Straight line wind responsible for damage in Vinton, Hurt; no tornadoes confirmed

Severe thunderstorm warning was in effect Sunday evening

ROANOKE, Va. – National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed the damage leftover from Sunday's storms Monday morning. It was determined that very strong straight line winds were responsible for the damage in Roanoke and Bedford counties.

This was along a narrow swath of damage that started in Eggleston and then finished up in the Roanoke Valley and Vinton Sunday evening.

Radar imagery depicted strong straight line winds just before 8 p.m. Sunday night, but a survey team was deployed to confirm this was not a tornado. Strong straight line winds can look like weak tornado damage. 

These survey teams were inspecting the direction in which the damage occurred. If a tornado had been responsible for the damage, the damage would have been twisted and spread out in different directions.

Survey teams in Hurt determined that straight-line winds of 70-75 mph were to blame for damage that occurred Friday. 

 


About the Author:

Jonathan Kegges joined the News 6 team in June 2019 and now covers weather on TV and all digital platforms.