ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, March 16, 1996 TAG: 9603180109
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: chart & map - Lightning Strikes STAFF
SOURCE: S.D. HARRINGTON STAFF WRITER
Western Virginia's first true thunderstorm of the year lasted only through the morning Friday, but scattered lightning strikes caused problems that lasted throughout the day.
Students at Dudley Elementary School in Franklin County had to evacuate after lightning damaged a transformer, knocking out the school's power.
Passengers aboard a USAir flight from Washington to Roanoke got a scare when lightning struck the nose of the plane.
Even those tracking the storm were affected.
Lightning hit the National Weather Service's Doppler radar in Floyd County, putting it temporarily out of service.
Thunderstorms are common this time of the year, when warm and cold air masses meet, said Donato Cacciapaglia, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Blacksburg.
"The air gets real unsettled," he said.
Lightning was seen striking all over Western Virginia, but Cacciapaglia said it appeared to bypass the New River Valley.
The first reported lightning damage was at the expense of the Weather Service, between 9 and 10 a.m. The Floyd County radar tracks rainfall for the weather station in Blacksburg.
Meteorologist Danielle Desrosiers said radars in Tennessee, West Virginia and North Carolina were extended into Western Virginia to back up the disabled radar.
Around 10 a.m., USAir Flight 3132 en route to Roanoke Regional Airport from Washington National Airport radioed air-traffic controllers in Roanoke that the plane had been struck by lightning.
The 37-passenger DeHavilland Dash 8 plane was about 25 miles from the airport with three crew members and 12 passengers on board when lighting struck the plane's nose, airport spokesman Mark Courtney said. The landing was routine and at no time was there any danger to the continued operation of the flight, he said.
But the USAir pilots, as a precaution, asked that emergency equipment stand by during the landing. The airport called a stage 2 alert, during which the airport's emergency vehicles stand by during the landing and emergency crews from surrounding jurisdictions are called in, Courtney said.
After letting its passengers off in Roanoke, the plane returned to Washington with another load of passengers, he said.
About the same time the plane was struck, Dudley Elementary lost power when lightning damaged a transformer, said John Coffey, district manager for American Electric Power.
The students were evacuated and bused to Burnt Chimney Elementary School. They were let go two hours early.
Lightning also is believed to be the cause of a fire in a Bedford County utilities shed off Virginia 718 in Belltown.
By the time the storm passed Friday afternoon, meteorologists said, 0.28 inches of rain had fallen at Roanoke Regional Airport.
Highs today were expected to be in the lower 60s, the Weather Service said. But rain is likely tonight, with lows in the upper 40s. More rain is predicted for Sunday with highs in the 50s.
Staff writers Richard Foster and Greg Edwards contributed to this story. LIGHTNING STRIKES
Thunderstorms rumbled across Western Virginia on Friday morning.
Students at Dudley Elementary School were evacuated around 10 a.m. after lightning damaged a nearby transformer, knocking out the school's power.
A USAir flight 25 miles east of Roanoke was struck on the plane's nose at about 10 a.m. The plane landed smoothly at Roanoke Regional Airport with no injuries to passengers.
The National Weather Service's Doppler radar was hit by lightning between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. Radars from surrounding areas were used as back up. Parts were being delivered to the site Friday evening so the radar was not expected to be out for long.
LENGTH: Medium: 79 linesby CNB