High Wind in North Carolina, December 18, 2001

Name: High Wind in North Carolina, December 18, 2001
Start: 2001-12-18T07:00
End: 2001-12-18T09:00
Location: North Carolina

December 18, 2001 · NWS RNK · 1 event in 1 county or zone

High winds during the morning of the 18th downed trees across Watauga County, blocking several roads.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS RNK wrote it up.

High winds during the morning of the 18th downed trees across Watauga County, blocking several roads.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Blacksburg, VA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 18, 3:28 AM EST, 3 hours 32 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 18, 3:28 AM EST, 3 hours 32 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG, VA
328 AM EST TUE DEC 18 2001

WILL KEEP WIND ADVISORY UP FOR THE SAME ZONES THAT WERE INCLUDED IN
THE EVENING UPDATE. LOOKS LIKE IT WILL BE MARGINAL IN THE PIEDMONT
THOUGH. WILL WORD AS GRADUALLY DIMINISHING THIS AFTERNOON....AND WE
MAY BE ABLE TO CANCEL IT BY AROUND 18Z. SHOULD BE QUITE A BIT OF
CLOUDINESS WITH CAA IN SE WV TODAY...SO WILL BE A WIDE SPREAD IN MAX
TEMPS FROM THERE TO THE PIEDMONTS OF VA/NC. MAIN CHANGE TO CURRENT
FCST WILL BE TO ADD CHC SHRA IN THE MTNS WED EVE...AND THEN FLURRIES
OVERNITE WITH MODELS TRENDING STRONGER WITH THE NEXT SHORT WAVE.
SHOULD ALSO BE COLDER BEHIND THE FNT ON THU...SO HAVE LOWERED MAX
TEMPS SOME...ESPEC IN SE WV. WILL KEEP MENTION OF CHC PCPN
MONDAY...BUT WILL WORD AS RAIN WITH ALL MODELS INDICATING AN
OVERRUNNING/POSS UPSLOPE EVENT. P-TYPE MAY BE A CONCERN BEFORE IT IS
ALL OVER WITH...BUT ITS WAY TOO EARLY TO ADDRESS THAT.

FCSTID = 6
ROA   57  36  57  32 /  10   0  10  20
LYH   59  32  57  32 /  10   0  10  20
DAN   62  34  60  35 /  10   0   0  10
BLF   46  32  50  24 /  20   0  20  40
LWB   45  25  50  25 /  30   0  20  40
BCB   52  29  52  28 /  20   0  10  30
TNB   49  29  51  25 /  10   0  10  30

.RNK...
NC...WIND ADVISORY FOR TUESDAY FOR ZONES NCZ001>006...NCZ018>020.

VA...WIND ADVISORY FOR TUESDAY FOR ZONES VAZ010>020...VAZ022>024...
VAZ032>035...VAZ043>047...VAZ058>059.

WV...NONE.

JJ

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Watauga

When: December 18, 7:00 AM EST to 9:00 AM EST
Where: Watauga forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 36.231, -81.696 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in North Carolina in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in North Carolina, December 2001

Sources

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: 5273947.