West Virginia, 1997Flash Flood and Hail in West Virginia, August 17 to 18, 1997
August 17 to 18, 1997 · NWS RLX · 29 events in 20 counties and zones
Several different lines or clusters of thunderstorms moved across the region during this Sunday afternoon. Most damage was isolated and relatively minor.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
Open the live radar over this ground
- Deaths
- 1
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $462,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 29
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
Several different lines or clusters of thunderstorms moved across the region during this Sunday afternoon. Most damage was isolated and relatively minor. The exception was in and around the mid Ohio Valley town of Parkersburg, on east, along the Route 50 corridor.
Event by event
26 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail, 1 lightning, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Thunderstorm Wind, Wood
- When
- August 17, 1:00 PM EST
- Where
- Wood County, Lubeck to Parkersburg
- Property damage
- $200,000
- Coordinates
- 39.230, -81.630
A total of 25 homes were damaged by fallen trees from Parkersburg on south and west, including the Lubeck and Mineralwells region. Sheds and cars were also damaged. One of the hardest hit regions in Parkersburg was the Meadowcrest region. One chainsaw dealer said, "we're inundated with service, everybody's got a tree down".
Thunderstorm Wind, Ritchie
- When
- August 17, 1:15 PM EST
- Where
- Ritchie County, Harrisville
- Property damage
- $70,000
- Coordinates
- 39.200, -81.050
Four houses and 2 businesses sustained damage on the west end of town. The damage was mainly to porches and roofs. On a golf course, about 150 trees were snapped or blown down.
Thunderstorm Wind, Jackson
- When
- August 17, 1:45 PM EST
- Where
- Jackson County, Murraysville
- Property damage
- $2,000
- Coordinates
- 39.080, -81.820
Thunderstorm Wind, Cabell
- When
- August 17, 2:30 PM EST
- Where
- Cabell County, Green Bottom
- Property damage
- $2,000
- Coordinates
- 38.550, -82.280
Thunderstorm Wind, Taylor
- When
- August 17, 2:30 PM EST
- Where
- Taylor County, Grafton
- Deaths
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Property damage
- $5,000
- Coordinates
- 39.350, -80.030
A 40 year old man was killed, while driving on Route 50, when a large tree branch struck his vehicle.
Thunderstorm Wind, Mason
- When
- August 17, 2:45 PM EST
- Where
- Mason County, Ashton
- Property damage
- $2,000
- Coordinates
- 38.620, -82.170
Thunderstorm Wind, Putnam
- When
- August 17, 3:00 PM EST
- Where
- Putnam County, Buffalo
- Property damage
- $5,000
- Coordinates
- 38.620, -81.980
Thunderstorm Wind, Roane
- When
- August 17, 3:30 PM EST
- Where
- Roane County, Newton
- Property damage
- $2,000
- Coordinates
- 38.580, -81.180
Telephone wires were knocked down by fallen trees.
Thunderstorm Wind, Clay
- When
- August 17, 3:45 PM EST
- Where
- Clay County, Big Otter
- Property damage
- $8,000
- Coordinates
- 38.600, -81.050
Thunderstorm Wind, Mason
- When
- August 17, 3:46 PM EST
- Where
- Mason County, Point Pleasant
- Property damage
- $15,000
- Coordinates
- 38.850, -82.120
Thunderstorm Wind, Braxton
- When
- August 17, 3:50 PM EST
- Where
- Braxton County, Sutton
- Property damage
- $1,000
- Coordinates
- 38.670, -80.700
Thunderstorm Wind, Cabell
- When
- August 17, 3:50 PM EST
- Where
- Cabell County, Huntington
- Property damage
- $2,000
- Coordinates
- 38.420, -82.470
Hail, Wayne
- When
- August 17, 4:20 PM EST
- Where
- Wayne County, Echo
- Measured
- 0.75 in hail
- Coordinates
- 38.180, -82.480
Thunderstorm Wind, Jackson
- When
- August 17, 4:25 PM EST
- Where
- Jackson County, New Era
- Property damage
- $5,000
- Coordinates
- 38.900, -81.670
Thunderstorm Wind, Webster
- When
- August 17, 4:30 PM EST
- Where
- Webster County, Webster Spgs
- Property damage
- $1,000
- Coordinates
- 38.480, -80.420
Lightning, Harrison
- When
- August 17, 4:45 PM EST to 5:00 PM EST
- Where
- Harrison County, Shinnston
- Property damage
- $95,000
- Coordinates
- 39.284, -80.380 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning struck utility poles and dwellings. The building housing the National Weather Service weather radio station was extensively damaged by an electrical fire. Both transmitters were destroyed, prompting a relocation of the station to Clarksburg, after 20 years at the Shinnston site. In Clarksburg, lightning downed power lines onto vehicles. One man was trapped in this car for an hour.
Thunderstorm Wind, Webster
- When
- August 17, 4:55 PM EST
- Where
- Webster County, Hacker Vly
- Property damage
- $2,000
- Coordinates
- 38.650, -80.380
Fallen trees blocked Route 20.
Thunderstorm Wind, Fayette
- When
- August 17, 5:00 PM EST
- Where
- Fayette County, Pax to Mt Hope
- Property damage
- $10,000
- Coordinates
- 37.900, -81.270
One fallen tree damaged a home in Mt Hope.
Thunderstorm Wind, Raleigh
- When
- August 17, 5:00 PM EST
- Where
- Raleigh County, Clear Creek
- Property damage
- $1,000
- Coordinates
- 37.900, -81.350
Thunderstorm Wind, Randolph
- When
- August 17, 5:00 PM EST
- Where
- Randolph County, 5 mi E of Pickens
- Property damage
- $2,000
- Coordinates
- 38.650, -80.120
Several trees and large branches were downed in the Kumbrabow State Forest and along Turkeybone Mountain Road.
Thunderstorm Wind, Boone
- When
- August 17, 5:20 PM EST
- Where
- Boone County, Racine
- Property damage
- $1,000
- Coordinates
- 38.130, -81.670
Thunderstorm Wind, Wyoming
- When
- August 17, 5:30 PM EST
- Where
- Wyoming County, Pineville
- Property damage
- $2,000
- Coordinates
- 37.580, -81.530
Thunderstorm Wind, Wayne
- When
- August 17, 7:45 PM EST
- Where
- Wayne County, Wayne
- Property damage
- $2,000
- Coordinates
- 38.220, -82.430
Thunderstorm Wind, Wayne
- When
- August 17, 7:45 PM EST
- Where
- Wayne County, East Lynn
- Property damage
- $2,000
- Coordinates
- 38.170, -82.380
Thunderstorm Wind, Wayne
- When
- August 17, 7:45 PM EST to 7:50 PM EST
- Where
- Wayne County, Ft Gay to Dunlow
- Property damage
- $2,000
- Coordinates
- 38.120, -82.600
Thunderstorm Wind, Wayne
- When
- August 17, 7:45 PM EST
- Where
- Wayne County, Kiahsville
- Property damage
- $1,000
- Coordinates
- 38.100, -82.330
Thunderstorm Wind, Cabell
- When
- August 17, 8:00 PM EST to 8:05 PM EST
- Where
- Cabell County, Huntington to Barboursville
- Property damage
- $15,000
- Coordinates
- 38.420, -82.470
Thunderstorm Wind, Lincoln
- When
- August 17, 8:00 PM EST
- Where
- Lincoln County, Ranger
- Property damage
- $2,000
- Coordinates
- 38.120, -82.180
Flash Flood, Tyler
- When
- August 17, 10:30 PM EST to August 18, 12:30 AM EST
- Where
- Tyler County, Middlebourne
- Property damage
- $5,000
- Coordinates
- 39.465, -80.885 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Secondary roads were blocked by overflowing small streams. Minor road damage occurred. No dwellings were affected.
- Thunderstorm Wind
- Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
- Hail
- Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
- Lightning
- A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.
- Flash Flood
- Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
- Lightning Strike in West Virginia, August 17, 19971 death · $35,000 · 1 event
- Heat in Missouri, August 17, 19971 death · 1 event
- Tornadoes and Hail in Texas, August 17, 19972 injured · $2.3 million · F0 · 20 events
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Maryland, August 17, 19973 injured · $521,000 · 75 kt wind · 13 events
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Ohio, August 17, 1997$1.0 million · F0 · 21 events
- Damaging Winds and Lightning Strikes in Virginia, August 17, 19973 injured · $445,000 · 55 kt wind · 7 events
- Flash Flooding and Flood in Ohio, August 17 to 20, 1997$706,000 · 0.88 in hail · 13 events
- Hail and Damaging Wind in New Mexico, August 17, 19971 injured · $750,000 · 1.75 in hail · 2 events
- Damaging Wind in Pennsylvania, August 17, 1997$300,000 · 1 event
- Lightning Strike in West Virginia, August 17, 1997$300,000 · 1 event
- Damaging Winds and Lightning Strike in Kentucky, August 17, 1997$121,000 · 13 events
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Georgia, August 17, 1997$150,000 · 1 in hail · 5 events
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5613074, 5615644, 5613075, 5613082, 5615645, 5613083, 5613084, 5613088, 5613076, 5613085, 5613086, 5613087, 5613077, 5613078, 5613079, 5613100, 5613080, 5613081, 5613089, 5613099, 5613097, 5613096, 5613090, 5613091, 5613092, 5613093, 5613094, 5613095, 5613098.