BLUEFIELD, W.Va. — Some of the coldest areas of West Virginia Wednesday morning were in the southern part of the state.
Bluefield, Pineville and Beckley each experienced lows from 0 to 2 degrees.
Other parts of the state struggled to make it out of the single digit temperatures.
Bluefield Public Works Deputy Director Craig Strahm said his crews are dealing with the frigid temperatures as they continue to plow snow and ice from the roads.
“We had run our snowplows on 24-hour shifts and by this morning when I came in I think it was down to 2 degrees,” he said.
The cold temperatures are making it more difficult to treat the roads. Strahm said black ice is a big concern.
“It does make it a little more challenging because then the pack that’s left on the road begins to freeze and the salt, once you get down to single digits, no longer really has an effect. It really struggles to try and get those side roads and some of those roads that don’t see a lot of traffic cleared,” he said.
Strahm said they have a lot of hills to clear compared to other parts of the state.
“All we can do is plow and salt,” he said. “It’s just basically a trial and error.”
Beckley Public Works Director Pamela Frey told MetroNews it was 4 degrees when she stepped outside Wednesday morning.
“Everything was frozen over. It was very icy and bitterly cold,” she said.
Wind chill advisories remain in effect today for wind chills as low as from -25 in the highest elevations to -10 out across the lowlands this morning, before gradually easing today. A new arctic blast arrives by the weekend, with more snow and wind chills. #WVWx #OHWx #KYWx #VAWx pic.twitter.com/empDTnnUSz
— NWS Charleston, WV (@NWSCharlestonWV) January 17, 2024
Frey echoed the same concerns as Strahm when it comes to treating the roads during single digit temperatures especially because the cold weather will continue through the rest of this week.
“It hampers the effort to clean the roads because salt doesn’t work at those temperatures, so we still try to put some cinders in with our salt so that way it helps with the traction,” Frey said.
Public works crews said the ideal temperature for salting the roads is above 30 degrees.
The National Weather Service issued a Wind Chill Warning for Pocahontas and Randolph counties through 4 p.m. Wednesday. Wind chills could drop as low as 30 below zero.