Power Outage in South Charleston, WV

Showers and strong to severe thunderstorms sprouted in the afternoon and evening of June 3rd as a backdoor cold front approached and then pushed across the area. One inch hail fell in the towns of Pennsboro and Middlebourne, and damaging wind gusts resulted in multiple downed trees in the Pennsboro, French Creek, and Rock Cave areas. A tree struck by lightning in Salem fell on power lines. Later in the evening, another tree was struck in Parkersburg and split in two. One intersection in Beckley also flooded due to heavy rain.

June 03, 2023

Deep mixing between a departing cold front and a secondary frontal passage supported gusty to strong winds across West Virginia to open up the month of April. Winds picked up in intensity during the late morning hours and peaked in the afternoon/early evening. 40-50 miles per hour gusts were common throughout the afternoon across West Virginia, with the strongest gust recorded occurring at a mesonet station in Snowshoe of 65 mph. All major airports in the region observed a peak wind gust above 50 miles per hour that day.||Hundreds of thousands of households in the state lost power by the afternoon time frame as a result of trees blowing down onto power lines. Around the same time the Charleston Yeager airport measured a peak wind gust of 59 miles per hour, the South Charleston City Hall suffered considerable structural damage as the roof was blown off a portion of the building. In Barbour County, parts of roofs were also blown off of homes. ||Winds finally began to subside after dark on the 1st as the disturbance departed into New England and high pressure built in from the west. However, the power restoration process extended into the next several days as utility companies began work on installing new power poles and lines.

April 01, 2023

High Wind. Across the county, downed trees and power lines were observed throughout the afternoon and evening of April 1st while strong winds persisted. The Charleston airport measured a peak wind gust of 59 mph around 1:30 in the afternoon. Also around that time, the South Charleston City Hall suffered considerable structural damage as a rubber membrane on the roof of the building's annex area was caught by the wind. Nearly 100,000 households were without power that night into the next day as a result of the downed trees and power lines.

April 01, 2023

Strong winds infiltrated the region on the afternoon of March 25th in the wake of a cold front. A tightened pressure gradient took residence over West Virginia during the early afternoon hours, which resulted in strong winds from aloft mixing down to the surface. Across West Virginia, the highest wind gusts that were observed occurred at the Clarksburg airport (64 mph) and at a mesonet station in Snowshoe (61 mph). Elsewhere, it was not uncommon to see winds between 45-55 mph through the course of the afternoon. ||These strong surface gusts, coupled with saturated grounds from previous rainfall, resulted in not only downed trees and power lines, but a few instances of roof damage. A local motor vehicle business in Bridgeport lost part of the roof awning that evening around the time the aforementioned 64 mph wind was observed in Clarksburg. In Roane County, strong winds destroyed a mobile home in the town of Colt Ridge, with multiple reports of additional roof damage within the neighborhood. In the midst of the strong winds, a man died after a tree fell on him in Cabell County as he attempted to secure items that were blowing in the wind.||Once the low pressure system quickly departed towards New England on the evening of March 25th, surface winds weakened.

March 25, 2023

A strong low pressure system passed north of the area on March 3rd in accompaniment with a surface cold front. Strong winds above the surface were able to mix down throughout the day outside of showers and thunderstorms, especially by the afternoon and evening timeframe. The Charleston airport measured a 60 mph wind gust around the peak of the afternoon and several other local airports reported strong to high winds. Winds began to diminish from west to east late on March 3rd, but prolonged gusts of 58 mph were observed along the West Virginia mountains into the morning hours of the 4th.||Downed trees and power lines were observed across West Virginia due to these strong winds. While most fell onto the nearby roadways, one tree in Wayne County fell onto a house in the town of Belpre. There was also an instance where a brush fire occurred in southeast Raleigh County as a result of downed power lines.

March 03, 2023

Charleston, WV (10:32 PM) Grid Power Outage Event >> The Ting Network detected an Electric Utility Grid Power Outag… https://t.co/vDJtYO5Mww

@grid_events - March 04, 2023 03:45

Charleston, WV (9:29 PM) Grid Power Outage Event >> The Ting Network detected an Electric Utility Grid Power Outage… https://t.co/yvq76SidGl

@grid_events - March 04, 2023 02:30

Even if you don't see a severe thunderstorm this late-afternoon and evening, this low-pressure alone will produce g… https://t.co/cxMI0IG2Sv

@BrandonWxWCHS - March 03, 2023 13:36

The biggest story with this system for Thursday will not be the rain, it will be the gusty winds. Gust between 40-… https://t.co/Ix55X0soRX

@wxbrandon9 - February 08, 2023 17:36

There is a planned power outage for DHHR's Marshall County office today. Alternate lines for assistance: DHHR Custo… https://t.co/kfmEPh7Rhw

@WV_DHHR - February 07, 2023 21:41