CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Record low temperatures around the state that have stood for over 100 years were broken Wednesday morning.
Mike Zwier, a National Weather Service Meteorologist in Charleston confirmed to MetroNews that at least seven of their climate sites around the state recorded lows, with a few that had been previously been set in 1911.
He said Huntington, Charleston, Parkersburg, Clarksburg, Morgantown, Bluefield, and Beckley all set or tied records into the low teens and single digits, while Elkins, Wheeling and Martinsburg were close.
“We are early in November still and it’s pretty rare for us to get this cold of air to come down this early in the season,” Zwier told MetroNews. “These are temperatures we are more likely to see once we get into January.
“It’s happened before but not something we see that often.”
Records broken for November 13 include:
Huntington at 12 degrees; the previous record was 17
Charleston at 14 degrees; the previous record was 16
Parkersburg at 12 degrees; the previous record was 17
Clarksburg at 14 degrees; the previous record was 15
Morgantown at 13 degrees; the previous record was 15
Beckley at 8 degrees; the previous record was 15
Bluefield at 6 degrees; the previous record was 10
According to Zwier, Elkins tied a record low of 10 degrees, while Wheeling was around the record low of 12 degrees and Martinsburg sat at 20 degrees, two degrees above its record low. Zwier said official confirmation of temperatures, which could sway the temp by one degree, will happen on Wednesday afternoon.
“Some of the oldest records at Huntington, Charleston and Wheeling were set in 1911,” he said. “If we break it at all three of those sets, that would be breaking some very old records. Elkins record was in 1920 and Bluefield was 1911 so we are looking at really old records here.”
Zwier said it looks like temperatures will be warming up around the state through the week but still below average for the time of year. For example, the average high temperature for Charleston for early-to-mid November is the upper 50s but the forecast shows highs in the upper 40s the rest of the week into the weekend.
The average low temperatures around the state for this time of the year is mid-to-upper 30s
“It looks like we are below average for most of the week but we get close to average as we head into next week,” Zwier said.