A departing cold front generated a 58 MPH wind gust at the Mercer County Airport.
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The episode as NWS RNK wrote it up.
A departing cold front generated a 58 MPH wind gust at the Mercer County Airport.
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 Blacksburg, VA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 18, 12:58 PM EST, 3 hours 42 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Blacksburg VA 158 PM EDT Fri Mar 18 2022 .SYNOPSIS... A low pressure system will arrive this evening into early Saturday bringing scattered rain showers. Southwest winds will be gusty ahead of the front Saturday, and behind it from the northwest Sunday. High pressure builds in later Sunday through Tuesday. The next rain chances arrive mid week. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH SATURDAY/... As of 111 PM EDT Friday... Cold frontal boundary resides from a low over eastern Missouri south into the lower MS Valley, with warm front extending east to the southern Appalachian this afternoon. Warm advection increasing the moisture from the south with field of cumulus over most of the area overridden by high clouds that are becoming thicker. Rain showers have made it as far east as the Knoxville to Smoky Mountain corridor. Have allowed for some showers per high-res models to develop or move in by mid-afternoon but trends showing dryer/less coverage this afternoon so have pops in the slight chance range/isolated coverage for most of the area, with less threat east of the U.S. 29 corridor and maybe 45-50 pops across the southwest corner of Watauga county. Needless to say not much til after dark. Expect a little more lift as the front swings closer, and some more lift to the east of the mountains overnight. This will yield pops mostly in the 30-40 percent range and am not fully confident on the coverage as most/all high-res solutions are not showing much, while the synoptic models are a little more spread but low qpf. Should see just enough instability late tonight-Sat for possible thunder in the piedmont. Saturday before the fropa, low level jet increases to 40kts and with sunshine expected to break out, should see a breezy day, with gusts over 30 mph at times, but not quite advisory levels. Clouds tonight and showers should keep lows mild and could even touch record warm lows, barring any cooldown before midnight Sat night. Readings will be in the mainly in the 50s. Warm Saturday with highs about 15-20 degrees above normal, but no record highs, with readings from the 60s in the mountains to 70s east, possibly even 80 east of Danville-Lynchburg. As for the rain threat Saturday am leaning drier than previous forecast per high-res solutions even though some lift expected to form cumulus clouds but strong, west/southwest flow will hamper any vertical development to produce no more than isolated/widely scattered showers. Forecast confidence is low-average for coverage of showers thru the period and moderate to high on temps/winds and sky cover. && .SHORT TERM /SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT/... As of 145 PM EDT Friday... Low pressure will continue to move northeast of the region Saturday night with the southern tip of the trough tracking from the southern Ohio Valley into the mid Atlantic states Sunday. Majority of the moisture with this system will either be with the cold front along the east coast or with the parent low in southeastern Canada. In the wake of the trough, high pressure will build over the Ohio Valley, shutting off any moisture feed from the Great Lakes, which will limit precipitation to western slopes into Sunday morning. Dry high pressure will move over the region Sunday afternoon and hang around into Monday night. Not much cold air is associated with this weather system, therefore temperatures will run warmer than normal through the period. Sunday's high temperatures will range from the 50s across the mountains to low to mid 60s in the foothills and piedmont. Temperatures warm another 5F to 10F on Monday, ranging in the 60s west of the Blue Ridge to lower 70s east. && .LONG TERM /TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/... As of 135 PM EDT Friday... Rain likely for the middle of the work week... Expect wind speeds to increase and turn SSE on Tuesday as an upper level trough moves in from the central United States. This flow will bring in moisture from the Gulf of Mexico ahead of the surface low and cold front associated with the trough. Rain is likely beginning Tuesday night and continuing overnight into Thursday, but tapering off in the Thursday evening time frame as this system continues to track eastward. Surface high pressure looks to follow that system for Friday. && .AVIATION /18Z FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... As of 130 PM EDT Friday... Expect bkn-ovc VFR conditions this afternoon, with sct-bkn cu and bkn-ovc cirrostratus with clouds lowering this evening. A few showers are possible but attm, coverage should not warrant mention in the tafs. Looking at tonight, models show some potential for MVFR cigs especially east of the mountains, but with the clouds, fog looks like a low possibility unless it rains at the terminal. South winds tonight will turn west-southwest Saturday along/ahead of the front with gusts to 20-30kts common mainly after 15z. Any sub-VFR cigs will lift to VFR after 14z. Forecast confidence is low on the sub-VFR cigs/fog but high on winds. Extended Aviation Discussion... As this system exits by Saturday afternoon, winds should stay gusty and swing to the northwest. Upslope clouds and moisture could persist across WV Sat night into Sunday. High pressure should provide good flying weather for all aviation sites on Monday, but another low pressure system looms west of the Appalachian Mountains toward the end of Tuesday. && .RNK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... VA...None. NC...None. WV...None. && SYNOPSIS...SH/WP NEAR TERM...WP SHORT TERM...RCS LONG TERM...AS AVIATION...SH/WP
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Blacksburg VA 955 AM EDT Fri Mar 18 2022 NCZ001>006-018>020-VAZ007-009>020-022>024-032>035-043>047-058-059- WVZ042>044-507-508-191400- Ashe-Alleghany NC-Surry-Stokes-Rockingham-Caswell-Watauga-Wilkes- Yadkin-Tazewell-Smyth-Bland-Giles-Wythe-Pulaski-Montgomery-Grayson- Carroll-Floyd-Craig-Alleghany VA-Bath-Roanoke-Botetourt-Rockbridge- Patrick-Franklin-Bedford-Amherst-Henry-Pittsylvania-Campbell- Appomattox-Buckingham-Halifax-Charlotte-Mercer-Summers-Monroe- Eastern Greenbrier-Western Greenbrier- 955 AM EDT Fri Mar 18 2022 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for north central North Carolina, northwest North Carolina, central Virginia, south central Virginia, southwest Virginia, west central Virginia and southeast 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.
Special Weather Statement National Weather Service Blacksburg VA 516 PM EDT Fri Mar 18 2022 NCZ001-002-018-VAZ007-009-010-012-015-016-WVZ042-182245- Ashe-Alleghany NC-Watauga-Tazewell-Smyth-Bland-Wythe-Grayson- Carroll-Mercer- Including the cities of West Jefferson, Sparta, Boone, Tazewell, Marion, Bland, Wytheville, Independence, Whitetop, Troutdale, Volney, Galax, Bluefield, and Flat Top 516 PM EDT Fri Mar 18 2022 Strong wind gusts expected through 8:00PM. Strong wind gusts are being reported along and west of the Interstate 77 corridor. At 5:00 PM, a wind gust of 46 MPH was reported at the Mercer County Airport. These winds are associated with a weakening area of showers. Winds of this magnitude may down tree limbs and blow around unsecured objects. If outdoors, consider seeking shelter inside a building until the winds subside.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Winds gusted to 58 mph at the Mercer County Airport. Trees were blown down due to these winds, and there were power outages not associated with lightning. Damage values are estimated.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
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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: 1015763.