CHARLESTON, W.Va. — School officials across West Virginia were forced to close Tuesday because of a winter storm that is forecasted to dump up to eight inches of snow in some areas.
Snow began early Tuesday morning from west to east with several heavy bands associated with an Alberta Clipper. All 55 counties closed their school doors for the day. With last week’s water emergency, Kanawha County students have now missed 7 straight days of school, not counting the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday.
The National Weather Service said it would snow for most of Tuesday. More specifically, places like Charleston, Logan, Madison, Spencer, Sutton, Weston and Clarksburg could get 3 to 5 inches; Welch, Mullens, Montgomery, Summersville, Buckhannon and Elkins could pick up 4 to 6 inches from the system; with 6 to 8 inches possible in the mountain counties along with the eastern panhandle, Morgantown and Fairmont.
NWS Meteorologist Kevin McGrath said snow could be falling at a rate of one inch per hour.
“It’s going to be locally heavy at times probably coming to an end from west to east starting at about 1 o’clock (Tuesday afternoon) and then ending int he far eastern mountains during the evening hours,” he said.
Behind the snow is another piece of the polar vortex. Temperatures will drop in the single digits in most areas Tuesday night. McGrath said it won’t be as cold as it was two weeks ago.
“We will still have bitter windchill value Wednesday morning with minus-5 degrees in the lowlands, with minus-15 degrees in the mountains of eastern West Virginia,” McGrath said.