Warmest area in WV? (Huntington, Morgantown: to move, horse, relocating to)

[happyhorseranch]

Hey There!

We are looking to perhaps relocating to more acreage in WV. What areas have the least harsh winters? My dad is from Quebec and doesn't want to move anywhere where the snow is more than a foot. Low humidity is important! Also, which towns are growing and have the most economic opportunity?

Thanks a million for any help!

[David Kennedy]

Eastern Panhandle...Berkeley County to Winchester, VA is great horse county, as is that entire Shenandoah Valley area. Will be a change from California...but similar to northern Cali and the Sierra's East of Saramento towards Nevada.

Humidity on a great day...60% Most of the summer, in the 90% range. We have leaves on our trees and they breathe out O2 and moisture.

Our state has mild winters now, but in a blue moon, we can get a Quebec Frost. In 1976/77, temps down to -35'..with windchill to -50.
Snow from Thanksgiving to after Easter. Froze the rivers and the wind carved artic furrows in the snow...but those come about every 30 years...We are due...but not this year.
Every 10 years we have a real winter, 1-3' on the ground and a blizzard or two. Last one of those was in 1991...I-79 was closed during Christmas.
And 4 yrs ago we had a Noreaster that hit us late in March...a 3' surprise on top of an already accumulation of 24"...I think the total was 51" here...Here is Morgantown, WV.
Our elevation is about 800' above sea level...the higher elevations received more snow.
If the weather is bad, we throw another log on the fire and stay home. good luck

[tbailey1138]

Huntington probably has the most mild winters in the state and has a lot of opportunity as well since it is the second largest city in the state. Winter temps are usually in the 20s-30s with a few days in the teens with it rarely dipping below that. We also rarely get much more than a dusting of snow with maybe one or two snows of about 8-10". There are also a decent number of horse farms but the biggest advantage there is that we are right at 2 hours from Lexington, KY which is pretty much the horse capitol of the world. It's a straight shot down I-64. Huntington's biggest draw back for you would be the humidity. Being in the Ohio Valley with warmer temps leads to the increased humidity. It's not that long of a period of time though and otherwise the area is great. Hope this helps and let me know if you need anything else.
Tim