Winter Storm — Western Greenbrier, West Virginia

2020-12-24 to 2020-12-25 · Western Greenbrier, West Virginia

Event narrative

Snowfall across western Greenbrier County ranged from 4.0 inches at Rainelle, 6.5 inches at Rupert, 6.9 inches three miles southeast of Quinwood, to 7.0 inches at Quinwood. Key impacts: slippery roads and sidewalks.

Wider weather episode

A strong cold front swept across the region during the evening hours of Christmas Eve. Along and in advance of the cold front, very gusty winds occurred. Combined with falling temperatures later than night, wind chills dipped to five to ten degrees below zero across western Greenbrier County. While rain preceded the cold front, sub-freezing air rapidly entered the area after the passage of the cold front, dropping the temperatures some five to eight degrees per hour. This quickly turned the rain to snow, and resulted in flash freeze of surface moisture to slippery ice. The snow quickly accumulated during the night, with many areas of southeast West Virginia receiving three to seven inches of snow. Key impacts: slippery roads and sidewalks, frozen locks other out-of-doors objects, falling trees.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 934664. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.