ROANOKE, Va. – Hurricane Helene was by far the most impactful weather event from 2024 across Southwest and Central Virginia. Communities across the region are still recovering from the life changing effects of this brutal storm.
We saw 40-60mph winds, multiple tornadoes, and historic rainfall that brought major flooding.
Hundreds of millions of dollars in damages were reported, and unfortunately over 200 people lost their lives as a result of this storm.
If you, or someone you know is still recovering from Hurricane Helene, you can click here for assistance.
Hurricane Debby comes in at #2 on our list.
Debby made 2 landfalls in the US. The first was along the big bend of Florida, and the second was along the South Carolina shoreline.
Torrential rainfall resulted in flash flooding up the east coast. Debby also prompted numerous tornado warnings and gusty winds, bringing power outages across the state.
A line of severe thunderstorms trekked across the state on the evening of May 26th, 2024. If you remember, the winds were howling that weekend evening. Straight line winds in excess of 60mph pushed through Southwest and Central Virginia.
Tree damage, downed power lines, and power outages were some of the impacts seen with this round of severe weather.
Most notably, an EF-1 tornado spawned in Salem at the intersection of Karen Drive and Joan Circle (Surveyed by the NWS). Estimated peak winds were between 100 and 105mph.
May 26th also resulted in 60 unique reports of severe weather. the most in a single day since June 21st of 2011.
Thunderstorms erupted on the afternoon of April 11th, 2024.
We were under a level 2/5 risk for severe weather that day with the chance for hail, damaging winds, and isolated tornadoes.
Minor flooding occurred in areas that received heavy rainfall, and a few tornadoes touched down across the region.
Swansonville, in Pittsylvania county recorded an EF-1 rated tornado with peak winds between 100-107mph that stayed on the ground for 6 minutes (Surveyed by the NWS).
The Mid-Atlantic experienced significant droughts during the Summer and Fall seasons. After Hurricane Debby, a rapidly onsetting drought unfolding across the area. Dry conditions, with little rainfall over the course of mid-late August, and into early-mid September allowed for a level 2 and 3 drought to unfold across portions of the NRV and Highlands.
Eventually, hurricane Helene ended this drought, but brought significant flooding to these zones...
Much like after Hurricane Debby, in the wake of Hurricane Helene another rapidly onsetting drought unfolded across the region. This time, farmers and crops were impacted. Once the flooding subsided, ponds and creeks were dried out, and the timing being toward the end of growing season made it hard for crops to be saved.
The highest impacts from the Fall drought of 2024 were felt in West Virginia where the corn yield was 38% of what it was in 2023.
Many of these events resulted in Weather Authority Alert Days.
Your Local Weather Authority will continue to work for you to bring you the latest up to date information regarding weather across the region in 2025, much like we did in 2024.
For instant and up to date weather information, you can download our weather app in you local app store! Just search “wsls weather” or click here.
This article would not be possible without the tremendous work done by our local forecasting office in Blacksburg. The National Weather Service provided much of this information, including statistics and images. I owe a special thanks to them for everything they do! If you would like to check out the article that inspired this one, you can visit - Top 5 Weather Events.
