Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
NWS-Pittsburgh just changed the winter storm watch to a winter storm warning, and upped the snowfall prediction to 4-8". Guess I better go spray some Pam on the snow plow blade.
Jake and I were returning from Myrtle Beach this evening and we experienced the sammmmmmmeeee thing on I-77 around Bluefield and Beckley... HORRIBLE!!! Here I go in my little Jetta passing all these parked tractor trailers and cars... cops were escorting the south bound lane which had lined traffic for about 9-10 miles.... The cop starting shining his spot light on me to try to get me to slow down because there was just a mess of vehicles scattered around in front of me.
At one point there was a tractor trailer in the passing lane, the slow lane, and on the burm... 3 of them nearly side by side just before the top of a hill. I knew if I got stopped we would be sitting there so I took a risk and barely scrapped by on the corner of the shoulder. I had some problems because of how deep the snow was on the side where I was basically driving in the grass or gravel. But I made it by somehow.
I could not see 5 feet in front of my car!!!! I'm from Elkins born and raised and I've never seen a blizzard like that before in my life!!!!
Yeah that was creepy alright. White out conditions so bad I couldn't tell where the road was either if not for the bumpy tire noise from the shoulder lane LOL. I've got a toyota and when I'd crest the mtn top the gusts would slow me down a few mph & make me feel like it was carrying me off or about to lose control.
I was thinking the whole way down that a subaru 4wd might make more sense now that I've relocated here. Ideal time to trade in for new car with deep discounts happening. Maybe that's just my flatlander self talkin though. Cruise control and 8% grades don't get along real well. Mtn driving in rockies and Pa years back I wound up vapor locking twice with my mustang. If there's a knack to mtn driving I don't think I have it.
I81 northbound Pa had 2 major wrecks with tractor trailers so I figured I should cut across to I79 rather than risk higher volume on 81. Didn't realize this storm went all the way down to beckley because once I got past braxton/gilmer things cleared up nicely. I guess the only way to avoid it would have been sitting tight a while.
Tell you what though--- charleston's micro climate homework paid off. Maybe an inch or two at a time and before I can gear up to find a shovel it melted already. We even had a freakish 65 degree weekend in december. Compare that to say... montana? hahahahaa UNITED STATES EXTREME RECORD TEMPERATURES & RANGES
Elkins is the windward side of snowshoe? Is that the coldest part of the state?
Yeah that was creepy alright. White out conditions so bad I couldn't tell where the road was either if not for the bumpy tire noise from the shoulder lane LOL. I've got a toyota and when I'd crest the mtn top the gusts would slow me down a few mph & make me feel like it was carrying me off or about to lose control.
I was thinking the whole way down that a subaru 4wd might make more sense now that I've relocated here. Ideal time to trade in for new car with deep discounts happening. Maybe that's just my flatlander self talkin though. Cruise control and 8% grades don't get along real well. Mtn driving in rockies and Pa years back I wound up vapor locking twice with my mustang. If there's a knack to mtn driving I don't think I have it.
I81 northbound Pa had 2 major wrecks with tractor trailers so I figured I should cut across to I79 rather than risk higher volume on 81. Didn't realize this storm went all the way down to beckley because once I got past braxton/gilmer things cleared up nicely. I guess the only way to avoid it would have been sitting tight a while.
Tell you what though--- charleston's micro climate homework paid off. Maybe an inch or two at a time and before I can gear up to find a shovel it melted already. We even had a freakish 65 degree weekend in december. Compare that to say... montana? hahahahaa UNITED STATES EXTREME RECORD TEMPERATURES & RANGES
Elkins is the windward side of snowshoe? Is that the coldest part of the state?
Sort of.. ha ha Elkins is positioned weirdly north of Snowshoe just at the start of the "serious" mountains, but it is still under 2000 feet in elevation, so the actual city of Elkins doesn't get burried under snow so much as the mountains. Snowshow is always colder, as are most parts of Tucker county and the very eastern portions of Randolph county. I can't really speak for areas to the south, in the mountains around Raleigh or Greenbrier counties.
Years ago, most temperature reports were from airports with commercial service, since the NWS wanted to be sure pilots had the best information possible. In WV, that meant Charleston, Huntington, Clarksburg, Morgantown, Elkins, Beckley, and Wheeling, I think. Not sure if there were any commercial airports in the EP.
Anyway, of those airports, Elkins is the one that's most in the mountains, so it got the reputation as the coldest part of WV.
Supposedly, Spruce (now a ghost town) was one of the coldest spots in the state, along with Frost and Minnehaha Springs. They're all in Pocahontas County.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
