(Danville, Va.) – The National Weather Service says that was not a tornado that touched down near Ballou Park in Danville Thursday afternoon.

Meteorologist Phillip Manuel says a team from Blacksburg surveyed the area and determined that the damage was caused by straight-line winds of up to 80 mph associated with the remnants of Tropical Storm Michael. The winds downed huge trees along Howeland Circle, Virginia Avenue, Watson Street, in the Forest Hills subdivision, and throughout Ballou Park.

Manuel says there were still “fragmented sections of the eyewall and that’s what was mixing the stronger winds to the ground.”  He notes just the surface winds were as much as 50-80 miles per hour. That, coupled with six inches of rain in an hour, caused the trees to topple.

Danville Regional Airport reported winds of 52 mph but Manuel believes the winds that hit Ballou Park and the Old West End were must stronger. He likens them to the derecho that spawned hurricane-force winds in the same area several years ago.