Hedgesville volunteer firefighters work to cut away a tree that fell in front of the Murphy’s gas station, blocking W.Va. 9 traffic during the thunderstorm Wednesday evening.
MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — Severe thunderstorms across the Eastern Panhandle resulted in high winds and heavy rain Wednesday.
The severe thunderstorms, which were preceded by a tornado warning for an area including southern Berkeley County, led to reports of nickel-sized hail in Martinsburg and penny-sized hail northwest of Falling Waters, as well as up to an inch of rain, according to the National Weather Service’s Baltimore/Washington forecast office in Sterling, Virginia.
High winds also resulted in downed trees, including a large tree that fell Wednesday night and blocked W.Va. 9 in Hedgesville, as well as power outages that saw nearly 1,300 customers in the Charles Town area lose electricity after winds destroyed a utility pole. A house in the Crescent Run Subdivision in Berkeley County was also struck by lightning, but firefighters reported no fire showing after arriving at the scene, according to Berkeley County Central Dispatch…
