Aftermath of strong storms overnight that brought damaging winds

Early this morning, a strong storm moved through Columbia Regional and Ashland that brought damaging winds along with heavy rain. On average, the areas surrounding Columbia Regional were observing winds in the 50-60 mph range, but Columbia Regional submitted a storm report of winds up to 80 mph. This was recorded at approximately 3:42 AM, but NWS members were having a hard time believing that this event actually took place.

The main reason of doubt came from the fact of how hyper local these winds would have to be in order to not be as widely observed. Again, 50-60 mph winds were being observed in a more general area, but for 80 mph winds to only be seeing at Columbia Regional is unlikely.

With this in mind, damage reports also show that this event could be an error, as the most damage that Columbia Regional experienced was scattered debris. In surrounding areas though, there were several reports of tree damage, some being relatively close to the airport, while other reports were centered more in the city of Ashland.