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FARMVILLE – As of 5 a.m., 38 homes in Prince Edward County remained in the dark this morning. A series of storms hit the region hard Thursday and in their wake, work crews from Dominion and Southside Electric Cooperative (SEC) spent the night and early morning fixing the problem. They removed downed trees and replaced damaged lines. 

Over the last few days, a cold front moving through the midwest caused high winds and severe thunderstorms. That’s the front which arrived in our area Thursday afternoon. National Weather Service officials out of Wakefield cautioned as that cold front moved into the Farmville region, it mixed with the warm air we’ve been experiencing this week. That mixture is what triggered severe thunderstorms. 

And that’s exactly what we got. From Pamplin to Charlotte County, residents experienced golf-ball sized hail, along with winds gusting up to 40 mph and rain. Lightning struck the top of one of the Green Front Furniture storage facilities, breaking off a portion of the brick roof. There were also reports of trees falling across some roads in Prince Edward County, causing the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) to begin cleanup of their own. At the height of the storm, a total of 226 homes in Prince Edward and 16 in Cumberland were without power. SEC and Dominion officials expect to have the lights fully restored to everyone by later this morning.  

What does forecast say for Prince Edward County?

Even with the threat of severe storms gone, the system itself will stick around. Temperatures are expected to drop and there is a 70% chance of rain before 8 a.m., then again from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday for Farmville and the surrounding area. That’s going to bring a drop down to the low 60s during Friday day and low 40s, possibly high 30s Friday night. 

On the plus side, it looks like the clouds at least, if not the cold, will move out of the region by Sunday. So far, it appears we’ll see sunny skies for Easter morning.