PROJECT ALERT NOTICE (WV) Flooding in North-Central West Virginia

Date: Thu, 23 Jul 2026 10:29:38 EDT

Summary: Heavy rain event in Tygart and West Fork River basins in north central West Virginia causes significant flooding on July 21st into July 22nd.

Reports of up to 7 inches of rain fell across parts of the West Fork and Tygart Valley basins on July 21st in north central West Virginia. Two crews that included four hydrologic technicians from the Charleston Field Office for the VA-WV Water Science Center responded to the event on July 22nd.

Stream discharge measurements to confirm/update the stage-discharge ratings have been made at the following sites:

03052450 Buckhannon River at Buckhannon, WV
03052500 Sand Run at Buckhannon, WV
03054500 Tygart Valley River at Philippi, WV
03058975 West Fork River at Mount Clare, WV

The Sand Run at Buckhannon, WV, site exceeded the peak of record (since 1947). However, the peak has not yet been determined due to site access limitations. Flooding damaged the gage infrastructure, leaving the site is temporarily out of service.

One crew (2 technicians) will remain in the field area today and tomorrow to make additional discharge measurements, which includes flagging for an indirect discharge computation reach.