A strong cold front crossed West Virginia on the 7th. Behind the cold front, on the 8th, gusty winds prevailed under strong cold air advection.
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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 crossed West Virginia on the 7th. Behind the cold front, on the 8th, gusty winds prevailed under strong cold air advection. The strongest winds were across north central West Virginia, and into the northern mountainous counties.
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 8, 2:50 PM EST, 1 hour 10 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Charleston WV 250 PM EST Wed Mar 8 2017 .SYNOPSIS... Plenty of sunshine today. High pressure Thursday. A cold front crosses early Friday. Weekend system mainly stays south. Clipper towards the middle of next week. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH THURSDAY/... As of 1230 PM Wednesday... Plenty of sunshine out there today, with only a few cumulus popping across the north. Also have some thin cirrus entering from the west. Have very dry air in place at low levels, which is allowing good mixing and gusty winds. Generally expecting 30-40mph gusts with some higher gusts possible across NW CWA and the ridges of the northern mountains. Have not seen any advisory criteria gusts yet in these locations, but there are a significant amount of LSRs coming out of MI/IN/OH, so will leave wind advisories in place. All models showing strongest 850mb winds cross the mountains overnight, so in coordination with neighboring WFOs extended the wind advisory for the northern mountain ridges through the night. Strong gusts should be limited to above 3500 or 4000 feet overnight. Have another mostly sunny day Thursday, bumped up temps a touch across the north with 60s north to right around 70 across the south. Undercut dewpoint guidance again some on Thursday with dry low levels. Should not be quite as windy Thursday, but still breezy. Have a sliver of slight chance POPs entering NW Perry County late Thursday afternoon, but that is probably a bit generous and should not have any measurable precip during the period. && .SHORT TERM /THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT/... As of 240 PM Wednesday... Strong baroclinic zone develops across northern Ohio amd Indiana heading into Friday night, dropping southward into the northern CWA through the 12Z time frame. 925mb temperatures show a very tight temperature gradient forming as the frontogenesis strengthens. Have some discrepancies between the operational models on the rate at which this gradient will sink southward through the CWA and dropping below zero. NAM is slower with this, and the translating surface temperatures, and ultimate change from rain to snow. All of the guidance numbers mimic the slower southward progression of the operational NAM. As a result, snow is going to be on the difficult side to come by, but a couple inches are possible through the Perry/Morgan area before the moisture exits, and then later on Friday in the mountains. && .LONG TERM /SATURDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... As of 240 PM Wednesday... Cold air to remain in place through the extended forecast. Models still keeping the bulk of the weekend system south, so still could end up with snow over the Virginia counties and far southern West Virginia, but the blend likely put still is putting low POPs further north due to model inconsistencies. Cold air sinks well south in the wake of the weekend system, and gets reinforced by a strong clipper system towards the middle of the week. && .AVIATION /20Z WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY/... As of 1240 PM Wednesday... VFR conditions expected through the TAF period. Winds will remain gusty out of the west today. Winds will not be quite as strong, but still breezy on Thursday our of the west to southwest. FORECAST CONFIDENCE AND ALTERNATE SCENARIOS THROUGH 18Z THURSDAY... FORECAST CONFIDENCE: High. ALTERNATE SCENARIOS: Timing of wind decrease this evening may vary. 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 18 19 20 21 22 23 00 01 02 03 04 05 EST 1HRLY 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 00 CRW CONSISTENCY H H H H H H H H H H H M HTS CONSISTENCY H H H H H H H H H H H M BKW CONSISTENCY H H H H H H H H H H H M EKN CONSISTENCY H H H H H H H H H H H M PKB CONSISTENCY H H H H H H H H H H H M CKB CONSISTENCY H H H H H H H H H H H M AFTER 18Z THURSDAY... IFR possible late Thursday night into Friday in rain/snow. && .RLX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WV...Wind Advisory until 7 AM EST Thursday for WVZ523-526. OH...Wind Advisory until 7 PM EST this evening for OHZ066-067. KY...None. VA...None. && SYNOPSIS...MZ/26 NEAR TERM...MZ SHORT TERM...26 LONG TERM...26 AVIATION...MZ
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Charleston WV 1017 AM EST Wed Mar 8 2017 OHZ066-067-WVZ523-526-091530- Perry-Morgan-Northwest Pocahontas-Southeast Randolph- 1017 AM EST Wed Mar 8 2017 ...WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM EST THIS EVENING... This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of southeast Ohio and northeast West Virginia. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight. Please listen to NOAA Weather Radio or go to weather.gov on the Internet for more information about the following hazards. Wind Advisory. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday. A low pressure system may affect the area late Saturday and Saturday night with precipitation. This system has the potential to bring accumulating snow to parts of the area. However, confidence is somewhat low regarding what track this takes. This will ultimately determine precipitation type and amounts. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not expected at this time. KYZ101>103-105-OHZ075-076-083>087-VAZ003-004-WVZ005>011-013>020- 024>034-039-040-515>522-524-525-091530- Greenup-Carter-Boyd-Lawrence KY-Athens-Washington-Jackson OH-Vinton- Meigs-Gallia-Lawrence OH-Dickenson-Buchanan-Wayne-Cabell-Mason- Jackson WV-Wood-Pleasants-Tyler-Lincoln-Putnam-Kanawha-Roane-Wirt- Calhoun-Ritchie-Doddridge-Mingo-Logan-Boone-Clay-Braxton-Gilmer- Lewis-Harrison-Taylor-McDowell-Wyoming-Upshur-Barbour- Northwest Raleigh-Southeast Raleigh-Northwest Fayette- Southeast Fayette-Northwest Nicholas-Southeast Nicholas- Northwest Webster-Southeast Webster-Southeast Pocahontas- Northwest Randolph- 1017 AM EST Wed Mar 8 2017 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for northeast Kentucky, portions of southeast Ohio, southwest Virginia, and portions of central West Virginia, northeast West Virginia, northern West Virginia, southeast West Virginia, southern West Virginia and western West Virginia. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight. Hazardous weather is not expected at this time. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday. A low pressure system may affect the area late Saturday and Saturday night with precipitation. This system has the potential to bring accumulating snow to parts of the area. However, confidence is somewhat low regarding what track this takes. This will ultimately determine precipitation type and amounts. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not expected at this time.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A metal flag pole was damaged in the strong wind.
A tree fell onto a car along Route 5 near Orlando.
A tree fell onto a house in Alum Bridge.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in West Virginia in 2017Every state in 2017This day in weather historyWarnings in West Virginia, March 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: 674205, 674206, 674207.