Thunderstorm Wind — Martinsville (c), Virginia

2020-04-13 · near Martinsville, Martinsville (c), Virginia

Event narrative

Thunderstorm winds blew down multiple trees across Henry County and the City of Martinsville. This includes several trees blown down near the intersection of Prospect Hill Drive and Spruce Street. A tree was blown down near the intersection of Terrys Mountain Road and Barrows Mill Road. Yet another tree was blown down near the intersection of Stultz Road and Dexter Street. One tree was blown down onto both a nearby car and a power line.

Wider weather episode

A strong cold front extending from a complex surface low pressure system, brought intense thunderstorms which produced damaging winds and very heavy rain on April 12-13. The heavy rains resulted from a deep plume of tropical moisture lifted northward ahead of the cold front. Heavy rain began during the evening of April 12th and exited the region shortly after sunrise on the 13th, lasting roughly a 12-hour period. Between 1.5 and 4 inches of rain fell across the mountains and foothills, with isolated 5-inch amounts along the Blue Ridge. The intense rainfall rates and rapid runoff caused widespread flash flooding of small creeks and streams. Virginia Department of Highways (VDOT) reported very significant damage to road infrastructure across numerous counties with damage totals exceeding $1.2 million.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (36.7400, -79.8900)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 885706. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.