CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia could even get more snow than originally predicted in new snow total numbers released late Thursday afternoon by the National Weather Service.
Meteorologists listed best and worst case scenarios along with what is most likely. The NWS has a Winter Storm Warning for almost the entire state from 7 a.m. Friday to 7 p.m. Saturday.
NWS Meteorologist Faith Borden said the storm has slowed down some, and can be expected to hit sometime in the morning.
“We’re looking at snow starting about 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., so the storm has slightly slowed down a little bit,” she said. “But it’s definitely going to start snowing by then.”
In an area stretching from Monongalia County to Wayne County including the Interstate 64 corridor between Charleston and Huntington meteorologists are forecasting a most likely scenario of 8 to 16 inches of snow with a worst case scenario of 18 to 24 inches. The best case scenario is 3 to 6 inches.
The area from Lewisburg north to Elkins and east to Moorefield can expect 16 to 24 inches with a worst case scenario of 20 to 30 inches. The highest mountains could get 40 inches of snow, meteorologits said. The best case scenario for that section of the state is 8 to 16 inches.
Preston County east through the eastern panhandle is staring at a most likely scenario of 16 to 24 inches, a worst case scenario of 20 to 30 inches and a best case scenario of 8 to 16 inches of snow.
The accumulation will be less in Ohio River counties from Mason, north through Wood and the northern panhandle with an accumulation of 8 to 12 inches most likely, 12 to 15 inches in a worst case scenario and a dusting to 4 inches in the best case.
The area of Wyoming, McDowell, Mingo and Mercer counties will see some ice and then snow. The most likely scenario is 8 to 12 inches with a best case scenario of 2 to 4 inches.
A state of preparedness has been in effect since Wednesday as ordered by Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin. Erica Mani with the American Red Cross described some ways to do that.
“Being prepared includes having enough food, water and supplies for up to at least three days,” she said. “Not only should you have that in your home, but you should have a kit in your car as well. And you should include in that kit blankets and things to keep you warm in addition to food and water.”
Borden expected the storm to linger for at least 24 to 36 hours.
“It’s going to exit from west to east, with the Ohio River around 9 p.m. on Saturday. It’s going to take a little while to get through,” Borden said. “Maybe by 3 a.m. it’ll taper off in the Eastern Panhandle. But there will still be flakes flying around through 6 a.m. for higher elevations.”