MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The weather so far in the month of November is helping northcentral West Virginia recover from the continuing drought.
“Over the last 72 hours, so that includes this system and the end of the last one,” National Weather Service Meteorologist David Shallenberger said. “We’re looking at totals of a half an inch to an inch across the entire area.”
The recent systems have resulted in widespread totals that vary due to increased convective activity, according to Shallenberger.
“When you have that, you’ll have some spots show up with a whole inch and other spots that didn’t have a strong cell over them didn’t get as much,” Sahllenberger said.
The most recent U.S. Drought Monitor shows extreme drought conditions remain in all or parts of Brooke, Ohio, Marshall, Doddridge, Harrison, Taylor, Barbour, Marion, Preston, Tucker, Grant, Mineral, Webster, Calhoun, Gilmer, Roane, Clay and Braxton counties.
The severe drought designation covers most other counties.
Shallenberger said the normal November rainfall total for the area is 2.48 inches of rain and 2.64 inches has been received. But the rain deficit of about five inches will likely persist through the early part of next year.
“Don’t get me wrong; we are making progress on the drought,” Shallenberger said. “It’s probably just going to take a little bit more of a wetter pattern and we should start to see some significant improvement with it.”
Shallenberger said December could be a snowy month based on the below-normal temperature forecast for the month. It’s too early for a white Christmas prediction but if the moisture is there the forecast trends show the air could be cold enough for snowfall.
“That’s average below normal for the entire month of December, so there certainly stands the possibility of getting some snow in there,” Shallenberger said.