2,551 first-hand accounts of flood events in West Virginia, ranked by impact. Each is a NOAA-written narrative of the moment.
One of the worst flash floods in the history of West Virginia occurred on June 23, 2016 as extreme rainfall occurred across portions of Greenbrier and several adjacent counties.
Read the full account →On the evening of June 14th, a slow moving thunderstorm passed over portions of Ohio County just east of the city of Wheeling. It's slow movement and interaction with another storm allowed for very heavy rainfall in a short period of time.
Read the full account →Multiple rounds of convection resulted in wind damage and flooding. Flash flooding on small streams turned into river flooding. A historic and record setting flood occurred along portions of the Elk and Gauley Rivers in central West Virginia.
Read the full account →Light precipitation started to arrive on the evening of February 14th due to an approaching low pressure system, with more substantial rain spreading across the area overnight into the 15th as a warm front approached from the south.
Read the full account →A warm front surged north during the morning of Friday the 18th, dropping a half inch to an inch of rain. Meanwhile, low pressure extended from southern Ohio on down the entire length of the Ohio River during that afternoon.
Read the full account →Multiple rounds of convection resulted in wind damage and flooding. Flash flooding on small streams turned into river flooding. A historic and record setting flood occurred along portions of the Elk and Gauley Rivers in central West Virginia.
Read the full account →Repetitive showers and thunderstorms moved rapidly across the southern coal fields, from the late morning hours to the early evening, on a Thursday, the 2nd of May.
Read the full account →Three consecutive nights of thunderstorms left western and northern counties with wind damage and flooding. The first night was from Friday evening, the 26th, into early Saturday morning, the 27th.
Read the full account →After a cold and snowy February, a switch to a warmer pattern began during the second week of the month. This started the runoff from a deep snow pack over the West Virginia mountainous counties.
Read the full account →Strong moisture advection ahead of a southern stream low pressure system brought a prolonged period of moderate to heavy rainfall across the middle Ohio River Valley and Central Appalachians.
Read the full account →A rotating supercell developed in southeast Ohio, then moved across Mason and Jackson counties. The large hail damaged houses and vehicles. In its wake, a larger complex of thunderstorms moved through.
Read the full account →A slow moving low pressure system, along with plenty of moisture, allowed for showers and thunderstorms to gradually move through the Ohio Valley during the day on May 6th.
Read the full account →This episode, on the 8th of July, saw fast moving thunderstorms form along a north/south warm frontal boundary. This boundary marked the division between the dry and less humid air to the east, from the incoming steamy moist air, to the west.
Read the full account →Multiple rounds of convection resulted in wind damage and flooding. Flash flooding on small streams turned into river flooding. A historic and record setting flood occurred along portions of the Elk and Gauley Rivers in central West Virginia.
Read the full account →Convection formed in the heat of the day, with highs around 90 degrees and dew points around 70. There was also an east-to-west boundary in the vicinity, likely from convective activity the previous night or earlier in the day.
Read the full account →A new mesoscale convective system (MCS) developed from the outflow of a previously mature MCS in southern Wisconsin before venturing southeast into the Ohio River Valley the evening of June 13th.
Read the full account →A stationary front located near West Virginia on the morning of February 16th acted as a link between two low pressure systems streaming north and south of the area.
Read the full account →A warm front lifted through during the morning of the 2nd. Only a few showers and storms were associated with the warm front. ||Rounds of showers and thunderstorms formed in the lower Ohio River Valley and moved quickly into western West Virginia during the evening of the 2nd.
Read the full account →Rains of 2.5 to 4.75 inches fell from 2200E on the 11th through 1900E on the 12th. Repetitive showers formed, as dew points of 60 to 65 degrees fed the system from Kentucky.
Read the full account →At 230 PM EDT on 17th, Boggs Run flooded Benwood. By 9 PM on 18th, around Moundsville, 5 roads remained closed because of mud slides; and flooding from Grave Creek was keeping 1 road closed. 79 structures damaged or destroyed, including $1 million damage to a school.
Read the full account →Training showers and thunderstorms moved southeast acrosssouthern West Virginia overnight, along a warm frontalboundary. A rainfall of 2.5 to 3.5 inches was common inin 6 hours.
Read the full account →Rains from Friday afternoon, the 14th, into Sunday the 16th were on the order of 3.5 to 4.9 inches, with the maximum over Wayne and Lincoln Counties. Small streams flooded onto roads Saturday evening, the 15th, into early Sunday, the 16th.
Read the full account →Major small stream flooding occurred after a second roundof thunderstorms, within 18 hours, dumped about 2 inches ofrain in an hour. A 24 year old woman drowned when her carwashed into Lower Creek, north of Milton. The woman got out of the car, but she was swept away.
Read the full account →The flash flooding in Mingo, Logan, and Wyoming Counties became part of the federal disaster area. Additional flooding, but on a more localized scale, would occur in the disaster area in early June. Around 500 National Guard troops were used in the flood cleanup and recovery.
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