CHARLESTON. W.Va. — A weather pattern stretching from Texas to New Jersey continued to create havoc for a lot of people in West Virginia Monday.
The National Weather Service issued an Ice Storm Warning for two dozen counties of the state, most of them west of I-79. However, Monday morning the weather service was able to narrow the focus and indicated the anticipated “freeze boundary” would move west likely sparing Charleston, the I-79 corridor and Clarksburg from the next ice storm. Meteorologist Ross Giarratana of the Charleston Weather Bureau indicated the problems will again be in the Ohio River valley from Parkersburg to the Huntington area.
“Those are really a concern because temperatures could be freezing or lower–which could mean an ice storm is on the table,” he explained.
Phil Moyer with @AppalachianPowe speaks with @HoppyKercheval about a power outage update amidst the heavy winter weather. WATCH: https://t.co/wkudfIRZCB pic.twitter.com/YQAd2UPXBX
— MetroNews (@WVMetroNews) February 15, 2021
[1045 am] Round #1 of our winter storm has exited but round #2 is now starting to move up the Ohio River Valley. This will bring significant freezing rain to southeast #ohwx, northeast #kywx and western #wvwx later this afternoon into the evening. pic.twitter.com/VV5OSm8lZi
— NWS Charleston, WV (@NWSCharlestonWV) February 15, 2021
The weather system could also produce an ice storm event for parts of the eastern panhandle as well, although not nearly as severe as the system the Mid-Ohio Valley anticipates in the next 24 hours.
“Huntington, parts of eastern Kentucky, and up into Parkersburg, we could be looking at quarter-inch to half-inch of ice in those areas tonight, especially if temperatures stay below freezing which is a possibility. To a lesser extent, but still notable in the eastern panhandle where the ice amounts won’t be quite as extreme,” he explained.
Treacherous terrain, frozen equipment and broken poles are just a few of the obstacles our crews are dealing with while trying to restore power to customers in West Virginia and Virginia. Stay safe and stay warm. ? ?
? View and report outages: https://t.co/9X0SsopEwj pic.twitter.com/4V0wuO5BbE
— Appalachian Power (@AppalachianPowe) February 14, 2021
The ice amounts for the eastern panhandle could be in the tenth to a quarter inch range.
Adding to the potential misery are around 10,000 customers of Appalachian Power who still don’t have service from an ice storm last week in the southwestern counties of the state. Some of those same counties are in line to be hit again.
“On top of the residual ice on trees already from last week’s event, we could be looking at some significant power outages and tree damage in that area,” Giarratana said.
Appalachian Power Company spokesman Phil Moye echoed Giarratana’s concern.
Phil Moyer with @AppalachianPowe speaks with @HoppyKercheval about a power outage update amidst the heavy winter weather. WATCH: https://t.co/wkudfIRZCB pic.twitter.com/YQAd2UPXBX
— MetroNews (@WVMetroNews) February 15, 2021
“It’s really crippling when it lays on those trees, the weight of the ice stays on the trees until it melts and the longer it stays, the better the chance the limb will break. When you get a half inch to three quarters of an inch, you don’t even need a tree to fall, sometimes the powerlines can be weighed down so much they fall on their own,” Moye said.
Appalachian Power has more than a thousand line workers, tree trimming specialists, and assessors working in the field already. Those include 200 linemen from Ohio and Indiana who arrived last week. According to Moye, 400 more are joining them for the anticipated storm overnight Monday into Tuesday.
“We do anticipate further outages. This 400 is really reinforcements to both help with the existing outages and in anticipation of further outages,” he said.
Forecasters say the ice and freezing rain is expected to pick up near evening and come overnight across much of the region by Tuesday morning.