The snow that moved through the area Monday night into Tuesday began to slow down Tuesday afternoon, but temperatures remain in the teens.
Accuweather meteorologist Tom Kines said around 2-4 inches of snow had accumulated in most areas with about an inch more in the higher elevations of Preston County.
That was enough to make the roads a little more difficult to manage. As of 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, the Monongalia County Emergency Management Agency (MECCA) had received reports of 16 vehicle accidents, according to MECCA Director Jimmy Smith.
Smith said they had also received 10 reports for motorist assists such as people who slid off the road or were stuck.
According to Joe Pack, West Virginia Division of Highways (WVDOH) Chief Engineer of District Operations, 20 snowplows were out treating priority roads in Monongalia County.
All roads maintained by WVDOH fit into one of four priorities, he said, “The interstate, expressway, National Highway System and all other U.S., West Virginia and high-trafficked county routes are Priority 1 routes.
“Priority 2 routes are all other school bus routes not included in Priority 1. Priority 3 routes are the remaining routes, not including park and forest routes. Priority 4 routes are park and forest routes.
“Once Priority 1 routes are deemed in accessible condition,” he explained, “WVDOH operators move to the secondary routes in Priority 2 and 3.”
However, as snow returns, he explained, WVDOH operators return to the Priority 1 routes.
Temperatures Tuesday night were in the single digits but will rise into the lower 20s on Wednesday.
While it might be slightly warmer Wednesday, Kines predicts it to be a bit breezy – “So, you throw that in and it’s probably going to feel 10-15 degrees colder than what the actual temperature is. So, some of the day it’s going to feel like it’s in the single digits,” he said.
According to Kines, there will be a couple of systems moving through as we get into Thursday and Friday.
The first one, which looks like it will be moving through later Thursday, is pretty weak, Kines said.
“There might be some snow showers with that one, but I would think any accumulation would be less than an inch out of that.
“The big news about Thursday is temperatures might actually get close to freezing,” he said. “Friday, a somewhat stronger system is going to move through and will bring snow to the area – looks like a few inches will accumulate out of that.”
Kines said the good news is the next round of snow should be very dry, so it will be easy to move around.
Behind that, it looks like it will get colder again on Saturday with temperatures that might not make it out of the teens. Kines said there will be snow showers and somewhat of a breeze, making it feel even colder.
As winter weather continues, WVDOH reminds motorists to slow down in the winter weather and give snowplow drivers space to work.
