing gusty outflow winds, with lots of tree and utility damage reported. The actual cold front surged through late that night, with another round of 45-55 mph winds, causing more power outages.

Shortly after noon on the 11th, a tree fell onto a side-by-side ATV near Ashford in Boone County. A 14-year-old boy was fatally wounded, and his father and sister were injured. The ASOS at Charleston's Yeager Airport, which is about 13 miles from the incident site, measured gusts of 30-40 mph around the time of the incident. These were driven by the synoptic flow, not convective activity.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 867180. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.