By DAN ROBINSON Storm Highway Editor/Cameraman

Answers to common questions:

Which areas of WV experience the most storms?
Do WV mountains stop tornadoes and severe weather?
How many tornadoes occur in WV?
Can you chase tornadoes in WV?
Where can I find reports of past severe weather in WV?
Are you safe from lightning in the valleys and 'hollers' of WV?
What aspect of storms presents the biggest danger to West Virginians?

Which areas of WV experience the most storms?

Lightning strike data collected over the past several years divides our state into three regions of thunderstorm frequency (at right, click map to enlarge).
(Source: NLSI)

West Virginia's own 'Lightning Alley' (shaded in red) is located in the Parkersburg area near the Ohio River, and includes the counties of Jackson, Wood, Pleasants, Ritchie, Tyler and Wirt. This region receives an average of 6 to 8 cloud-to-ground strikes per square kilometer every year. By contrast, the region south of Beckley to the Virginia state line (shaded in blue, including parts of McDowell, Mercer, Raleigh, Summers, Greenbrier and Monroe Counties), receives the least amount of lightning- only 2 to 4 strikes per square kilometer per year.

The rest of the state (shaded in orange) averages between 4 to 6 cloud-to-ground lightning strikes per square kilometer annually.

Not in the least bit! West Virginia's tornado incidents are few due to our climate, not because of our mountains. Tornado and/or severe thunderstorm formation is a product of large-scale weather forces that can happen anywhere the conditions are right, and is largely independent of topography.

The climate in the northeastern USA (not only in WV) makes it a rare event for all of the meteorological 'ingredients' needed to form tornadoes to come together. But when those ingredients DO come together, nothing on the ground will stop a tornado from forming - not even West Virginia's highest mountains.

During the 'Super Outbreak' in April of 1974, those 'ingredients' came together in a big way - resulting in an incredible 148 tornadoes touching down in 13 states during a 16-hour time frame. West Virginia was included in the disaster, with several large twisters slicing their way northeast through McDowell, Wyoming, Raleigh, Summers, Fayette, and Greenbrier counties. These tornadoes traversed some of the most rugged terrain in the state, with two of them even crossing the New River Gorge. The map below shows the path of the tornadoes in West Virginia during the 1974 Super Outbreak. The damage paths are denoted by red lines, with the F-scale (intensity) number indicated beside each path:

Source: NOAA Public Affairs

During a more recent outbreak in the northeastern USA on the afternoon of June 2, 1998, 9 tornadoes touched down in West Virginia, including four in the Kanawha Valley area (including one in Charleston and one in Cabin Creek).

It could be said that the mountains indirectly limit our tornado numbers by helping to maintain our climate. But the weather will sometimes deviate from the typical climate, allowing the right ingredients to come together. When this happens, supercells will develop and the mountains will do nothing to deter any tornadic circulation.

An average of two confirmed tornadoes are reported in West Virginia each year. Most mountaineer twisters are weak and brief, and typically are rated no more than F1 on the Fujita intensity scale. However, it is likely that more tornadoes actually touch down in the state and go unreported due to our rugged, remote terrain.

Considering the fact that only two tornadoes are reported here each year, your odds of seeing a twister in West Virginia are very slim - making the proposition of purposely seeking them out a highly impractical one. Even if Tornado Alley was centered over our state, the mountains (see below) would make chasing and filming very difficult. Our road network is sparse and curvy, with only a few Interstates and 4-lane highways where fast travel is possible. And since most roads in WV follow valleys rather than ridges, the view of the sky is always limited, making visual sightings and identifications of tornadoes and storm structure difficult if not impossible.

Where can I find reports of past severe weather in WV?

The NOAA Storm Prediction Center site has a database of daily hail, high wind, and tornado reports accessable online.

Lightning will strike anywhere, including in valleys, 'hollers', and on mountainsides as well as mountaintops and ridges. See Lightning Myths for more information.

Without a doubt, flash flooding is the biggest threat from thunderstorms that West Virginians face. Our mountainous topography quickly funnels runoff from heavy rains into the valleys, where devastating flooding can occur. Every year, many locations in the state are hit by flash flooding that results from as little as 2 inches of rain. Rockslides, mudslides and tree falls are also a related danger on steep slopes during thunderstorms.