When was the last derecho in va

More than 4 million customers lost power due to the multi-state wind event. This was the largest non-hurricane outage on record, which left many customers without electricity for a week or more. Not to mention, the outage came during a time when the region was experiencing some of the hottest weather since the early s.

More than a dozen died as a result of the wind event itself, mostly from trees falling onto homes or vehicles. Another 34 died from heat-related illnesses due to the lack of electricity in the days that followed. Unlike many major tornado outbreaks in the recent past, this particular event was not forecast well in advance.

Warm-season derechos, in particular, are often difficult to forecast and frequently result from subtle, small-scale events that are difficult to predict less than 12 hours in advance. With better data and model improvements, more recent wind events have been better predicted with up to 18 to 24 hours notice. According to a National Weather Service assessment of the Derecho, overall, lead times advanced warning were greater than 30 minutes and all deaths occurred within severe thunderstorm warning polygon boundaries.

The bigger issue was getting those warnings out to those in the path. As the line of storms reached central West Virginia, continuous coverage on TV resumed until the event cleared the entire region. Social media was in its infancy and not everyone had Facebook and Twitter. While warnings went out to television and app subscribers, those that were hoping to be alerter through social media were out of luck due to the algorithms used by Facebook. The technology uses geo-fencing or targets specific hometowns.

This allows the meteorologist to send out area-specific alerts and custom videos to warn of approaching weather events using the WDBJ7 Weather App. Skip to content. Interactive Radar. Weather Resources. Friday Football Extra. The storms killed 22 people as trees fell on houses and cars. In many places, power was out for days and even up to a week before it was restored.

As the storms crossed Central Virginia late in the evening hours, they continued to cause tree damage and loss of power, leaving a lasting memory in many Virginians mind they will never forget.

The heat the day after the derecho was miserable for many as the power and Air Conditioning was still out! Has it been that long?! That was when our whole-house propane fired generator repaid the investment. Power was out in some low-population rural areas even longer than our neighborhood. A bad situation all the way around. Listen to his segment to learn more about this weather phenomenon and the events that unfolded eight years ago.

Submit a news tip. Skip to content. Get News In Your Inbox. Podcast: How We Got Here. Vaccine in Virginia. Your Money with Carlson Financial. Election Results. First Alert Weather Blog. Temperatures has been heating up through the week. Strong winds lasted minutes. Here are the peak wind gusts from some weather stations across the area:. In the Shenandoah Valley, more than a quarter million people lost power and had to survive the blistering hot temperatures for days. Highs remained in the 90s for the 10 days following the storm.

Energy companies worked hard in the heat to restore power, and have since made improvements to help prevent as many outages as they can if such a storm were to hit again. They have better communication with their customers to help pinpoint outages, and have moved conductors underground in the most outage-prone areas.

Dominion Energy describes the derecho of the third worst storm to hit Virginia after it knocked out power to one million people. In mid June, , there was another derecho that affected our area. Multiple trees came down through the entire region. Most recently, in May of there was another derecho event and this was more of what Meteorologists consider a low-end derecho event.

It still led to numerous wind damage reports from southern Ohio, through West Virginia and Virginia. Not all lines or clusters of storms are derechos. On June 29, , a severe thunderstorm warning was issued just like any other time a thunderstorm becomes severe. Severe wind is wind gusts 58mph or greater. Not every derecho event is similar. If you compare the three that were mentioned in this article by the wind damage reports, you can clearly see how the June event was an extreme event.

Always take severe thunderstorms seriously and stay weather aware when you plan outdoor activities. If you have any saved photos or video of the derecho or damage, you can submit them through the link below:.

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