CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia is going from snow to bone-chilling temperatures which could make it difficult for road crews to clear roadways before the next storm system hits the state Thursday evening.
The entire state is under a Wind Chill Advisory from the National Weather Service Tuesday night into mid-morning Wednesday when lows in the single digits will make it feel like 10 below zero.
“That 10 below is pretty much everywhere across the state. It’s 15 to 25 below up in the mountains,” National Weather Service Meteorologist Tony Edwards said.
Pocahontas and Randolph counties are under a Wind Chill Warning for Tuesday night where it could feel like 30 below zero.
The very cold temperatures won’t be a friend to snow removal crews which are trying to clear both primary and secondary roads following the three-round storm. The forecast for Wednesday includes highs below freezing with sunshine and state Division of Highways Chief Engineer of Operations Joe Pack told MetroNews that will help.
“That will increase the temperature of the road surface which will allow the salt to be more effective,” Pack said. “In shady areas and especially at night those below freezing temperatures will cause complications for us,” Pack said.
As the snow moves out this morning, measurements are appreciated. Wind chill advisories are out for today into Wednesday, as wind chills can get as low as from -25 in the highest elevations to -10 out across the lowlands tonight. #WVWx #OHWx #KYWx #VAWx pic.twitter.com/BChyWLOJNa
— NWS Charleston, WV (@NWSCharlestonWV) January 16, 2024
According to Pack, the biggest challenge from this storm was it impacted the entire state and came in three different waves of precipitation. There was a round of snow Monday morning, Monday evening and night and again Tuesday morning.
“That keeps our trucks on the Priority-1 routes and we’re not able to move to the secondaries as quickly as we like to and so therefore the secondaries go untreated for a time period which may seem too long, however, we get there as quickly as we can,” Pack said.
The last of the snow from the system had exited the state by Tuesday afternoon. Edwards said accumulations varied.
“Pretty much everybody across the state got at least a couple of inches,” he said. “Here in the Metro Valley, up I-79 around 4 inches, you get up to 6 to 7 inches once you get up towards Beckley and into the mountains.”
There’s more on the way, Edwards said.
“We’ve got another snow system moving in probably Thursday night, Friday, maybe Friday night–probably another couple of inches on top of what we got,” Edwards said. “Then we start to warm up. If we can make it through Sunday then we have some warmer weather for next week.”
Pack said the goal of the DOH is to get as many roads cleared as possible before the next storm hits.
“That is our hope and our plan so we can gain traction,” Pack said.