CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Winter Storm Jonas belted Charleston with the heaviest snow since the Blizzard of 1996 on Friday and Saturday. The official total from the National Weather Service in Charleston was 18 inches before the heaviest snow bands finally started to release their grip on the Kanawha Valley.
Motorists fled work Friday as the snow picked up, but many found out they pulled the trigger too late. Cars buried up in the massive piles of snow causing owners to simply abandoned them and finish the trip home on foot. Cars parked in every way, some of them still in the road, were an obstacle for city snow plows. Crews had no choice but to start towing the cars Friday evening.
“We hate to do that, but people just got out of their cars in the middle of the road and left them,” said Charleston Public Works Director Gary Taylor. “In order to get the roads clear, we have to tow them.”
The interstate highways throughout he capital region were no better. Semis lost traction on steep hills, jack-knifed, and were stranded throughout the region. The worst was Interstate 77. Department of Highways Supervisor Chuck Runion told 580-WCHS more than 150 to 200 eighteen-wheedlers were stuck on the highway.. The decision was made Saturday morning to shut down I-77 in both directions from the Westmoreland exit in Charleston to the Jackson County line.
“We have two military wreckers from Eleanor and we put one going north bound and one going south bound, pulling trucks and getting them free,” Runion said. “We put extra crews out of Wood County and Cabell County to blitz I-64 and 77 to get them opened up.”
The highway finally reopened at 12:30 p.m. Saturday.
Appalachian Power reported a few hundred scattered outages across the region, but most power stayed on for the duration of the story.
The forecast called for warming temperatures and sunshine on Sunday. It’s anticipated a lot of snow blowers and shovels will be working then.