Heat in West Virginia, December 1 to 23, 2001

Name: Heat in West Virginia, December 1 to 23, 2001
Start: 2001-12-01T00:00
End: 2001-12-23T18:00
Location: West Virginia

December 1 to 23, 2001 · NWS RLX · 34 events in 34 counties and zones

An Indian summer environment did not want to leave. Temperatures remained well above normal.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 28 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

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 34

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 RLX wrote it up.

An Indian summer environment did not want to leave. Temperatures remained well above normal. Daytime readings in the 50s and 60s were common across the lowlands. The warmest days were on the 4th, 5th, and 14th. Hamlin had 81 degrees, while Madison observed 80 degrees on the 5th. Records were set on the 5th at Charleston with 77 degrees, Huntington with 76 degrees, both Parkersburg and Elkins saw 74 degrees, and Beckley registered 73 degrees. Flowers and grass continued to grow along the river valleys. Mosquitoes were even spotted as late as the 8th. Ski resorts continued to postponed their opening date for the new season, finally getting started by Christmas. Some residents in the southern lowlands did not see their first snow flakes of the season until after Christmas. The low water flows of November, on headwater rivers, spilled over into the first week of December. Surface water flows gradually increased during the last 3 weeks of the month. Normal to below normal temperatures arrived by the last week of the month, preventing the overall monthly temperature from reaching record levels.

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 Charleston, WV wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Nov 30, 9:30 PM EST, 2 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 30, 9:30 PM EST, 2 hours 30 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
930 PM EST FRI NOV 30 2001

NO UPDATE PLANNED THIS EVENING.
WITH LOW CLOUDS STICKING AROUND WEST OF THE OHIO RIVER AND MIDLVL
CLOUDS EAST OF THE CWA...WE ARE LEFT IN THE MIDDLE....WITH VERY FEW
IF ANY CLOUDS TO SPEAK OF.  BKW A LITTLE WARMER THAN EXPECTED SO FAR
THIS EVENING...BUT SHOULD COOL QUICKLY LATER AS WINDS BEGIN TO SLACK
AND CLOUDS REMAIN ABSENT FOR THE MST PART.

.RLX...
WV...NONE.
VA...NONE.
KY...NONE.
OH...NONE.

.END/ KS

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

34 heat. Local standard time, as filed.

Heat, Barbour

When: December 1, 12:00 AM EST to December 23, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Barbour forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 39.133, -80.003 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Boone

When: December 1, 12:00 AM EST to December 23, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Boone forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 38.023, -81.711 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Braxton

When: December 1, 12:00 AM EST to December 23, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Braxton forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 38.700, -80.719 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Cabell

When: December 1, 12:00 AM EST to December 23, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Cabell forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 38.420, -82.242 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Calhoun

When: December 1, 12:00 AM EST to December 23, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Calhoun forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 38.845, -81.118 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Clay

When: December 1, 12:00 AM EST to December 23, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Clay forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 38.463, -81.075 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Doddridge

When: December 1, 12:00 AM EST to December 23, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Doddridge forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 39.269, -80.707 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Fayette

When: December 1, 12:00 AM EST to December 23, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Fayette forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Heat, Gilmer

When: December 1, 12:00 AM EST to December 23, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Gilmer forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 38.924, -80.857 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Harrison

When: December 1, 12:00 AM EST to December 23, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Harrison forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 39.284, -80.380 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Jackson

When: December 1, 12:00 AM EST to December 23, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Jackson forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 38.835, -81.675 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Kanawha

When: December 1, 12:00 AM EST to December 23, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Kanawha forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 38.337, -81.528 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Lewis

When: December 1, 12:00 AM EST to December 23, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Lewis forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 38.996, -80.502 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Lincoln

When: December 1, 12:00 AM EST to December 23, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Lincoln forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 38.175, -82.070 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Logan

When: December 1, 12:00 AM EST to December 23, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Logan forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 37.832, -81.935 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Mason

When: December 1, 12:00 AM EST to December 23, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Mason forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 38.770, -82.026 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, McDowell

When: December 1, 12:00 AM EST to December 23, 6:00 PM EST
Where: McDowell forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 37.379, -81.654 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Mingo

When: December 1, 12:00 AM EST to December 23, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Mingo forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 37.726, -82.135 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Nicholas

When: December 1, 12:00 AM EST to December 23, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Nicholas forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Heat, Pleasants

When: December 1, 12:00 AM EST to December 23, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Pleasants forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 39.371, -81.161 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Pocahontas

When: December 1, 12:00 AM EST to December 23, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Pocahontas forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Heat, Putnam

When: December 1, 12:00 AM EST to December 23, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Putnam forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 38.509, -81.909 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Raleigh

When: December 1, 12:00 AM EST to December 23, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Raleigh forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Heat, Randolph

When: December 1, 12:00 AM EST to December 23, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Randolph forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Heat, Ritchie

When: December 1, 12:00 AM EST to December 23, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Ritchie forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 39.178, -81.063 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Roane

When: December 1, 12:00 AM EST to December 23, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Roane forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 38.714, -81.348 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Taylor

When: December 1, 12:00 AM EST to December 23, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Taylor forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 39.336, -80.046 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Tyler

When: December 1, 12:00 AM EST to December 23, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Tyler forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 39.465, -80.885 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Upshur

When: December 1, 12:00 AM EST to December 23, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Upshur forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 38.898, -80.233 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Wayne

When: December 1, 12:00 AM EST to December 23, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Wayne forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 38.146, -82.427 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Webster

When: December 1, 12:00 AM EST to December 23, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Webster forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Heat, Wirt

When: December 1, 12:00 AM EST to December 23, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Wirt forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 39.022, -81.379 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Wood

When: December 1, 12:00 AM EST to December 23, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Wood forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 39.211, -81.515 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Wyoming

When: December 1, 12:00 AM EST to December 23, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Wyoming forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 37.610, -81.549 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Heat: Heat below excessive heat criteria that still caused deaths, injuries or significant impacts.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in West Virginia in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in West Virginia, 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: 5273431, 5273432, 5273433, 5273434, 5273435, 5273436, 5273437, 5273534, 5273535, 5273536, 5273537, 5273538, 5273539, 5273540, 5273541, 5273542, 5273543, 5273544, 5273545, 5273546, 5273547, 5273548, 5273549, 5273550, 5273551, 5273552, 5273553, 5273554, 5273555, 5273556, 5273557, 5273558, 5273559, 5273560.