CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Typically cold temperatures and a mix of freezing rain and snow wouldn’t necessarily be a news item in the middle of January in West Virginia. However, the winter of 2020 is proving to be one where the winter conditions are in short bursts.
Truly the season has felt much more spring-like than winter-like. That’s likely to change this weekend with a system moving into West Virginia.
“It’s been a slow start to winter this year, but we’ve got a strong cold frontal system that’s going to affect the whole state at some point this weekend,” said Meteorologist Dave Marsalek of the Charleston Weather Bureau.
The front will arrive as a wintry mix Friday night and stretch into Saturday. The backside of the front headed into Saturday evening will likely mean accumulating snow for the West Virginia northern mountain areas, but the western lowlands will see mostly rain from the system.
“There’s a brief period of ice possible in the early morning hours of Saturday, but there’s some snow on the backside of the front, but we’re not looking for much in the way of accumulation in the western lowlands,” Marsalek said.
The precipitation should end by Saturday evening, but cold weather will persist through Sunday and Monday, but by Wednesday, Marsalek said another increase in temperature is likely.