CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Winter Storm Jonas arrived as advertised on Friday morning by putting down heavy snow in southern West Virginia before heading north and it could be Sunday before the snow stops in the Mountain State.
Governor Earl Ray Tomblin has issued a State of Emergency.
“(A state of emergency) gives access to state resources to assist in response efforts, (but) does not restrict travel or mandate school, business closings,” Tomblin said in a message on Twitter.
During a state briefing in the early hours of the storm, Mike Zwier, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said the storm projections seemed to be on target.
“It’s been pretty consistent over the last few days. The exact area of where the heaviest snow could fall, where we’re talking bands of areas where you could get two feet or something like that, it is kind of hard to nail ahead of time,” Zwier said.
The snowfall, he said, would be significant.
The National Weather Service’s latest snowfall totals indicated there was the possibility of 12 to 18 inches in areas from Morgantown south through the Kanawha Valley and east toward Lewisburg.
Amounts were projected to be higher in the eastern mountains, approaching two feet, and there was the possibility for three feet in the highest elevations and parts of the Eastern Panhandle, along the Virginia border especially.
At times on Friday, snow was falling at a rate of two to three inches per hour in parts of the Mountain State, according to state officials.
“Even if you’re only getting minimum amounts, looking at a foot, that’s very disruptive, so adding six inches to that in those heavier bands doesn’t make a huge travel difference because, at a foot, we’re already having some issues,” Zwier told reporters.
Several factors could change the accumulation including a slight shift of the storm to the east and the temperature of the air aloft. If warmer air moves north, it could reduce the total amount of snow, meteorologists said.
By Friday afternoon, warming stations were opening in West Virginia. Those locations were being posted at a state Facebook page created for Winter Storm Jonas and also available by calling 211.
“We have all those organizations working together, coordinating together so that we can make sure that all the needs are met throughout the counties as far as warming stations and shelters,” said Jenny Gannaway, spokesperson for Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster.
“Anytime you have heavy, wet snow, you’re going to have trees that fall on homes or home damage as far as roofs. We have teams ready to start helping with tarping and removing trees, helping the elderly or disabled with removing snow from their homes,” Gannaway said.
As of early Friday afternoon, there were few power outages reported in West Virginia.
Jimmy Gianato, director of the state Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, predicted that would change.
“We still think the largest issues we’ll see will be power outages,” he said. “As the snow continues to fall and the trees begin to break and the power lines come down.”
Every West Virginia county, with the exceptions of Hancock County, Brooke County and Ohio County, were under Winter Storm Warnings from the National Weather Service as of Friday afternoon.