A pulse-severe mini-supercell thunderstorm rapidly developed near the border of Frederick Co, Virginia and Berkeley Co during the late afternoon. The most impressive event was a brief tornado, witnessed for much of its path by a local resident.
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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.
The episode as NWS LWX wrote it up.
A pulse-severe mini-supercell thunderstorm rapidly developed near the border of Frederick Co, Virginia and Berkeley Co during the late afternoon. Shortly after the storm exhibited strong low- and mid-level rotation, a combination of large hail, damaging straight-line winds, and a tornado occurred in the Bunker Hill area.The most impressive event was a brief tornado, witnessed for much of its path by a local resident. The twister touched down along Tory Town Road and continued east-southeast along Sam Mason Road, crossing Interstate 81 before dissipating shortly after crossing federal highway 11. The tornado had multiple vortices - the eyewitness noted at least 5 spinning finger-shaped tendrils as the twister passed.Damage on Tory Town Road included a pushed in a wall of a home, one uprooted tree which totalled a parked sport-utility vehicle, and a destroyed barn. Along and just north of Sam Mason Road, damage included numerous snapped and twisted tree tops. One uprooted tree smashed into a home causing substantial damage to an adjacent shop. Five windows were blown out. Along Sam Mason Road east of Interstate 81 , at least a dozen large trees were uprooted, and several sheds were damaged. One of the sheds was large - 12 by 36 feet. Two horses inside sustained minor injuries (from cuts).Straight-line wind damage occurred about a mile northeast of the tornado's location - along and near Runnymeade Road. Two barns were blown down, and several large trees fell, one onto a vehicle and another onto a house. Hail, ranging in size from marble to occasionally golf ball, fell - in one case prior to the tornado touch down.Allegheny Power estimated between 500 and 1,000 customers lost electricity during the storms.
The Sterling radar (KLWX), 62 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:59 UTC.
1 tornado, 1 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in West Virginia in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for West Virginia, 1998Warnings in West Virginia, July 1998
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: 5663069, 5663070, 5663071.