CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A winter storm Saturday soaked West Virginia with rain, freezing rain and heavy, wet snow and left meteorologists with the National Weather Service concerned about possible ice jams and flooding.
NWS Meteorologist John Sikora told MetroNews Saturday night snow totals reached nearly two feet in Beckley and east through Greenbrier County and up through Pocahontas County.
Sikora said other areas, including the southern coalfields through the Kanawha Valley and north to Clarksburg were in what’s called a “warm wedge” where freezing rain and then rain fell for most of the day. That rain joined with snow from earlier in the week created a heavy, slushy mess that caused auto accidents, avalanches and roofs to collapse. Areas around the “warm wedge” stayed cold enough to snow for most of the day.
The state DOH was working to clear two avalanches, one of those on Route 99 on Bolt Mountain in Raleigh County and another on Route 20 near the Bluestone Dam in Summers County. Sikora said the snow was piled up 20 feet high in at least one of those slides.
The weather service issued flood warnings for Mingo and Logan counties through early Sunday morning because of ice jams on streams and creeks. The melting snow and rain blocked culverts in other areas creating large pools of water on the state’s interstate system and in some cases causing traffic accidents.
Sikora said other areas of the state including areas west of Clarksburg to Parkersburg picked up a general 4-6 inches of snow. He said the Morgantown area got enough warm air Saturday to have mixed precipitation by the end of the day. The storm was still moving through the eastern panhandle late Saturday night.
Sikora said he was hopeful conditions would dry out enough Sunday to relieve the threat of flooding before another blast of arctic air creates a refreeze Sunday night before another round of snow.