CHARLESTON, W.Va. — “It could be a messy travel situation going into the Thanksgiving holiday.”
That was the assessment of the potential, this week, for ice and snow in West Virginia from Tim Axford, a National Weather Service meteorologist , on Monday’s MetroNews “Talkline.”
Axford said the forecast was calling for a lot of rain, to start, on Tuesday. “As the cold air pours in behind the system, we’re looking at all that rain switching over to snow and accumulations, the mountains could see upwards of a foot through Wednesday,” he said.
Axford said the snow totals in the lower elevations would likely range from one to three inches along the Ohio River, two to four inches in West Virginia’s central counties and more to the north and east. Upwards of a foot of snow was possible in the mountains.
But, Axford cautioned, the accumulations would depend on how the storm hits.
Statewide, the heaviest snow was expected between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. “Wednesday, you might have to make some additional plans or adjust travel times to get to grandma’s house for Thanksgiving,” said Axford.
As of Monday, the National Weather Service had issued a Winter Storm Watch from Tuesday morning through Wednesday afternoon for the following counties: Hancock, Brooke, Ohio, Marshall, Wetzel, Marion, Monongalia, Preston and Tucker.
A Winter Weather Advisory for Tuesday for freezing rain and snow was in effect for the following counties: Hampshire, Morgan, Berkeley, Jefferson, Hardy, Grant, Mineral, Pendleton, McDowell, Wyoming, Raleigh, Fayette, Nicholas, Webster, Randolph, Pocahontas, Greenbrier, Mercer, Summers, Monroe.
By Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, Axford said much of the precipitation will be out of West Virginia.
“We’re still dealing with cold temperatures (on Thursday), especially with snow on the ground, highs in the 30s, colder in the mountains, but we should see some peeks of sun and be much drier by then,” he said.