Power Outage in Clarksburg, WV

Power lines were blown down on Jericho Road due to a tree that was struck by lightning and split in half, which then proceeded to fall on the lines.

A power pole and its lines were blown down onto Buckhannon Avenue in Clarksburg.

Several towns in the county, including Clarksburg, Bridgeport, and Shinnston, observed downed trees and power lines beginning in the early afternoon and extending into the evening of April 1st. This resulted in over 32,000 households to be without power that night into the next day.

A roof awning was blown off of a motor vehicle building on Main Street in Bridgeport. Power lines and trees were blown down in several spots across the county, resulting in multiple brush fires. The Clarksburg airport observed a 64 mph wind gust that evening around 10 PM.

Near Clarksburg, multiple trees and power lines were blown down onto Pike Street and Route 19.

Several power lines and trees were blown down in neighborhoods outside of Clarksburg.

A power pole was blown down along the intersection of Buckhannon Pike and Elk City Road.

Trees and power lines were downed in East View.

Several trees, as well as a power line, were blown down along Duck Creek Road.

One tree was blown down between US Route 19 and North 50. The tree fell onto telephone and power lines, pulling them down as well.

A tree was blown down and took down power lines along Corbin Branch Road.

Power lines were blown down along Halls Run Road in Salem.

Damage consistent with an EF-1 tornado and estimated maximum wind speeds of 110 mph was found by a National Weather Service storm survey. Many trees were snapped or uprooted along the path of the tornado. Near the start of the path along Shaws Run Road, a cinder block garage partially collapsed. The structure was under construction and the trusses had not even been installed yet, so it was just 4 walls with an open top. The house on the same property had some minor roof damage. Across the street, an old wood barn suffered a full collapse and the eastern wall blew out on two-story single family house. About a mile and a half farther along the path, along Gawthorp Lane, a house received significant roof damage, with about 20 percent of the roof decking and shingles removed, a small shed was also destroyed. Just down the block from here, a resident recalls that she had just arrived home when she heard a rush of wind. Her front window blew in as she ran for shelter deeper in the house. She remembers it being over in an instant and when she came back into the front room she could see her SUV flipped on its top in the neighbors yard, across the street from where she had parked it just minutes before. The tornado continued along just south of Sun Valley Road, with a lot of tree and power line damage along Old Davisson Run Road. Toward the end of the tornado path, damage was much lighter with just small trees and branches down near the intersection of Sun Valley Road and US 50.

Damage consistent with an EF-1 tornado and estimated maximum wind speeds of 110 mph was found by a National Weather Service storm survey. Many trees were snapped or uprooted along the path of the tornado. Near the start of the path along Shaws Run Road, a cinder block garage partially collapsed. The structure was under construction and the trusses had not even been installed yet, so it was just 4 walls with an open top. The house on the same property had some minor roof damage. Across the street, an old wood barn suffered a full collapse and the eastern wall blew out on two-story single family house. About a mile and a half farther along the path, along Gawthorp Lane, a house received significant roof damage, with about 20 percent of the roof decking and shingles removed, a small shed was also destroyed. Just down the block from here, a resident recalls that she had just arrived home when she heard a rush of wind. Her front window blew in as she ran for shelter deeper in the house. She remembers it being over in an instant and when she came back into the front room she could see her SUV flipped on its top in the neighbors yard, across the street from where she had parked it just minutes before. The tornado continued along just south of Sun Valley Road, with a lot of tree and power line damage along Old Davisson Run Road. Toward the end of the tornado path, damage was much lighter with just small trees and branches down near the intersection of Sun Valley Road and US 50.

Multiple trees were blown down in the Clarksburg area. A few trees fell onto power lines.

Trees fell onto power lines, causing electrical outages.

Trees fell onto power lines.

The tornado touched down on a ridge along Chapman Lane. This is off of County Route 48 southeast of Lost Creek. Numerous trees were downed. The tornado continued across County Route 52 where additional trees and power lines were blown down. At this point, the tornado struck the Johnstown United Methodist Church. The church was of brick construction, originally from 1884. Modifications have been made to the structure over the years. It is believed the roof was lifted from the church and then fell back into place. In doing so, it caused structural damage to the back brick wall. The church steeple was also damaged. Even some tombstones in the cemetery were blown over and damaged by fallen debris. Several large trees were blown down around the church. Some of those trees were over 100 years old. The tornado lifted near the next ridge.||The strongest wind gusts were estimated near 100 mph based on the healthy trees that were snapped and uprooted, plus the structural damage to the church.

Trees were fell onto power lines. Portions of Main and South Streets were blocked.

Numerous trees were blown down, some onto power lines. At least one tree fell onto a car.

Trees fell onto power lines. A vehicle was damaged.

Two sets of power lines were knocked down by fallen trees on Baltimore Avenue.

Trees were blown down across roads and power lines.

Power lines were knocked down by fallen trees or large branches.

A few trees fell across power lines in the vicinity.

Numerous trees were blown down, causing power outages.

Trees fell onto power lines.

Scattered locations throughout the county had large branches or power lines blown down.

A cold front crossed through the region on December 11th, with strong winds accompanying the boundary. Airports around the state and into the Ohio Valley observed wind gusts of up to 45 mph throughout the day as the front passed overhead. These strong winds resulted in a few trees and a power pole to be blown down across portions of southwest and northeast West Virginia.

An upper level disturbance swept through the Ohio Valley on June 14th with showers and thunderstorms aligned along a surface cold front. Several thunderstorms became severe that evening which resulted in downed trees and power lines due to damaging wind gusts. Rain from the previous day's severe weather primed the area for flash flooding and heavy downpours on the 14th ultimately resulted in high water issues in the Buckhannon area.

A surface low pressure system stalled out across the middle Ohio River Valley on the 20th, bringing rain to the region. As an upper level low dropped through, cold air rushed in and quickly changed the rain to snow. Bands of heavy, wet snow moved through the northern and central mountains of West Virginia. These were widespread enough to provide 5-8 inches of snow, with some localized amounts of 10-12 inches. Across the lower elevations of the western slopes, generally 1 to 3 inches of snow fell, as the surface remained too warm for significant accumulations. ||The highest snowfall measurement came from the cooperative observer near Frost, where they measured 12.1 inches, and 9 inches accumulated at Snowshoe. In Elkins, 9.5 inches of snow fell with 8 inches around Beverly. Even farther south, across the central mountains, heavy snow fell, such as 10 inches at White Oak in Raleigh County and nearly 8 inches in the Craigsville area of Nicholas County. The heavy, wet nature of the snow also led to power outages in some areas. Nicholas County was the hardest hit, with nearly 2000 impacted customers, Webster and Fayette each had several hundred customers effected.

A cold pool aloft, associated with a closed upper level low, changed rain to wet snow during Monday afternoon and evening, the 24th, from the central mountains into the north central lowlands of West Virginia. Most of the accumulating snow fell during the late night and early morning hours, before changing back to mostly light rain by midday on the 25th across the lowlands. Accumulations of 2 to 5 inches were common across the lowlands, before melting began on the 25th. At the extreme highest elevations, Snowshoe reported an 8 inch snow depth, while Kumbrabow State Forest measured 10 inches on the ground. Many trees in the lowlands still had their autumn foliage. So many branches were snapped. Power outages occurred. These problems were even more serious in counties further to the north, toward the Pennsylvania border.