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A little snow but a lot of problems

The accumulation has been much more in other storms this winter in West Virginia but it may be hard to top the slippery driving conditions Friday’s storm caused in several areas of the state.

Cabell County’s 911 director says there were 22 separate traffic accidents on Interstate 64 between noon and 2 p.m. There were a similar number of wrecks in Morgantown Friday afternoon.

In Kanawha County, Interstate 64 westbound traffic was slowed in Charleston after a tractor trailer skidded on its side near the Oakwood Road exit.

All of this happening without significant snow accumulation numbers.

National Weather Service Meteorologist Tom Mazza says both Huntington and Charleston had less than an inch of snow by mid-afternoon. He says Beckley had about an inch. But Mazza says it doesn’t take a lot of snow to create hazardous driving conditions when the make-up of the snow is like ice.

Mazza says the thick cloud cover over the state actually created a warming condition and made the snow very “fine.”

“Sometimes the way they (snowflakes) form it’s almost not even a pure crystal. Sometimes you have really tiny ice pellets and that makes (slippery),” he said.

The freezing temperatures also contributed to the treacherous driving conditions.

“We haven’t been above freezing in four days–so the ground is very cold,” Mazza said. “That makes it very able to stick on the roads as well.”

The NWS says the eastern mountains will continue to get snow through Saturday and could pick up another 2 to 5 inches.

 

 

 





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