MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — It was a quick but heavy storm that left several inches of snow across the Eastern Panhandle.
MetroNews affiliate WEPM measured a little over 7 inches of snow in front of their Martinsburg studios Wednesday afternoon. While crews continued to dig out, periods of freezing rain continued to fall.
“We’re expecting freezing rain to continue through probably around midnight at least before it switches over to rain,” National Weather Service DC/Baltimore Meteorologist Cody Ledbetter told WEPM. “We’re expecting anywhere from a tenth to two tenths of an inch. I could definitely see some slick spots for the morning commute.”
With the majority of the snow now changed over to sleet/ freezing rain, attention is turned to ice accumulations as temperatures only gradually warm above freezing. Advisories & Warnings continue through the evening, with the greatest ice accumulations north/west of I-95. pic.twitter.com/uNqXPPgPyB
— NWS Baltimore-Washington (@NWS_BaltWash) February 20, 2019
The National Weather Service also confirmed multiple occurrences of what is known as “thundersnow”. The agency said while it is uncommon, the situations were just right Wednesday for it to happen multiple times across the Eastern Panhandle, central and eastern Maryland.
“Shallow layers of unstable air lead to enhanced upward motion, increasing snow growth and causing enough electric charge separation for lightning.” -Thundersnow, NWS
Image: 927 AM Wed Feb 20, 2019, showing extent of a single lightning flash across portions of western Maryland and eastern West Virginia panhandle using a ground-based lightning sensor network and a satellite-based GOES-16 Global Lightning Mapper of "Flash Extent Density" image. pic.twitter.com/fhpndO0kwt
— NWS Baltimore-Washington (@NWS_BaltWash) February 20, 2019
Another concern is flooding as temperature warm to 51 on Thursday, 45 on Friday and 62 on Saturday. Additional precipitation is also anticipated.
“We’re looking at a pretty decent amount of rain it looks like Saturday night into Sunday,” said Ledbetter. “So it’s definitely on our radar.”
Martinsburg City Manager Mark Baldwin said on Wednesday’s ‘Panhandle Live’ on WEPM crews were prepared for this storm and have been working around the clock.
“We prepare days ahead of time. We make sure the trucks are ready to roll and all of the snow plows are maintained and ready. We do 12 hour shifts with the crews around the clock for the next couple of days. The focus is those main drags and the hills and particularly hospitals, school zones and so forth.”
Multiple accidents were reported on I-81 and other primary routes in Berkeley County Wednesday morning. No major injuries were reported.