OAK HILL, WV (WOAY) – Snow is falling throughout the entire region this late Tuesday evening, as a system that came into the area from the west continues to make its presence known. All of the precipitation that we’re seeing is falling as snow at this point, as temperatures have cooled off after topping out near 40 degrees in some places this afternoon – the first time we’ve seen highs above the freezing mark for a while.
The snow continues tomorrow, with most of what we see in the southern coalfields, but other areas will pick up snow as well.
Places like Bluefield will see good chances for precipitation throughout much of the day.
Further to the north, Beckley will see chances for precipitation through much of the day as well, but the chances will be smaller.
By the time it’s all said and done, both cities will see somewhere between one and three inches of snow, with isolated higher amounts in other parts of the area. Some areas that won’t see those totals will still see precipitation, but rain that mixes in will cut the totals down a bit.
The second system that will impact the region arrives on Friday afternoon. Once it’s here, the snow (and this time it will be all snow) will last into Saturday morning/early Saturday afternoon before ending. Once again, the atmospheric models are showing totally different numbers, and once again, the GFS is snowier than the European model, and once again, the differences are dramatic. Accumulating snowfall is likely; how much we think will fall is still a matter of debate. The major issue will be the amount of moisture that the storm is able to pull into itself. The low is a powerful one, but it is a long way away from the moisture source region (in this case, the Gulf).
Once the second system is gone, the weekend will be a cool one, but there is good news in the extended forecast and beyond. The cold air is in full retreat over the next two weeks, and temperatures are expected to be above normal. Our forecast high of 45 next Tuesday would be the first day that was above the normal since January 22nd, which would be by that time a span of 19 days!
Click on the link below for the video version of the forecast…
