By Stephen Smoot
The warnings and maps released before this week’s powerful winter weather appeared intimidating enough. Every national forecast showed a multicolored blob of a forecast that extended from Kansas City, Missouri, to the Atlantic Ocean, as wide from north to south as the State of Missouri in the same directions.
Within the system, as it arrived, three waves of storms hit the area.
The first came late last week, dumping several inches of snow in the highlands of western Pendleton and Grant counties, as well as eastern Randolph and Tucker counties. Snowfall opened about midmorning on Friday and continued for approximately 24 hours. Whiteout conditions came and went, making travel on mountain highways such as US 33 hazardous.
Snow did not fall in large amounts outside of the mountains and high ridgetops, but 15 to 30 mile per hour winds blasted other sections of the county on Saturday.
Over the weekend, Governor Jim Justice, in one of his last official acts before moving to the United States Senate, issued a State of Emergency declaration for all counties in the state as the storm approached.
“All West Virginians should absolutely be prepared for the potential impact this storm may bring,” Justice said in a release, adding that “our top priority is safety, and we’re doing everything we can to stay ahead of the storm. State agencies are on high alert, and we’ll continue to monitor the situation closely. I ask all West Virginians to stay alert, follow any instructions from emergency officials, and take necessary precautions. The next few days may bring challenges, so let’s all take care of each other.”
As part of the declaration, the West Virginia Department of Highways aggressively pretreated roadways and mobilized trucks to continually plow to keep roads as clear as possible. Heavy snow and ice in some areas, however, ensured that roads remained dangerous. The Pendleton County Office of Emergency Management Facebook page urged residents to stay off the roadways during the most dangerous parts of the event.
State officials also deployed the West Virginia National Guard “at armories across the state in preparation for possible response needs.”
Sunday evening came the second round, the main course to the previous storm’s appetizer. Several inches fell across the entire region, shutting down schools, government offices – including the Pendleton County Courthouse, and most businesses on Monday.
Monday morning saw one storm clearing the state, heading east toward the ocean, with the final moving in during the afternoon.
Most of the region saw several additional inches of snow, with many parts of the mountains receiving well over a foot from the three waves.
Pendleton County may not get much of a reprieve. According to West Virginia Eastern Panhandle Weather, a storm system moving from southwest to northeast could strike this coming weekend. Atmospheric fluctuations make it difficult to predict at this point where the highest snowfalls could take place
Aubrey Urbanowicz, chief meteorologist for WHSV in Harrisonburg, Virginia, explained during the storm on Sunday the difficulty in pinpointing a snowfall prediction, saying that “a winter storm is more than just a number. Look at the timing, the details, and what can change.”
