PARKERSBURG, W.Va. — Police from Parkersburg to Martinsburg reported dozens of traffic accidents Saturday morning because of freezing rain.
Temperatures were right at or right below the freezing mark making what appeared to be only wet roads very hazardous.
Authorities said U.S. Route 50 from Parkersburg to Harrisville was a bad stretch with a number of accidents including a pair of rollover crashes.
Police were busy in Marshall, Monongalia and surrounding counties on accident calls. A State Police dispatcher in Randolph County said troopers were called to wrecks on Corridor-H.
Accidents closed a few lanes of Interstate-470 near Wheeling and two westbound lanes of Interstate 68 near Bruceton Mills were closed after a big truck skidded on its side. The eastbound lanes of I-68 were also closed just three miles east of the westbound crash. Long delays were expected.
The freezing rain was further east with accidents and accidents with injuries in Mineral and Hampshire counties. A report at approximately 6:30 a.m. Saturday said a DOH truck had gone over an embankment on U.S. Route 50 in Mineral County.
Weather forecasters said conditions were expected to improve by Saturday afternoon as temperatures shoot through the 40s and into the 50s.