Extreme Cold/Wind Chill — Logan, West Virginia

2015-02-18 to 2015-02-20 · Logan, West Virginia

Wider weather episode

In less than a week, a second arctic front swept through West Virginia during the early afternoon hours of the 18th. Snow showers formed ahead of the front. Bands of snow showers lingered into the evening over the central mountains and southern lowland counties as temperatures dropped into the single digits before midnight. Snow accumulations of 2 to 3 inches were common around Huntington on through the southern coal field counties and into the central mountains.

Temperatures dropped into the zero to 5 below range just after dawn on the 19th for most areas. Snowshoe reached minus 14. Despite sunshine through icy low clouds, daytime readings only recovered into the 5 to 10 degree range in the lowlands. Temperatures remained below zero during the daylight hours of the 19th across the high mountain terrain. The daytime high temperature on the 19th at Snowshoe was minus 11.

Wind chill readings of minus 10 to minus 20 were felt in the lowlands during the day on the 19th, while minus 20 to minus 30 was endured across the mountain counties.

The diminishing winds and a clear sky developed first over southern counties of the state, then moved north during the overnight hours of the 19th into the 20th. With a fresh deep snow pack, temperatures dropped well below zero for dawn on Friday, the 20th. The coldest official temperature was minus 24 at Mt Nebo of Nicholas County. Along Lockhart Fork near Sandyville in Jackson County, 23 below zero was measured. Other official temperatures included minus 21 at Sissonville, minus 19 at East Lynn in Wayne County, minus 18 at Sutton and Snowshoe, minus 17 at the National Weather Service office at Southridge, minus 16 at Grantsville, minus 16 at Huntington, Spencer, Saint Albans, and West Union. The airport near Pineville observed minus 18. Charleston dropped to minus 11. An unofficial temperature of 16 below zero was observed in Hurricane of Putnam County. The southern plateau was not quite as bitter. Beckley had 9 below zero for its minimum temperature. Readings of minus 5 to minus 10 were common across north central counties. For example, downtown Clarksburg had minus 6, while the nearby airport had minus 7.

In several counties, the morning of Friday the 20th was the coldest since the cold waves of February 1996 and January 1994. For example, the minus 17 at Huntington was the coldest since the minus 21 degrees back in January 1994. The minus 11 at Charleston was the coldest since the minus 12 in February of 1996.

Two deaths of young adults in the Smokehouse Fork area of Logan County were indirectly related to the cold temperatures. State police listed the cold as a contributing factor.

At one point near dawn on the 20th, about 10,000 customers were without power in Kanawha County. Emergency warming shelters were set up by churches and towns. Several water lines broke due to the cold and continued for a few days as temperatures moderated. Some of the broken water pipes were underground, while others were inside buildings. One example was under a street in the East End of Charleston. Water lines also broke inside a Marshall dormitory, and in the Boone County Courthouse in Madison. Water collected 1 to 2 feet in a portion of that court house basement, damaging the flooring. Several storage tanks for a water utility company drained due to broken pipes. This cut off water service to thousands in the Charleston vicinity and in Boone County. Some residents were without water for several days.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 552553. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.