subscribesubscriber servicescontact usabout ussite mapBuy a Classified
Sat, Jul 04 2009 

Published: June 17, 2008 08:55 pm    print this story   comment on this story  

Weather officials: Wind, hail, rain amount to severe thunderstorm

By GREG JORDAN
Bluefield Daily Telegraph

ROCK — Mercer County and other parts of the region experienced a severe thunderstorm Monday evening, but none of it qualified as a tornado.

The National Weather Service in Blacksburg, Va., issued a tornado warning Monday for parts of Mercer County and sections of Giles and Bland counties in Virginia. Doppler radar indicated that a possible tornado was heading for the Matoaka and Montcalm areas.

Later that same evening Mercer County 911 received reports that a tornado may have touched down in the Rock River Road area. No injuries were reported, but a fallen tree had damaged a house. No determination was made then about whether a tornado had actually arrived.

On Tuesday morning a storm survey team from Blacksburg, Va., arrived in the Rock area to survey the scene. Warning Coordination Meteorologist Phil Hysell and meteorologist Peter Corrigan inspected the damage and took photographs, but they determined that the area had not been hit by a tornado.

“We found very limited damage,” Corrigan said soon after returning to the weather center. “Essentially one large tree fell on a house. A lot of debris was from hail. Obviously a large amount of hail fell last night, and mostly leaves were down. The hail was about the size of nickels or quarters, fairly large. For the weather service a penny size or larger is considered a severe thunderstorm.”

One resident who lives between Rock and Lashmeet said the hail storm was extremely heavy.

“The lawn was covered with ice,” said Evelene Horne, 73, of Wright Mountain. “At times you couldn’t see. It was really bad. The wind was furious. It was blowing so hard that at one point the hail was going in a horizontal line.”

Hail literally “chewed up leaves” on the roadway and damaged tomato plants in Horne’s garden, but otherwise there was no serious damage.

“It was interesting, but we have a lot to be thankful for,” she said.

The tornado warning was issued when radar indicated conditions that could produce one, Corrigan said. The storm was showing rotation, but to have that rotation actually reach the ground is difficult depending on atmospheric conditions.

There had been the possibility that the damage was caused by a small tornado. Tornado strength is classified on the Enhanced Fujita scale on a range of 0 to 5 with five being the most powerful. A class EF 0 tornado has winds from 65 to 85 mph, similar to a severe thunderstorm, Corrigan said. An EF 1 has winds of 86 to 110 mph.

A tornado on the EF 0 to EF 1 range was in Roanoke, Va., recently, he said. It damaged trees by “skipping around their tops”, but no major damage to buildings was reported.

According to weather service records, the last confirmed tornado in Mercer County was seen on April 12, 1965, Corrigan said. He did not have the exact location where it was sighted, but it was an EF 2 with 111 to 135 mph winds.

Tornados are rare in the region, but not impossible, he emphasized.

“Some people think mountains can defend them, but mountains are not a complete defense against tornados,” Corrigan said.

print this story   comment on this story  

Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.



Zillow
monster
autoconx
Premier Guide
Find a business

Walking Fingers
Maps, Menus, Store hours, Coupons, and more...
Premier Guide
Premier Guide
Featured Jobs

CNC MACHINIST
CNC Machinist
needed with lathe and/ or Milling experience. For a progressive manufacturer in the Princeton area. 2
...>MORE

CATH LAB RADIOLOGY TECHNOLOGIST


Cath Lab Radiology Technologist
Professiona
...>MORE

RETAIL BANKER
Now Hiring Smiling Faces!
Woodforest Bank a leader in the Retail Banking Industry is
looking for Enthusiastic
...>MORE

RN CHARGE NURSE
Accepting Applications
For RN Charge Nurse. Full time with benefits 3-11 shift. Weekend rotation/on call rotation.
...>MORE

ADMINISTRATIVE RN
Accepting Applications
For an Administrative RN. Full time with benefits. Will be cross trained to work all RN resp
...>MORE

CARDIAC CATHERIZATION REGISTERED NURSE


Cardiac Catherization Registered Nurse
Prof
...>MORE

UNIT CHARGE NURSES


Now Hiring: Unit Charge Nurses
...>MORE

See all ads

Yard Sales

ESTATE SALE
Estate Sale - Antique furniture, Volks Wagon parts, etc.
(304) 431-3727 for info.
...>MORE

SPRINGVILLE, VA ROUT 19-460
Chase and Nicole’s honeymoon fund yard sale. Saturday July 4 7:30 am- 3:00 pm in Springville VA Route 19-460 1 mile east...>MORE

DOUBLE GATES, 109 SOUTH LANE, BLUEFIELD, VA
Friday July 3. Double Gates. 109 South Lane. 8 am - 3 pm. To many items to mention....>MORE

208 MONTROSE STREET ACROSS FROM GRAHAM MART
Moving sale across from the Graham Mart in Bluefield VA on 208 Montrose Street, Friday and Saturday at 7am-2pm....>MORE

107 SOUTH LANE DOUBLE GATES
First Time Yard Sale July 3 & 4. 8 am
107 South Lane
Double Gates.
...>MORE

See all ads

Premium Homes

FOR SALE BY OWNER
By Owner - 3 BR, 2 BA. Great neighborhood located on deadend street. Great starter home at $77,000. Appointment Only. (...>MORE

FOR SALE
Princeton, WV - Quail Valley - Sale by Owner.
No Realtors. 3 BR, 2 BA, 2 Car Garage Condo. $139,900.
(239) 98
...>MORE

PERFECT WALK OUT BASEMENT BUILDING LOT
Perfect Walk Out bsmt building lot. The Ridge. Gated. $99,500. 304-557-6118...>MORE

See all ads

Hot Stuff

MOBILE HOME LOT
Large Lot for Mobile Home less than 10 years old. Halfway between Bluefield & Tazewell.
(276) 988-4954
...>MORE

See all ads


 

Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc.CNHI Classified Advertising NetworkCNHI News Service
Associated Press content © 2009. All rights reserved. AP content may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Our site is powered by Zope and our Internet Yellow Pages site is powered by PremierGuide.
Some parts of our site may require you to download the Flash Player Plugin.
View our Privacy Policy
Advertiser index

 

 

Online store Princeton Times