CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Some of West Virginia’s lowlands started to get their first taste of winter on Thursday. Even Charleston had snow showers much of the day as an arctic front pulled aid down from Canada and moved across West Virginia.
Although not necessarily significant in accumulation, it was enough to make motorists take notice.
“When you have your first snow the worry is getting people back into the habit of driving in these conditions,” said Carrie Bly with the West Virginia Division of Highways. “It’s that day to remind yourself it’s getting colder, there’s going to be snow, and you can’t drive how you typically do.”
The National Weather Service is calling for a few inches of snow in the higher elevations Thursday night into Friday. The flurries in the lowlands weren’t expected to make things slippery.
Bly said the DOH is more than ready for the winter weather. Preparations have been underway for the season for the past several months. Equipment is serviced and stockpiles of treatment material are filled.
“Last year hit the salt industry hard because everybody needed it and started to run out. Now we’re paying the price because the price has gone up.” Bly said. “Certainly, if we have as harsh a winter as we did last year we could come into some issues, but right now we have all the salt we need.”