A warm front lifted through the Tug Fork River valley late on the 12th, ushering in a moist and unstable atmosphere. 5 inches of rainfall overnight into the early morning hours of the 13th.
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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 warm front lifted through the Tug Fork River valley late on the 12th, ushering in a moist and unstable atmosphere. Widespread showers and thunderstorms brought 2 to 2.5 inches of rainfall overnight into the early morning hours of the 13th. This led to flash flooding in the southern coal fields.
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, 3:07 AM EST, 1 hour 43 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION National Weather Service Charleston WV 407 AM EDT Fri Mar 13 2020 .SYNOPSIS... High pressure crosses tonight. Low pressure system passes south of the area Saturday into Saturday night. Active weather pattern continues into next week. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... As of 405 AM Friday... A cold front crosses the area quickly early this morning, taking the rain with it. One last band of rain, with embedded heavier showers, appeared to be training across southern portions of the area, creating a second band of rainfall amounts of 1.25 inches or better (the first was over the HTS-CRW I-64 corridor earlier in the night). Will need to keep a bit of an eye on this early this morning with FFG values as low as 1.5 inches in 3 hours in that area, but the setup should push on through quickly. After a period of morning stratocu beneath the frontal inversion, mixing and drying will bring about clearing, allowing for afternoon sunshine, though filtered by high clouds, as high pressure builds into the area. These clouds will start to lower and thicken overnight tonight, as a low pressure system approaches from the west-southwest beneath a fast zonal flow. Precipitation should hold off until close to 12Z Saturday. MOS reflected higher highs today compared with raw guidance, and the forecast leans in that direction. Lows tonight were better converged, near freezing across the north in cold advection under the cover of darkness. && .SHORT TERM /SATURDAY THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT/... As of 330 AM Friday... Active weather starts off the period as low pressure emerging from the Four Corners region transports moisture into the Ohio River Valley Saturday morning. Chance POPs arrive into our southern territories early in the period and glides northward and overspreads the entire forecast area by the afternoon time frame. Aside from a slight chance for a mix of rain and snow over the mountains, bulk of the precipitation will fall as rain during the day Saturday. Temperatures drop below freezing overnight Saturday across our northern zones, expanding the chance for rain and snow before precipitation tapers off by Sunday evening. Temperatures will run a few degrees below normal for highs during the weekend as the region remains susceptible to northerly surface flow and a slightly cooler airmass. Morning lows Sunday will range from low 30s across the mountains and southeast Ohio, contributing to the chance for a mix of rain and snow as precipitation wraps up for the weekend. Meanwhile, portions of central West Virginia and the southern coalfields into southwest Virginia will remain a few degrees above the climatological norm in the upper 30s for Sunday morning. && .LONG TERM /MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/... As of 330 AM Friday... A multitude of disturbances and surface fronts will be the main story for the week and daily chance for precipitation. The current suite of model guidance lacks agreement going into the long term period. 00Z GFS remains noisy in terms of precipitation for Tuesday and Wednesday compared to the more placid 00Z ECMWF, then reversing in regards to active versus non-active for the second half of the work week. Chose to go with the middle ground and maintained a blend of models for the long term period, pinpointing the greater likelihood for rain for Thursday onward as a strengthening low pressure system traverses the country. Afternoon highs will gradually rise through the week, rising into the low 70s for parts of the lowlands and mid to upper 50s along the mountains by Thursday. Lows will generally hold steady through the period, with below freezing temperature readings in the higher elevations and low to mid 40s everywhere else in the forecast area. && .AVIATION /08Z FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/... As of 250 AM Friday... Rain has become more intermittent overnight, and will end as a cold front crosses, save for showers lingering behind the cold front in the mountains Friday morning even after daybreak. The timing of the fast-moving cold front is 09Z-11Z west to east from the Ohio River to the WV mountains. Flight conditions will vary from MVFR to VFR until the front crosses, and then MVFR ceilings but VFR visibility are expected behind the front through mid morning Friday. The MVFR ceilings will mix higher and then mix out late Friday morning, followed by a VFR Friday afternoon and night. Enough wind and high cloud are expected to preclude fog formation through 06Z Saturday at this time. Surface flow will be gusty at times from the south to southwest ahead of the cold front overnight, and then gusty from the west to northwest behind the front through Friday, with gusts reaching 20 to 25 kts. These surface winds will diminish Friday night, as high pressure moves into the area. Strong southwest flow aloft ahead of the cold front overnight will become strong west behind the front 10Z-12Z early Friday morning, and then moderate west to northwest Friday, before gradually diminishing Friday night. FORECAST CONFIDENCE AND ALTERNATE SCENARIOS THROUGH 06Z SATURDAY... FORECAST CONFIDENCE: Medium. ALTERNATE SCENARIOS: Flight category changes will fluctuate overnight, with IFR visibility restrictions in heavier showers or post-rain fog possible. IFR ceilings possible at BKW with the upslope flow early Friday morning. Timing of improvement from MVFR ceilings later Friday morning may vary. Fog formation is not entirely out of the question Friday night. 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. DATE FRI 03/13/20 UTC 1HRLY 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 EDT 1HRLY 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 CRW CONSISTENCY M H H H H H H H H H H H HTS CONSISTENCY H H H H H H M H H H H H BKW CONSISTENCY H H H M M M H H H H H H EKN CONSISTENCY L H H M L M M H M H H H PKB CONSISTENCY H H H H H H H H H H H H CKB CONSISTENCY H H M H H H H H H H H H AFTER 06Z SATURDAY... No widespread IFR expected. && .RLX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WV...None. OH...None. KY...None. VA...None. && SYNOPSIS...TRM/MEK NEAR TERM...TRM SHORT TERM...MEK LONG TERM...MEK AVIATION...TRM
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Charleston WV 541 AM EDT Fri Mar 13 2020 KYZ101>103-105-OHZ066-067-075-076-083>087-VAZ003-004-WVZ005>011- 013>020-024>034-039-040-515>526-140945- Greenup-Carter-Boyd-Lawrence KY-Perry-Morgan-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-Northwest Pocahontas- Southeast Pocahontas-Northwest Randolph-Southeast Randolph- 541 AM EDT Fri Mar 13 2020 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for northeast Kentucky, southeast Ohio, southwest Virginia and much of West Virginia. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight. No hazardous weather is expected at this time. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Saturday through Thursday. No hazardous weather is expected at this time. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not expected at this time. TRM
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Multiple roads around Chattaroy and Delbarton flooded.
Nelson Branch flooded, closing a section of Nelson Branch Road. Also, County Route 8 was closed, due to flooding along Little Huff Creek.
Betsy Branch flooded, washing out a section of Garland-Betsy Branch Road.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in West Virginia in 2020Every state in 2020This day in weather historyWarnings in West Virginia, March 2020
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: 874258, 874268, 874250.