Winter Weather — Southeast Nicholas, West Virginia

2024-11-21 to 2024-11-23 · Southeast Nicholas, West Virginia

Wider weather episode

A cold front moving through the Ohio Valley on November 20th set forth an active weather period to West Virginia, first delivering rain and thunderstorms to the area that afternoon before the colder air charged in behind its passage. An upper level disturbance helped the cold front dash through the state, crossing though early in the afternoon on November 21st, and promoted a stronger push of colder air and heavier precipitation. This would bring forth the first measurable snow event for the season.

In the lower elevations of West Virginia, precipitation started off as either rain or a rain/snow mix before transitioning to all snow late on the 21st. This resulted in only light snow accumulations between 2 to 4 inches to take place. The better opportunity for snow accumulations took place along the higher elevations of the Appalachian Mountains, where colder temperatures supported snow as the predominant precipitation type throughout the event. Archived radar trends showed the first burst of snow arriving to the northeast West Virginia mountains shortly after 8 AM on the morning of November 21st, with better coverage encompassing the southern mountains later on that afternoon in the wake of the cold frontal passage. With the help of local cooperative observers and the Department of Highways, snow measurements on the upwards of 10 inches were observed with this event in Pocahontas and Randolph Counties.

Snow showers tapered down in the lowlands on the 22nd as high pressure began to build into the Tennessee Valley. Meanwhile, post-frontal northwesterly flow allowed upslope snow showers to prosper longer along the mountains, which maintained additional accumulations until November 23rd.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1220653. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.