Winter Storm — Pleasants, West Virginia

2018-01-12 to 2018-01-13 · Pleasants, West Virginia

Wider weather episode

A strong cold front moved through the middle Ohio River Valley and Central Appalachians on the 12th. Abundant Gulf moisture was in place, and as the cold air surged in behind the front, rain quickly changed to freezing rain and sleet through the evening, and then finally became all snow by late evening. The heaviest snow fell along the Ohio River, with lesser amounts in the mountainous counties due to more limited moisture.

A light coating of ice resulted from the freezing rain, followed by a couple tenths of an inch of sleet accumulation.

Snowfall accumulations right along the Ohio River were in the 3 to 5 inch range, but tapered off to only an inch or two very quickly away from the river. For example, right along the river in Wood and Pleasants Counties, multiple measurements of 4 to 6 inches were taken, while across southeastern Wood County, only 2 to 3 inches of snow accumulated. Across the metro areas of Charleston and Huntington, 1 to 3 inches of snow topped about a tenth of an inch of ice and sleet. Around 2 inches of snow was measured in Clarksburg, and the Southern Coal Fields got 1 to 2 inches of snow on top of coating of sleet.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 727274. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.