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UPDATED 8:30 PM: The winds are dying down, and the high wind warnings have hours ago been replaced with high wind warnings. I have added a short statement on impacts from Stephen Keighton, science officer at the National Weather Service in Blacksburg, in the extended entry below. END UPDATE

UPDATED 1 PM: A list of wind damage reports from the National Weather Service in Blacksburg is in the extended entry below  (Click on "Read More" if you are looking at the full blog) END UPDATE

The wind is roaring through Southwest Virginia overnight and throughout the day Thursday. Expect frequent 25-35 mph winds with some gusts topping 50 mph, occasionally 60 mph. There are, as of this writing at 11:30 p.m., already thousands of power outages in far western Virginia and especially in West Virginia (AEP outage map linked here), largely due to wind related to the initial squall line. But now a longer siege of wind sets in, as the air is propelled by strong low pressure to the northwest. Expect some additional scattered power outages and a few limbs down here and there, but this will likely not be of the caliber of the Feb. 10, 2008, windstorm ... which I plan to look back on in Friday's Weather Journal column in the newspaper. The winds will gradually subside overnight Thursday. Temperatures will still be relatively mild behind this not-so-cold front, likely in the 50s or lower 60s Thursday and Friday, but additional storm systems and frontal passages over the next few days will gradually get us back to seasonal temperatures next week.

Current conditions (including wind speeds) at locations in Virginia, West Virginia and North Carolina

Latest warnings, adivsories from National Weather Service-Blacksburg

IMPACT STATEMENT FROM STEPHEN KEIGHTON, SCIENCE OFFICER AT NWS-BLACKSBURG: Many reports of trees down with the convective line across our 4 southeast WV counties, and into several western VA counties as well, from about 6:45pm through 8:30 pm on the 11th. The most significant damage was in the Princeton and Bluefield areas of Mercer Co WV, where a roof was blown off a hotel and thrown into a restaurant in Princeton, and a 68mph gust was reported by the nearby BLF ASOS (7:18pm). Many trees were reported down on several roads in the Princeton area. At this time, there is no suspicion of tornadic damage in this area. Elsewhere, a tree fell on a house in Pearisburg VA (Giles Co), and also on a house near Lewisburg WV (Greenbrier Co). Several reports of trees down on and blocking roads also across southeast WV and wrn VA. Widespread power outages were reported in the Princeton/Bluefield area, with over 4,000 customers still without power in the county (Mercer) as of about noon today. Other spotty power outages still exist in several other locations, including the Roanoke area, and Wilkes Co in NW NC (were almost 1,000 customers are still without power). We've had roughly 30 reports of trees down or measured winds of 50 kts or greater in 21 counties in our mountains and foothills due to the gradient winds that developed behind the convective line (from about 10pm on the 11th through 8am this morning). A few more will likely come in later today. There was one report of possible roof damage with one of these gradient wind events, but so far these have mainly been trees down on roads or on power lines.

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
1031 AM EST THU FEB 12 2009

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

1000 PM     NON-TSTM WND DMG VOLNEY                  36.62N 81.38W
02/11/2009                   GRAYSON            VA   DEPT OF HIGHWAYS

            2 TREES DOWN IN VOLNEY.

1000 PM     NON-TSTM WND DMG INDIAN VALLEY           36.92N 80.55W
02/11/2009                   FLOYD              VA   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            TREE DOWN ON HORSERIDGE ROAD.

1000 PM     NON-TSTM WND DMG SUMMIT                  36.25N 81.42W
02/11/2009                   WILKES             NC   DEPT OF HIGHWAYS

            TREES DOWN NEAR THE ASHE COUNTY BORDER.

1000 PM     NON-TSTM WND DMG RURAL RETREAT           36.90N 81.27W
02/11/2009                   WYTHE              VA   DEPT OF HIGHWAYS

            SEVERAL TREES DOWN BETWEEN RURAL RETREAT AND SPEEDWELL.

1015 PM     NON-TSTM WND DMG OTHELLO                 36.37N 81.43W
02/11/2009                   ASHE               NC   DEPT OF HIGHWAYS

            TREES DOWN.

1030 PM     NON-TSTM WND DMG 3 S DUBLIN              37.07N 80.70W
02/11/2009                   PULASKI            VA   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            TREES AND POWERLINES DOWN FROM SOUTH OF DUBLIN TO NEW
            BERN.

1125 PM     NON-TSTM WND DMG ROANOKE                 37.28N 79.96W
02/11/2009                   CITY OF ROANOKE    VA   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            TREES DOWN ON LIBERTY ROAD NW ROANOKE.

1257 AM     NON-TSTM WND DMG ROANOKE                 37.28N 79.96W
02/12/2009                   CITY OF ROANOKE    VA   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            TREES DOWN ON HAMPTON AVE IN SW ROANOKE.

0120 AM     NON-TSTM WND DMG LOWESVILLE              37.72N 79.07W
02/12/2009                   AMHERST            VA   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            TREES DOWN BETWEEN LOWESVILLE AND PINEY RIVER.

0200 AM     NON-TSTM WND DMG NEW CASTLE              37.50N 80.12W
02/12/2009                   CRAIG              VA   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            TREES DOWN ON ROUTE 615.

0213 AM     NON-TSTM WND DMG RICH CREEK              37.38N 80.83W
02/12/2009                   GILES              VA   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            TREES DOWN ON ROUTE 219 NORTHBOUND BETWEEN RICH CREEK AND
            PETERSTOWN.

0320 AM     NON-TSTM WND GST JEFFERSON               36.42N 81.47W
02/12/2009  M62.00 MPH       ASHE               NC   AWOS

            62 MPH GUST AT GEV.

0400 AM     NON-TSTM WND DMG 7 N WARM SPRINGS        38.15N 79.78W
02/12/2009                   BATH               VA   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            TREES DOWN ALONG ROUTE 220.

0500 AM     NON-TSTM WND DMG PINEY CREEK             36.55N 81.30W
02/12/2009                   ALLEGHANY          NC   DEPT OF HIGHWAYS

            2 TREES DOWN IN PINEY CREEK.

0600 AM     NON-TSTM WND DMG 3 S WEST JEFFERSON      36.36N 81.50W
02/12/2009                   ASHE               NC   DEPT OF HIGHWAYS

            TREES DOWN ON GOLF COURSE ROAD.

0630 AM     NON-TSTM WND DMG AMHERST                 37.58N 79.05W
02/12/2009                   AMHERST            VA   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            TREES DOWN ON HIGHWAY 29 SOUTH IN AMHERST.

0630 AM     NON-TSTM WND DMG GALA                    37.68N 79.82W
02/12/2009                   BOTETOURT          VA   PUBLIC

            TREE AND POWERLINE DOWN ON ROUTE 220 IN GALA.

0636 AM     NON-TSTM WND DMG FOSCOE                  36.17N 81.77W
02/12/2009                   WATAUGA            NC   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            LARGE TREE DOWN IN FOSCOE.

0652 AM     NON-TSTM WND DMG 5 S CHRISTIANSBURG      37.07N 80.40W
02/12/2009                   MONTGOMERY         VA   DEPT OF HIGHWAYS

            TREE DOWN ALONG ROUTE 8.

0709 AM     NON-TSTM WND DMG BOONES MILL             37.12N 79.95W
02/12/2009                   FRANKLIN           VA   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            TREE DOWN ON WHITE OAK ROAD.

0717 AM     NON-TSTM WND GST HOT SPRINGS             38.00N 79.83W
02/12/2009  M60.00 MPH       BATH               VA   AWOS

            60 MPH GUST AT HSP.

0825 AM     NON-TSTM WND DMG WARM SPRINGS            38.05N 79.78W
02/12/2009                   BATH               VA   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            TREES DOWN ON ROUTE 39.