CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The southern portions of the Mountain State will now have to brace for snow and ice impacts settling on top of the already high water and flood devastation they’ve been dealing with for the past couple of days.
Charleston-based National Weather Service Meteorologist Megan Kiebler said they expect the snow storm to start moving in across eastern Kentucky into West Virginia by late Tuesday night. She said that will potentially expand into Thursday as well.
“So, this system is kind of like a series of little storms that are going to be moving through the area, one is going to come through on Wednesday, could provide for maybe a brief break during the evening tomorrow outside of the mountains and then pick back in earnest going into Thursday morning,” Kiebler said.
Megan Kiebler
Kiebler said this system is forecasted to bring anywhere between 4 to 8 inches of snow to the Southern Coalfields area.
She said as it goes further north, that’s where the uncertainty comes in as it depends on the system’s trajectory. However, Kiebler said for the most part, it’s seeming to trend further south.
Between 3 to 6 inches is expected in the Charleston-Metro area and even into Lincoln and Mingo counties, as well as up into the foothills of Fayette and Nicholas counties, Kiebler said.
She said the least amount of snow is anticipated going further north into Putnam and Roane counties and along the I-77 and I-79 corridors at about 1 to 4 inches.
Kiebler said it appears this storm will lose more and more momentum as it makes its way upwards.
“This is definitely a southern-streamed system that’s going to provide more snow across our southern counties and less as you go further north across the state,” she said.
Kiebler said NWS expects the snow to start hitting the state just before midnight Tuesday night.
A Winter Storm Warning is in effect for southern counties, while she said there are Winter Weather Advisories out for portions along the I-64 corridor– from northeast Kentucky into Cabell, Putnam, Kanawha, Clay and parts of Fayette and Nicholas counties.
“That’s where we’re kind of seeing the lesser amounts but could still see some impact going into the commute times both in the morning and in the evening tomorrow,” she said. “So, that’s going to continue on into Thursday as well, and those products as warnings and advisories actually extend into Thursday afternoon.”
Governor Patrick Morrisey has requested a Major Disaster Declaration for the flooding that has already devastated southern West Virginia communities over the weekend, with the hardest hit areas being McDowell, Wyoming, and Mercer counties.
So far, there has been between 60 to 65 swift water rescues made throughout those areas over the last couple of days. In addition, at least two deaths in McDowell County have been reported with a third person still missing.
Kiebler said that, unfortunately, with the forecasted snow in those areas as well as the chance of below zero degree temperatures, this winter storm will most-likely impact the ongoing response and cleanup operations there and possibly delay search and rescue efforts.
“The combination of the already flooded waters, the snow expected to begin tonight into mid-week and the colder temperatures, it’s really not a great set up for those efforts, so they will have to contend with that going over the next several days,” she said.
However, Kiebler said there is a light at the end of the tunnel heading toward the end of the week.
She said high pressure will be moving in and building and that’s going to bring an extended period of dry, quiet weather.
“This is a great reprieve that we are hopeful for for the end of the week, that will even allow us to warm up going into the weekend, dry weather, could still see some clouds here and there, but active weather will be lessened for that timeframe,” said Kiebler.