Hail and Damaging Wind in West Virginia, May 8, 2002

Name: Hail and Damaging Wind in West Virginia, May 8, 2002
Start: 2002-05-08T17:25
End: 2002-05-08T19:55
Location: West Virginia

May 8, 2002 · NWS RLX · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

3 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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: $2,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 4

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 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 May 8, 2:00 PM EST, 3 hours 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 8, 2:00 PM EST, 3 hours 25 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
300 PM EDT WED MAY 8 2002

CURRENT..(TONIGHT AND THURSDAY) FRONTAL BOUNDARY WILL CONT TO MOVE
NORTHWARD THIS EVENING TAKING WITH IT THE RAIN.  OVERNIGHT NOT MUCH
GOING ON UNTIL COLD FRONT PUSHES THRU THURS AFT.  GUID POPS DIFFER A
TAD AND WILL GO WITH THE MAV POPS AS AVN ALONG WITH ETA HAS A GOOD
HANDLE ON THIS SYSTEM. GUID TEMPS ARE ON TRACK AND WILL STAY PRETTY
CLOSE TO THEM IN THE SHORT TERM.  WILL LET FFA EXPIRE AT 8 PM...WITH
NOTHING MAJOR EXPECTED TO DEVELOP OVERNIGHT.  WE WILL LET THE
MIDNIGHT CREW DETERMINE WHETHER THEY NEED AN FFA FOR THURS.

EXTENDED (THU NIGHT-WED)...AVN/ETA SEEM TO BE A FAIRLY GOOD
AGREEMENT WITH TIMING ON FRONT EXIT THE CWA.  NGM IS SLOWER.  AT
THIS TIME HAVE GONE WITH FASTER TIMING BRING FRONT THROUGH LATE DAY
LEAVING A FEW LINGERING SHOWERS EXITING THE EASTERN COUNTIES BY 4Z.
ALSO EXPECT THE COOLER AIR TO FILTER PRETTY QUICKLY AND WITH LITTLE
WRAP AROUND MOISTURE HAVE TRENDED TOWARD AVN GUIDANCE.

HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS IN FRIDAY.  BUT 850 TEMPS AROUND -4 TO -6 BY
THE END OF THE DAY THE MID TO UPPER 60S SEEMS TO BE THE BEST GUESS.

CLOUDS BEGIN TO INCREASE ON SATURDAY...12Z AVN IS FASTER WITH CLOUDS
AND RH THAN 00Z RUN.  WILL HOLD OFF ON PCPN UNTIL THE NIGHT TIME
HOURS...BUT WITH OVER RUNNING PCPN THE MODELS ARE OFTEN TOO SLOW TO
BREAK OUT PCPN.

THE WARM MOVES OVER THE REGION AND STALLS AS FRONT BECOMES PARALLEL
TO THE UPPER LEVEL FLOW.  WITH THE SURFACE WINDS STRONG OUT OF THE
SOUTH AND WAVES OF LOW PRESSURE MOVING ALONG THE FRONT SUNDAY THRU
MON...THE CHANCE FOR HEAVY RAIN IS POSSIBLE.  WITH THE GROUNDS
ALREADY NEARLY SATURATED...EXPECT THAT SOME FLOODING WILL OCCUR WITH
THIS SYSTEM AS WELL.

COLD FRONT FINALLY CLEARS THE REGION MONDAY NIGHT...BRING A FEW DRY
DAYS FOR THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK.  TEMPERATURE GUIDANCE FROM MEX
LOOKS TO BE REASONABLE.

.RLX...

WV...FLOOD WATCH UNTIL 8 PM FOR ZONES
WVZ005>008...WVZ013>018...WVZ024>029...WVZ033>038...WVZ046>047.

VA...FLOOD WATCH UNTIL 8 PM FOR ZONES VAZ003>004.

KY...FLOOD WATCH UNTIL 8 PM FOR ZONES KYZ101>103...KYZ105.

OH...FLOOD WATCH UNTIL 8 PM FOR ZONES OHZ083...OHZ086>087.

.END/JS/ES

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Mason

When: May 8, 5:25 PM EST
Where: Mason County, Letart
Property damage: $2,000
Reported by: BROADCAST MEDIA
Coordinates: 38.883, -81.933

A garage was damaged.

Hail, Calhoun

When: May 8, 7:10 PM EST
Where: Calhoun County, 1 mi E of Five Forks
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 38.967, -81.050

Hail, Gilmer

When: May 8, 7:30 PM EST
Where: Gilmer County, 1 mi E of Letter Gap
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 38.880, -80.900

Hail, Braxton

When: May 8, 7:55 PM EST
Where: Braxton County, Burnsville
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 38.850, -80.650

What these are

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.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in West Virginia in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in West Virginia, May 2002

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: 5291064, 5291065, 5291066, 5291067.