High Wind in West Virginia, March 13, 2001

Name: High Wind in West Virginia, March 13, 2001
Start: 2001-03-13T17:00
End: 2001-03-13T20:00
Location: West Virginia

March 13, 2001 · NWS RLX · 30 events in 30 counties and zones

A cold pocket of air aloft triggered instability showers in the wake of a cold frontal passage. These showers were able to drag down strong winds from a few thousand feet above the surface.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 24 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: $3,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 30

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.

A cold pocket of air aloft triggered instability showers in the wake of a cold frontal passage. These showers were able to drag down strong winds from a few thousand feet above the surface. Parkersburg had a gust to 46 mph at 1711E, Huntington 45 mph at 1758E, Charleston 43 mph at 1849E, Clarksburg 53 mph at 1905E, Elkins 41 mph at 1927E, and Beckley 49 mph at 1951E.An athletic press box at Liberty High School in Raleigh County was damaged. Electric power was lost to about 6,000 customers between Parkersburg and Clarksburg.

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 Mar 13, 3:24 PM EST, 1 hour 36 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 13, 3:24 PM EST, 1 hour 36 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
300 PM EST TUE MAR 12 2001

CLDS CONT TO STREAM IN FROM THE W ALONG WITH A BAND OF SHRA MOVING
ACROSS OH AN IND.  THIS WL CONT TO MARCH EWRD AND REACH OUR AREA
ARND 00Z WED.  AS H5 VORT MAX SWINGS THRU OVRNGT COMBINED WITH H8-H5
OMEGA WL SEE SOME SHRA ACTIVITY...SO PLACED LKLY POPS N AND CHC POPS
S TNGT.  BIG QUESTION WL BE THE MTNS AND WHEN CHANGE OVER TO SNOW
OCCURS.  IF IT DOES EARLY ENUF...CUD SEE A FEW INCHES OF SNOW.  MDL
BOUNDARY LAYER TEMPS CONT TO SHOW A WRM DEPTH OF 2-3KFT AFT 06Z ACR
LOWLANDS.  SO WL KEEP ALL RAIN IN THE SOUTH AND A RAIN SNOW MIX AFT
06Z ACR EKN.  OPTED FOR UP TO 2 INCHES OF SNOW BY DAYBREAK WED
MAINLY ACR HIER ELEVATIONS.

WED...CLDS DECREASE FM W TO E BY LATE MORNING.  STILL SOME LINGERING
SNOW FLURRIES ACR THE NRN MTNS...HOWEVER THIS SHUD END SHORTLY AFT
SUNUP.  TEMPS REBOUND NICELY...GENERALLY 50S FOR HIGHS.

AVIATION LOOKS BETTER ON THE NEXT SYSTEM LATER IN THE WEEK PULLING
THE LOW UP TO OUR WEST AS THE SECOND WAVE TAKES THE ENERGY.  THIS
WILL KEEP THE PRECIPITATION RAIN UNTIL THE COLD AIR FINALLY MOVES IN
FRIDAY NIGHT AS THE LOW PULLS NORTHEASTL AND WE GET NORTHWEST FLOW.

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

.END/AAR-FM

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

30 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Barbour

When: March 13, 5:00 PM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where: Barbour forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 39.133, -80.003 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Boone

When: March 13, 5:00 PM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where: Boone forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 38.023, -81.711 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Braxton

When: March 13, 5:00 PM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where: Braxton forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 38.700, -80.719 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Cabell

When: March 13, 5:00 PM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where: Cabell forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 38.420, -82.242 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Calhoun

When: March 13, 5:00 PM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where: Calhoun forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 38.845, -81.118 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Clay

When: March 13, 5:00 PM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where: Clay forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 38.463, -81.075 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Doddridge

When: March 13, 5:00 PM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where: Doddridge forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 39.269, -80.707 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Fayette

When: March 13, 5:00 PM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where: Fayette forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER

High Wind, Gilmer

When: March 13, 5:00 PM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where: Gilmer forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 38.924, -80.857 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Harrison

When: March 13, 5:00 PM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where: Harrison forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 39.284, -80.380 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Jackson

When: March 13, 5:00 PM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where: Jackson forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 38.835, -81.675 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Kanawha

When: March 13, 5:00 PM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where: Kanawha forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 38.337, -81.528 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Lewis

When: March 13, 5:00 PM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where: Lewis forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 38.996, -80.502 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Lincoln

When: March 13, 5:00 PM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where: Lincoln forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 38.175, -82.070 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Mason

When: March 13, 5:00 PM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where: Mason forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 38.770, -82.026 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Nicholas

When: March 13, 5:00 PM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where: Nicholas forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER

High Wind, Pleasants

When: March 13, 5:00 PM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where: Pleasants forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 39.371, -81.161 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Pocahontas

When: March 13, 5:00 PM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where: Pocahontas forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER

High Wind, Putnam

When: March 13, 5:00 PM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where: Putnam forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 38.509, -81.909 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Raleigh

When: March 13, 5:00 PM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where: Raleigh forecast zone
Property damage: $3,000
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Randolph

When: March 13, 5:00 PM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where: Randolph forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Ritchie

When: March 13, 5:00 PM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where: Ritchie forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 39.178, -81.063 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Roane

When: March 13, 5:00 PM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where: Roane forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 38.714, -81.348 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Taylor

When: March 13, 5:00 PM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where: Taylor forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 39.336, -80.046 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Tyler

When: March 13, 5:00 PM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where: Tyler forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 39.465, -80.885 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Upshur

When: March 13, 5:00 PM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where: Upshur forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 38.898, -80.233 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Wayne

When: March 13, 5:00 PM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where: Wayne forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 38.146, -82.427 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Webster

When: March 13, 5:00 PM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where: Webster forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER

High Wind, Wirt

When: March 13, 5:00 PM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where: Wirt forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 39.022, -81.379 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Wood

When: March 13, 5:00 PM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where: Wood forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 39.211, -81.515 (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 West Virginia in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in West Virginia, March 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: 5230317, 5230318, 5230319, 5230320, 5230321, 5230322, 5230323, 5230324, 5230325, 5230326, 5230327, 5230328, 5230329, 5230330, 5230331, 5230332, 5230333, 5230334, 5230335, 5230336, 5230337, 5230338, 5230339, 5230340, 5230341, 5230342, 5230343, 5230344, 5230345, 5230346.