MORGANTOWN — While Thursday’s storm didn’t quite match some predictions in terms of ice and snow, it still caused some trouble on area roadways.
The local area saw nine vehicle collisions following the wintry precipitation overnight Thursday into Friday, said MECCA Director Jim Smith. Only one had reported injury and occurred on I-68, he said.
“Traffic-wise, the accidents were low, so we were real happy to see that,” he said. A mud slide off of a hill closed the lower part of River Road.
There were 13 reports of trees down, he said, with three into structures, but no injuries. The rain-saturated ground plus the weight of the ice contributed to the trees toppling.
MECCA was staying prepared Friday night into Saturday, he said, as the continued low temperatures were expected to make the wet roads icy.
AccuWeather meteorologist Issac Longley said on Friday afternoon that the previous 24 hours saw a mixed bag of precipitation: snow, freezing rain and sleet. Ice ranged from a trace up a tenth of an inch, with some higher amounts across the higher elevations.
A potent disturbance, he said, was expected to continue snow showers and maybe even a steady light snow Friday evening into Saturday morning. The area was predicted to see a coating of snow, perhaps up to an inch, and up to 2 inches in the higher areas.
After some possible lingering morning flurries, he said, he predicted afternoon clouds breaking into sunshine with Saturday highs in the mid 20s.
FirstEnergy and Mon Power spokesman Will Boye said the Mon Power service area saw about 10,000 customers with power out due to damage caused by the ice and snow, such as trees and branches falling or sagging onto wires and equipment, leading to downed wires and broken poles. By 5 p.m. Friday, the total outage had fallen to 7,200.
Monongalia County saw about 370 customers without power, with the majority, 350, being in Morgantown, By 5 p.m. the number had fallen to 39, he said. The hardest hit areas were Brooke and Hancock counties.
Mon Power deployed additional personnel to that area from other Mon Power regions, and personnel from FirstEnergy’s Ohio utilities were being mobilized to assist as well.
Looking into the weekend weather, Longley said AccuWeather expected clear skies Saturday, but cold with a low of 13 Saturday night. “We finally turn milder on Sunday,” and warmer – rising into the low 40s under mostly sunny skies.
He expected morning sunshine Monday before the clouds return, but staying in the lower 40s.
Boye said Mon Power customers can visit their real-time outage page for up-to-date information on their outage, including causes, estimated restoration times and crew status at firstenergycorp.com/outages.
In the event of a power outage, he said, customers should report it by calling 888-LIGHTSS (888-544-4877) or clicking the “Report Outage” link at firstenergycorp.com. “Customer-reported outages help us pinpoint the damage locations, which can help speed restoration by getting a utility crew to that location sooner.”
TWEET David Beard @dbeardtdp
EMAIL dbeard@dominionpost.com
