MORGANTOWN — Tuesday morning’s snowfall not unexpectedly brought vehicle accidents with it.
Monongalia County Emergency Management Agency (MECCA) Assistant Director Brad Wilson said 27 accidents without injury and six with injury were reported. Among the injury accidents was one on Interstate 79 between Westover and Star City. While social media posts speculated that this accident resulted in a fatality, MECCA had no knowledge of that being the case.
The storm also led, he said, to 13 calls for motorist assists — for such things as cars stuck in ditches or on the icy roads, he said.
As often happens, he said, the storm came in so quickly and the temperatures were so low — just above 20 degrees — that as soon as cars hit the road and melted that dusting of snow, it froze. The traffic backups meant Division of Highways salt trucks couldn’t get out to treat the roads.
Tuesday’s temperature range — a high of 31 in the daytime, low of 18 at night, according to AccuWeather — was well below the average of 48/29 and even lower than last year’s range on this date of 51/42. The record high was 80, in 1998; the record low was 7, in 1930.
Locally, Tuesday’s cold snap was just a brief winter visit, according to AccuWeather. Wednesday is predicted to be breezy and not as cold with low clouds, and a high of 41 (“real feel” of 30) and low of 28 at night (feeling like 25).
Thursday will see a mix of clouds and sun with a high of 54 and low of 40. Friday brings some rain, and a high of 47 and low of 41. Saturday is cloudy, with temperatures ranging from 58 to 45. And Sunday is cloudy with some showers, a high of 55 and cold weather creeping back down, falling to 29.
Regionally, AccuWeather reported that cold air from Canada is paying a visit. The first major blast of cold air will continue to settle into the East into Wednesday and will not only be responsible for some of the lowest temperatures so far but also some of the first freezes of the season for areas that have been holding out.
While the air coming in will not be record-breaking, AccuWeather said, it will be a bit of a shock as the first cold waves of the season often are. Temperatures will run 10-20 degrees below the historical average for late November, making it feel more like late December or January in terms of nighttime lows.
During the second half of the week, the temperature trend will reverse and recover to near the historical average over much of the eastern third of the nation, AccuWeather said.
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