Jan. 9—BLUEFIELD — Meteorologists are watching a winter storm system approaching southern West Virginia and Southwest Virginia and working to determine how much new snow it could drop on a region already dealing with power outages and arctic cold.
The National Weather Service in Blacksburg, Va. issued a cold weather advisory Wednesday afternoon for the West Virginia counties of Mercer, Summers and Greenbrier as well as the Virginia counties of Tazewell, Bland and Wythe. This advisory started at midnight Wednesday and ends at noon today. Wind chills as low of 11 degrees below zero are expected.
Up north in Raleigh County, the National Weather Service’s Charleston office issued a cold weather advisory for Raleigh County and Fayette County. The advisory started at 8 p.m. Wednesday and concludes at 11 a.m. today. Wind chills as low as 10 degrees below zero are expected. Residents in the counties of Raleigh, Fayette and McDowell were warned to beware of snow-covered roads with hidden icy patches.
The weather service also warned on Wednesday that a new winter storm starting Friday and continuing into Saturday is possible.
Between a dusting to an inch of snow was expected Wednesday evening, said forecaster Vance Joyner with the National Weather Service in Blacksburg, Va.
How much snow could arrive starting between 2 to 4 p.m. Friday afternoon was still being determined, he said. Two to 4 inches between Friday and Saturday were the most likely amounts.
“The most reasonable worst-case scenario is 5 to 6 inches,” Joyner said. “We’re not expecting any ice with this.”
Due to the freezing temperatures, forecasters did not expect any freezing rain or sleet to fall like what was seen with Winter Storm Blair. Temperatures are currently 10 to 15 degrees below normal for this time of year, he said.
Forecasters in Charleston expect about 1 inch of snow in Raleigh County on Wednesday evening. Like the Mercer County area, between 2 to 4 inches of snow are expected between Friday and Saturday.
State highway snowplows are currently a common sight across the region as their drivers work to clear and salt both main highways and secondary roads.
West Virginia Division of Highways (WVDOH) crews are continuing to work around the clock with around 1,000 snowplows to maintain the state’s highway system in the wake of Winter Storm Blair, while also preparing for a second round of winter weather this weekend, WVDOH officials said.
West Virginia Department of Transportation (WVDOT) Secretary Jimmy Wriston, P.E., said those working to clear the roadways have displayed a high level of skill and dedication to the job in order to clear the roads in a deliberate and safe manner.
“It takes a certain mentality to be really good at this, and I can’t say this enough, you have to be deliberate,” Wriston said. “I’m glad that I have the opportunity to get out there and show those guys that do it — and have worked all night as hard as they can work — that we support them, we care about them and they are doing a great job.”
On Tuesday, WVDOH crews began shifting their focus to clearing secondary roads in the West Virginia highway system after working to clean up primary roadways that were impacted by snow and ice accumulation earlier in the week, highway officials said.
“We prioritize the roads and then we follow the plan. Crews have the primary routes cleared, and have moved to the secondary,” Wriston said. “They practice their routes in November before the first snow, so they know where obstacles such as mailboxes and culverts will be.”
All roads maintained by the WVDOH fit into one of four priorities and are addressed as storm conditions dictate. Once priority 1 routes are accessible, they move to priority 2 and 3 routes. As snow returns, they return to the priority 1 routes.
Priority 1 routes include Interstate, Expressway, National Highway System and all other United States and West Virginia routes. Some Priority 1 routes also include high-traffic county routes.
Priority 2 routes are all other school bus routes that are not considered Priority 1.
Priority 3 routes are the remaining routes, not including park and forest routes.
Priority 4 routes are park and forest routes.
The WVDOT started the year with a stockpile of around 231,000 tons of salt statewide and will replenish the supply as necessary. The amount of salt on hand is based on the average amount of salt the agency has used each year over the past 10 years, highway officials said.
“If you need to be out on the roads, be deliberate, be methodical and be safe,” said Wriston said. “Just like these wonderful transportation workers.”
Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com