Winter Storm — Preston, West Virginia

2025-12-31 · Preston, West Virginia

Event narrative

Widespread snowfall meeting warning criteria fell across the county with amounts around 6 inches reported by the Public 2 miles south of Kingwood and in Brandonville while Amateur Radio also reported 6 inches 2 miles southwest of Reedsville.

Wider weather episode

An upper wave dropping south across the Great Lakes and it's associated cold front brought widespread accumulating snow to the region New Year's Eve and into the new year across the ridges of western Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia. Enhanced orographic lift resulted in higher totals across the Laurel Highlands and eastern West Virginia ridges, with relatively high snow ratios between 18:1 and 21:1. Widespread Advisory level snow was also observed across the region, ranging from 2.5 inches to 5.5 inches outside of the ridges of Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1309552. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.