CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Pop up thunderstorms are possible just about anywhere in West Virginia this week. Meteorologist Ross Giarratana of the National Weather Service in Charleston said the storms which struck in Kanawha and Harrison County on Tuesday evening could have been anywhere.
“Our environment for much of this week is primed for thunderstorm development. We have very warm, humid area and thunderstorms thrive in this type of environment,” Giarratana said.
The storms Tuesday certainly thrived. Two fronts met over Charleston creating 60 mile an hour winds, hail, and intense rainfall. The powerful storm, which originated without warning, caused significant damage to trees and downed power lines all over Kanawha County in a narrow and isolated area.
Along the Taylor-Harrison County line a pop-up storms caused more rain than wind. As a results a lot of creeks came out of their banks with widespread flash flooding. There was some wind as well which caused a number of downed trees and power lines in that part of the state as well.
Giarratana said the trend will continue through the end of the work week before a breakup in the pattern on Saturday. Until then, it won’t take much to cause a storm.
“It can happen from a differential heating boundary. It can happen from rain cooled air causing a wind shift. As long as you get a source of lift, storms could develop anywhere in this type of environment,” he said.