CHARLESTON, W.Va. —Residents in some West Virginia counties will wake up Thursday morning with frost on their lawns and vehicles.
The National Weather Service issued freeze warnings for Wed. night in Greenbrier, Mercer and Summers counties. A handful of other counties had freeze watches.
West Virginia’s highest elevations saw their first snowfall of the season Wednesday morning. Officials at the National Weather Service in Charleston say the precipitation was spawned by several systems which dropped temperatures and a clipper system from the north which brought in a wave of moisture. Most of the snowfall was above 3,000 feet in elevation.
“Actually for the mountains, the first snowflakes coming on the 23rd of October is actually a little late,” said Ken Batty, Meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
Batty expected the system to move out of West Virginia by the end of Wednesday, but be followed by an even colder shot of air.
“The coldest morning may be Friday morning,” said Batty. “Some folks in the river valleys with the last of their growing season or ornamental plants, those may be taking a hit.”
Batty didn’t expect any snowfall in the western counties of the state, with the exception of the mid-Ohio Valley between Parkersburg and the northern panhandle. Any snow in those areas would be light and mixed with rain.
Temperatures should moderate by the weekend and warm back up.