A fast-moving cold front caught nearly all of the Roanoke-Chowan area by surprise on Sunday night. Fortunately, little damage was reported.

The weather system – moving at a clip estimated at nearly 60 mph – blew through around 9 p.m. The thunderstorm produced high winds, rain and even a possible tornado, reported in Gates County.

Gates County Sheriff Ed Webb reported several trees being toppled by the wind. One tree crashed through a residence in the Boonetown area of the county.

Damage was either light or nonexistent in other parts of the Roanoke-Chowan area.

In Northampton County, Emergency Management Director Ron Storey reported that no damage had been called in to either the Emergency Operations Center or the Sheriff’s office, despite winds upwards of 50 mph, heavy rains and lightening that came upon the area almost unexpectedly.

Storey commented that residents were very fortunate and that although there had been no confirmation of reports regarding power outages in the Lake Gaston area, the possibility existed that certain electric customers might be without power.

Other than isolated areas of small limbs blowing into the roadways, the only significant report of damage in Hertford County came from Murfreesboro Police Chief Darrell Rowe.

He reported that a tree from Chowan College’s campus had fallen across the road. The downed tree was removed from its position on Union Street early Monday morning without any further reports of damage.

Cooler air filtering in behind the cold front is predicted to stick around through today. There is a 30 percent chance of snow mixed with rain tonight where the low is expected to hover in the mid 30’s.

The precipitation is expected to linger into Wednesday morning, giving way to partly sunny skies by the afternoon.

The extended forecast into the weekend calls for partly sunny skies with highs in the 60’s and lows in the mid to upper 30’s.