A strong cold front pushed into a moist and unstable air mass across the middle Ohio River Valley on the 22nd. Ahead of the cold front, a line of strong to severe thunderstorms formed during the afternoon.
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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 strong cold front pushed into a moist and unstable air mass across the middle Ohio River Valley on the 22nd. Ahead of the cold front, a line of strong to severe thunderstorms formed during the afternoon. This line peaked in strength as it crossed the Ohio River, and then weakened rapidly as it continued eastward.
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 Aug 22, 5:37 AM EST, 8 hours 12 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Charleston WV 637 AM EDT Tue Aug 22 2017 .SYNOPSIS... Strong cold front with strong to possibly severe storms later today into tonight. Cooler and drier high pressure into the weekend. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... As of 630 AM Tuesday... No significant changes. As of 315 AM Tuesday... Models are in agreement on a strong cold front dropping southeast through the area tonight under an amplifying northern stream upper trough. This system has both dynamics and a very moist and unstable airmass in place ahead of the front. This will likely result in a well defined line of strong to severe thunderstorms, supported by SPC forecasts. The big forecast question then is the timing of this line to move across. There are model differences in that some are initially prefrontal along a surface boundary laid out by overnight convection back in Indiana, while others are closer to the front itself. Will go with the prefrontal boundary scenario, in which the line should regenerate by early this afternoon from northeast Ohio to north central Kentucky. The line is expected to intensify and accelerate southeast across the area this afternoon into early tonight, possibly accompanied by damaging winds and large hail. The most likely areas for potential severe thunderstorms will be over northeast Kentucky, southeast Ohio and the northwest half of West Virginia this afternoon and evening, then weakening as the line gets into the southeastern half of West Virginia and southwest Virginia late this evening and early tonight. Ahead of this line, there may be isolated pop up storms this afternoon. This scenario will take away much of the convection with the cold front itself that follows tonight, so will keep much lower pops behind this line and until the front passes. It will be hot and more humid today under sunshine ahead of the line, with highs 85 to 91. For tonight, intensity of the line of convection as it moves across the south and east will diminish with loss of heating, while showers will be ending from west to east in the low lands following the front, as drier air filters in. Any lingering showers by dawn will mostly be confined to the central and southeast mountains with some cold advection northwest upslope flow acts on some remaining low level moisture behind the front. && .SHORT TERM /WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT/... As of 220 AM Tuesday... The post frontal environment will dry out quickly in northwest flow with broad scale surface high pressure building into the Ohio Valley. Some low level moisture advects back into the area in wrap around moisture, which would suggest sprinkles to isolated shower chances over the far northern CWA. However, leaving this out for now, and should be firmly entrenched north in the PBZ area. Temperatures give a slight hint to the twilight of summer with lowland 70s and dewpoints in the 50s for the short term. && .LONG TERM /SATURDAY THROUGH MONDAY/... As of 220 AM Tuesday... Outside of some isolated mountain showers, the extended is dry on the front end, with high pressure centered over eastern Canada controlling our forecast area. An upper level low will dig into the upper Mississippi Valley, meander eastward as it becomes cut off, and slow advects chances for showers into the western zones. As mentioned in past discussions, the dominant ridge/trough pattern across the CONUS from west to east will remain dominant. Expecting a slight increase in temperatures from the short term. && .AVIATION /12Z TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/... 12Z Tuesday thru 12Z Wednesday... As of 630 AM Tuesday... Strong cold front moves across the area late this afternoon and tonight, well preceded by a line of strong to severe thunderstorms. Thru 13Z... Cirrus on the increase early morning. This, and some flow should keep dense fog in only the most protected valleys. Did include LIFR at EKN in the deeper valley and with the thinest clouds til 13Z. Elsewhere, marginal MVFR valley fog at best possible. Today after 13Z... Out ahead of aforementioned line of thunderstorms, VFR with generally cirrus this morning, then SCT-BKN clouds 4000-6000 feet AGL after 17Z with isolated thunderstorms mainly west. Light south winds becoming southwest 10 to 20 KTS and gusty by late morning. Best estimate. Line of TSTMS expected to arrive at Ohio River 20Z-22Z and CKB-CRW line 23Z-01Z and into the mountains 01Z- 03Z. Conditions varying greatly within this line, lowering to IFR at times, so will put PROB30 in TAFS at this distant time frame, with strong gusty west winds and hail possible. Behind this line, outside of mountains generally VFR ceilings 3500-5000 feet, with scattered showers for 2-4 hours, then clouds decreasing in the west. In the mountains, MVFR/IFR ceilings, and showers will linger thru rest of period. Winds becoming west 5 to 8 KTS behind the front which will reach the mountains around 06Z. FORECAST CONFIDENCE AND ALTERNATE SCENARIOS THROUGH 12Z WEDNESDAY... FORECAST CONFIDENCE: Medium. ALTERNATE SCENARIOS: Main line of storms with cold front later today could arrive a bit earlier than forecast. EXPERIMENTAL TABLE OF FLIGHT CATEGORY OBJECTIVELY SHOWS CONSISTENCY OF WFO FORECAST TO AVAILABLE MODEL INFORMATION: H = HIGH: TAF CONSISTENT WITH ALL MODELS OR ALL BUT ONE MODEL. M = MEDIUM: TAF HAS VARYING LEVEL OF CONSISTENCY WITH MODELS. L = LOW: TAF INCONSISTENT WITH ALL MODELS OR ALL BUT ONE MODEL. UTC 1HRLY 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 EDT 1HRLY 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 CRW CONSISTENCY H M H H H H H H H H M M HTS CONSISTENCY H H H H H H H H H H M M BKW CONSISTENCY H H H H H H H H H H M M EKN CONSISTENCY L L L H H H H H H H M M PKB CONSISTENCY M M M H H H H H H H M L CKB CONSISTENCY H H H H H H H H H H M M AFTER 12Z WEDNESDAY... IFR possible in low stratus and showers/fog into early Wednesday for mountains. River valley fog possible each morning through the weekend. && .RLX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WV...None. OH...None. KY...None. VA...None. && SYNOPSIS...JMV/26 NEAR TERM...JMV SHORT TERM...26 LONG TERM...26 AVIATION...JMV
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Charleston WV 243 PM EDT Tue Aug 22 2017 KYZ101>103-105-OHZ066-067-075-076-083>087-WVZ005>011-013>020-029>032- 039-040-231845- Greenup-Carter-Boyd-Lawrence KY-Perry-Morgan-Athens-Washington- Jackson OH-Vinton-Meigs-Gallia-Lawrence OH-Wayne-Cabell-Mason- Jackson WV-Wood-Pleasants-Tyler-Lincoln-Putnam-Kanawha-Roane-Wirt- Calhoun-Ritchie-Doddridge-Gilmer-Lewis-Harrison-Taylor-Upshur- Barbour- 243 PM EDT Tue Aug 22 2017 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 462 IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM EDT THIS EVENING... This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for northeast Kentucky, southeast Ohio, and portions of central West Virginia, northern West Virginia, southern West Virginia and western West Virginia. .DAY ONE...This Afternoon and Tonight. Please listen to NOAA Weather Radio or go to weather.gov on the Internet for more information about the following hazards. Severe Thunderstorm Watch. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Wednesday through Monday. No hazardous weather is expected at this time. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Weather spotters are encouraged to report significant weather conditions according to standard operating procedures. VAZ003-004-WVZ024>028-033-034-515>526-231845- Dickenson-Buchanan-Mingo-Logan-Boone-Clay-Braxton-McDowell-Wyoming- Northwest Raleigh-Southeast Raleigh-Northwest Fayette- Southeast Fayette-Northwest Nicholas-Southeast Nicholas- Northwest Webster-Southeast Webster-Northwest Pocahontas- Southeast Pocahontas-Northwest Randolph-Southeast Randolph- 243 PM EDT Tue Aug 22 2017 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for southwest Virginia, and portions of central West Virginia, northeast West Virginia, southeast West Virginia and southern West Virginia. .DAY ONE...This Afternoon 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.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
217 PM EDT TUE AUG 22 2017
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0216 PM HAIL 5 SE SOUTH SHORE 38.68N 82.89W
08/22/2017 E0.25 INCH GREENUP KY PUBLIC
&&
JWSpecial Weather Statement
National Weather Service Charleston WV
217 PM EDT TUE AUG 22 2017
OHZ084-221845-
Vinton-
217 PM EDT TUE AUG 22 2017
...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT NORTHERN VINTON COUNTY...
At 217 PM EDT, a strong thunderstorm was located 12 miles east of
Chillicothe, moving northeast at 35 mph.
Winds in excess of 40 mph and pea size hail are possible with this
storm.
Locations impacted include...
Lake Hope State Park, Allensville, Creola and Eagle Mills.
Torrential rainfall is also occurring with this storm, and may cause
localized flooding. Do not drive your vehicle through flooded
roadways.
This storm may intensify, so be certain to monitor local radio
stations and available television stations for additional information
and possible warnings from the National Weather Service.
LAT...LON 3937 8275 3936 8264 3937 8263 3937 8252
3940 8251 3938 8229 3932 8230 3921 8276
TIME...MOT...LOC 1817Z 247DEG 32KT 3932 8275
09The Charleston,WV radar (KRLX), 70 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:49 UTC.
3 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A large tree fell across State Route 775 near mile marker 23.
Multiple trees were blown down along State Route 790.
Multiple large trees fell down along State Route 218.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Ohio in 2017Every state in 2017This day in weather historyWarnings in Ohio, August 2017
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: 711457, 711458, 711459.