BY MIKE NOLTING
Weekend weather across northern West Virginia is expected to bring rain, high winds and possibly hail.
Power crews are bracing for the possibility of an another high-wind event just days after restoring power from last Saturday’s destructive storm.
First Energy spokesperson Hannah Catlett said crews have just completed restoration efforts from the weather event last weekend. She said they are confirming crew availability and preparing equipment and bucket trucks for a quick response, if needed.
“A lot of our crews just got back in from restoring power that was taken out in last weekend’s storm,” Catlett said Friday. “They worked hard to get that work done.”
First Energy’s in-house meteorologists have been tracking this weather event since the beginning of the week and are concerned about the amount of precipitation in the forecast prior to the arrival of forecast high winds.
“The ground is wet and saturated, so when these winds come, the ground is soft and the trees are more likely to fall over,” Catlett said. “That’s what’s on the minds of our crews.”
Catlett said customers should make sure their electronic devices are charged in order to quickly report outages. If power lines are on the ground, Catlett reminds residents that all power lines should be treated as if they are live.
If power is lost, never use a generator in or near your home due to the possibility of carbon monoxide poisoning.
AccuWeather Meteorologist Joe Lundberg said rain returns today and temperatures could rise to the 70-degree mark before another cold front pushes into the area this afternoon.
“There could be a squall line that comes through,” Lundberg said. “So with that, there could be some brief downpours, a possibility of hail, and certainly the strong winds we’ve been advertising.”
Lundberg said those wind gusts could reach 60 mph with sustained gusts of 25 to 30 mph.
The cold front takes over this afternoon and rain should move out this to make way for a sunny Sunday with a forecast high temperature of 52, Lundberg said.
“It’s going to mean an abrupt drop in temperatures from the 60s and 70s right down to the 50s and maybe the 40s by sunset.”
