MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Local officials report no serious damage or injuries following severe storms that included a tornado warning Thursday morning.
Just before 5 a.m., the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for the Monongalia County area. The storm started as a very powerful system tracking along the Ohio River when it crossed into West Virginia and began to lose strength. Despite the Morgantown area receiving a less impactful brunt of the storm, MetroNews AccuWeather meteorologists determined the area received close to an inch of rain in less than four hours.
“Anywhere from one half to one inch of rain was reported with the thunderstorms that rolled through in that four or so hour time period, anywhere from a half inch to one inch of rain fell,” said MetroNews AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Scott Homan on the amount of rain that was confirmed to have fallen in the Morgantown area Thursday morning.
There were reports of trees down in Westover and some limbs down in Morgantown, and the highest wind gust was recorded at 5:19 a.m. at the Morgantown Municipal Airport of 44 miles per hour. According to Homan, MetroNews AccuWeather determined that wind gusts were reportedly as high as 47 miles per hour in the area, which resulted in downed trees and power powerlines in Monongalia, Marion, and Preston Counties. This resulted in over 100 Mon Power customers losing power between the three counties to start Thursday morning.
“Winds overall were about, I think some of the higher gusts during those storms were in the 45-50 mile per hour range,” said Homan. “And there were some reports of some down trees and things of that nature.”
Officials with the NWS said the warning was issued based on radar indications, and there were no twisters spotted in Monongalia County.
Homan also reported that despite the varying reports of high winds and rain totals reported around the Mountain State during the Thursday storms, no area received more than one and a half inches of rain during the four-hour period. This was despite the storm having enough intensity to cause tornadoes and flash floods in states such as Missouri and Kentucky. While damage statewide wasn’t even close to comparable to the severe floods seen in the southern part of the state to start 2025, West Virginia saw a lot of rain and should be ready to see more.
“It was the same across West Virginia and also even Western Pennsylvania received pretty much, in general, the one half to one inch of rain, along with the gusty winds,” said Homan.
While the early Thursday storms did not leave any long-term damage, another large, low-pressure system is expected to hit the Mountain State as early as Thursday. These showers are expected to be ongoing for the next two days, with thunderstorms and strong winds expected to hit the Greater Morgantown area ahead of a cold spurt that’s expected to begin on Monday. With a strong system that’s expected to cover a significant part of the north-central region due to arrive, Homan advises residents to be ready for several inches of rain to drop before the end of the weekend.
“With this stalled-out boundary, we will see waves of rain moving through, along with thunderstorms, all the way through Sunday,” Homan said. “And rainfall amounts will range from two to four inches.”