A cold front was in northern Indiana to central Illinois. In the warm and muggy air ahead of the front, clusters of thunderstorms formed during the overnight hours.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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 RLX wrote it up.
A cold front was in northern Indiana to central Illinois. In the warm and muggy air ahead of the front, clusters of thunderstorms formed during the overnight hours. Huntington had 1 to 1.5 inches of rain in less than an hour. Outside the city, the airport measured 1.38 inches of rain in an hour.
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 Jul 21, 1:55 AM EST, 2 hours 25 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV 255 AM EDT TUE JUL 21 2015 .SYNOPSIS... A COLD FRONT CROSSES TONIGHT. DRY HIGH PRESSURE FOR WEDNESDAY INTO THE WEEKEND. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... A FEW WAVES OF SHRA AND A FEW TSRA WILL MOVE THRU THE AREA INTO THE MORNING HRS UNTIL MID LEVEL WAVE PASSES. AFTER THAT...THERE SHOULD BE AMPLE TIME TO DESTABILIZE WITH SOME SUN THIS AFTERNOON, HOWEVER THERE IS NOT MUCH OF AN ORGANIZED TRIGGER TO WARRANT MORE THAN ISOLATED COVERAGE. ALL THE WHILE...SIGNIFICANT DRYING IN THE MID LEVELS WILL BE TAKING PLACE INTO THIS EVENING AMID AN APPROACHING COLD FRONT. THINK THERE SHOULD BE ENOUGH FORCING AND AFTERNOON HEATING TO OVERCOME ANY CAP BUT ONLY RIGHT ALONG THE FRONTAL ZONE. SO EXPECT A BAND OF LOOSELY ORGANIZED CONVECTION TO FIRE ALONG THE FRONT LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING AS IT CROSSES SE OH...THEN WORKING THRU THE REMAINDER OF THE AREA TONIGHT WHILE LOOSING STEAM WITH LOSS OF HEATING. ANY WATER WORRIES SHOULD CONFINED TO THIS MORNING. AFTER THAT...WITH LACK OF COVERAGE UNTIL LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING...WATER WORRIES WOULD BE ISOLATED. FLOW PICKS UP WITH FRONTAL SHRA/TSRA SO NOT CONCERNED WITH FLOODING WITH THAT. AFTER THE FRONT CROSSES...THE LOW LEVEL FLOW WILL GO NEARLY CALM WHICH SHOULD ALLOW FOR AREAS OF DENSE RIVER VALLEY FOG TO FORM ALONG AND N OF I64 WITH LOW STRATUS THE RULE IN S WV AND SW VA CLOSER TO THE FRONT. && .SHORT TERM /WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY/... A HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL BUILD OVER THE AREA ON WEDNESDAY...REMAINING INTO THE WEEKEND. THIS WILL PROVIDE DRY WEATHER AND LOWER HUMIDITY LEVELS. LOOKING AT 850 MB TEMPERATURES ON WEDNESDAY...THINK THAT THE MET MOS HAS A BETTER HANDLE ON HIGH TEMPERATURES. && .LONG TERM /FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY/... NO REAL CHANGES TO THE EXTENDED WITH MODELS HOLDING ONTO HIGH PRESSURE INTO THE WEEKEND. AS DRIFTS EASTWARD HOWEVER...THE WARMING CONTINUES FROM THE END OF THE SHORT TERM FORECAST WITH A COLD FRONT APPROACHING FOR SUNDAY. KEEP THE POPS HIGH ON THE BACK END OF THE LONG TERM INTO NEXT WEEK IN FLOW ALOFT...A TYPICALLY ACTIVE PATTERN FOR THE MIDDLE OHIO VALLEY AND CENTRAL APPALACHIANS. && .AVIATION /07Z TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/... YET ANOTHER TOUGH AVIATION FORECAST IN THE FIRST 6 HRS. WILL BE TRACKING TWO ORGANIZED AREAS OF SHRA/TSRA TO MOVE ACROSS THE AREA...ALONG AN MID LEVEL WAVE. THE FIRST IS MOVING THRU ATTM WITH SOME LOCALIZED IFR CONDITIONS EXPECTED FOR KHTS/KCRW AND MVFR REMAINDER OF TERMINALS PREDAWN. ANOTHER CLUSTER OF SHRA/TSRA WILL MOVE ACROSS THE AREA FROM SW TO NE IN THE 09 TO 14Z TIME FRAME...AGAIN WITH LOCALIZED BRIEF IFR CONDITIONS. OUTSIDE OF SHRA/TSRA AREAS OF MVFR/IFR STRATUS MAY FORM OVER THE TERMINALS. BL WINDS SHOULD PREVENT MUCH IN THE WAY OF DENSE FOG. THE MID LEVEL WAVE PASSES BY MIDDAY...LEAVING POPCORN SHRA/TSRA FOR THE AFTERNOON HOURS. A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THRU THE AREA THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT WITH A THIN BAND OF SHRA/TSRA. TOO FAR OUT TO INCLUDE ANYTHING OTHER THAN VFR SHRA MENTION. ONCE THE FRONT CROSSES...THE LOW LEVEL FLOW WEAKENS WHICH SHOULD ALLOW DENSE RIVER VALLEY FOG TO FORM OVER ALL OF THE TERMINALS. THE LONE EXCEPTION WOULD BE KBKW WHERE IFR STRATUS IS EXPECTED IN THE VICINITY OF THE FRONT. FORECAST CONFIDENCE AND ALTERNATE SCENARIOS THROUGH 06Z WEDNESDAY... FORECAST CONFIDENCE: LOW TO MEDIUM. ALTERNATE SCENARIOS...EXTENT AND TIMING OF SHRA/TSRA THRU THE MIDDAY HOURS IN QUESTION. AFTER 06Z WEDNESDAY...LOCALLY MVFR/IFR IN SHOWERS/STORMS ACCOMPANYING THE FRONT TUESDAY AFTERNOON. IFR IN RIVER FOG IS POSSIBLE THURSDAY MORNING. && .RLX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WV...NONE. OH...NONE. KY...NONE. VA...NONE. && SYNOPSIS...RPY/30 NEAR TERM...30 SHORT TERM...RPY LONG TERM...26 AVIATION...30
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV 259 AM EDT TUE JUL 21 2015 KYZ101>103-105-OHZ086-087-VAZ003-004-WVZ005>008-013>016-018-024>030- 033>039-046-047-220700- GREENUP-CARTER-BOYD-LAWRENCE KY-GALLIA-LAWRENCE OH-DICKENSON- BUCHANAN-WAYNE-CABELL-MASON-JACKSON WV-LINCOLN-PUTNAM-KANAWHA-ROANE- CALHOUN-MINGO-LOGAN-BOONE-CLAY-BRAXTON-GILMER-LEWIS-MCDOWELL-WYOMING- RALEIGH-FAYETTE-NICHOLAS-WEBSTER-UPSHUR-POCAHONTAS-RANDOLPH- 259 AM EDT TUE JUL 21 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST KENTUCKY...SOUTHEAST OHIO...SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA AND MUCH OF WEST VIRGINIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. DUE TO THE WET GROUND FROM PREVIOUS RAINS...REPETITIVE THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE SAME AREA COULD CAUSE HIGH WATER THIS MORNING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY. HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. OHZ066-067-075-076-083>085-WVZ009>011-017-019-020-031-032-040-220700- PERRY-MORGAN-ATHENS-WASHINGTON-JACKSON OH-VINTON-MEIGS-WOOD- PLEASANTS-TYLER-WIRT-RITCHIE-DODDRIDGE-HARRISON-TAYLOR-BARBOUR- 259 AM EDT TUE JUL 21 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST OHIO...AND PORTIONS OF CENTRAL WEST VIRGINIA AND NORTHERN WEST VIRGINIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
1211 AM EDT TUE JUL 21 2015
KYZ102-210545-
CARTER-
1211 AM EDT TUE JUL 21 2015
...HEAVY RAINFALL COULD CAUSE WATER PROBLEMS...
AT 1209 AM EDT...A SERIES OF THUNDERSTORMS HAVE MOVED OVER
NORTHWESTERN CARTER COUNTY EARLY THIS MORNING. THIS WILL BRING
STREAMS TO BANKFULL...WITH SOME WATER PROBLEMS EXPECTED IN AREAS OF
POOR DRAINAGE...CULVERTS...AND LOW LYING AREAS. MOTORIST SHOULD USE
EXTREME CAUTION AND BE PREPARED FOR WATER OVER ROADWAYS. DO NOT
DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE THROUGH FLOODED ROADWAYS.
LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE... CARTER.
LAT...LON 3843 8323 3844 8321 3845 8321 3847 8319
3848 8319 3850 8314 3848 8311 3848 8308
3847 8306 3846 8305 3846 8306 3837 8323
TIME...MOT...LOC 0409Z 240DEG 49KT 3840 8322
25The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Urban flash flooding occurred. The 1st Street viaduct flooded. A vehicle was flooded in the viaduct when it stalled in the deep water. Other streets in Huntington flooded, including Jackson Avenue and 10th Street.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in West Virginia in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in West Virginia, July 2015
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: 580067.