CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Meteorologists across the state are warning citizens of a low-pressure system likely affecting many counties in West Virginia Friday evening.
The first part of the day will consist of mostly cloudy and sticky conditions in most areas before potentially devastating conditions roll through.
“It’s kind of a combination,” Charleston-based National Weather Service Meteorologist Megan Kiebler said on MetroNews Midday Thursday morning. “We’re focusing a lot on our winds because we can already see that forecast of the stronger, 60-mile-per-hour winds or more, but these storms are going to be very much capable of producing the large hail, continuing risk of tornadoes that form just outside of our area, and the heavy downpours as well.”
Kiebler says residents should prepare for the worst of the storm to blow through during the early evening hours.
“It’s really that evening timeframe that we’re seeing that main event where we could see winds greater than 50 to 60 miles per hour or more in the intensity of those storms,” Kiebler said.
Kiebler says the storms will almost certainly hit western counties hard, but for now, it doesn’t show signs of tailing off as it moves across the state.
“Typically, that’s going to be near the Tri-State area. They’re going to evolve first in the Mississippi Valley and then they have to travel hundreds of miles before they get to us, and it’s really going to be whether they can sustain themselves. It’s always going to be that western part of the state that will be in the brunt of it,” Kiebler said. “They typically start to weaken as the press across the state, but in this case, we’re kind of looking at an area-wide risk for these strong storms. They start to move in sometime after 5 p.m.”
Though Kiebler was able to give some warnings for the potentially dangerous storms, she reminds all residents that the back end of the day could be unpredictable.
“This is very evolving and that’s why there is still a lot of that uncertainty. That’s why we’re always saying to have multiple ways to receive warnings just in case something does form or is moving towards an area in our state,” Kiebler said.