West Virginia's Record Precipitation

The official 24-hour record for the state of West Virginia was the result of a tropical low pressure that moved over the region. A station in Bushy Run (Pendleton County) reported a total of 12.02 inches on June 18, 1949.

The rainfall from this event caused severe flash flooding during the night of June 17 - 18, 1949, along the South Branch of the Potomac River. During the heavy rain, rock slides from the mountains covered farmlands and filled streams, causing them to change their courses. Home, buildings, roads, bridges were lost, especially in the Petersburg-Moorefield area that was hit the hardest by the flooding.