Scattered power outages and falling debris it the region Friday while bitter cold approaches

Greg Jordan, Bluefield Daily Telegraph, W.Va.
·2 min read

Jan. 13—BLUEFIELD — High winds tore debris off buildings, knocked down trees and led to scattered power outages Friday while forecasters saw colder weather heading for the region this coming week.

The Bluefield Fire Department and Bluefield Police Department responded Friday afternoon when gusting windows sent debris falling into Federal Street in downtown Bluefield. This debris was cleared away. Rain and sleet arrived later as the high winds continued.

Appalachian Power reported scattered power outages in the Falls Mills, Va. area in Tazewell County and later had about 136 customer outages in the Lorton Lick Road area of Mercer County. Businesses such as Walmart along the 4000 block of College Avenue in Bluefield, Va. lost power for a time. Outage impacting from two to over 100 customers were reported across Mercer County and McDowell County.

More than 30,000 customer service outages of varying sizes were reported across the region by Appalachian Power on Friday afternoon. Much of the damage was attributed to fallen trees. An outage impacting over 1,100 was reported in the Nemours and Pocahontas, Va. area.

The National Weather Service in Blacksburg, Va. issued a wind advisory which was set to continue until 4 p.m. today. This advisory included Tazewell County, Va. as well as Mercer and Summers Counties.

Winds from 20 to 30 mph were expected along with gusts of up to 55 mph. Motorists were advised to use extra caution, especially if they are driving high-profile vehicles such as large pickup trucks or tractor-trailers.

A "very strong" low-pressure system over the Midwest brought the high winds to the southern West Virginia and Southwest Virginia region, according to meteorologist William Perry with the National Weather Service in Blacksburg, Va.

Another cold front bringing in arctic air all the way from the Arctic Circle will be bringing frigid temperatures to the region next week.

This arctic cold front will arrive over the region Sunday, bringing a high temperature that day of 26 degrees.

A low of 19 degrees is expected Monday evening. A low of 5 degrees is possible Tuesday night.

A high temperature of 20 degrees is possible Wednesday with a low of 14 that evening.

Perry said wind chills on Wednesday morning could bring temperatures to 10 or 15 degrees below zero.

— Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com

Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com