Storm non-event in WV, frost/freeze Monday

By DAN ROBINSON
Editor/Photographer

Today's severe thunderstorm risk day turned out to be a major non-event for West Virginia. A messy squall line formed early in the afternoon, and never really got organized. I jumped on it early, heading up I-77 to Ripley not expecting much but maybe a few lightning shots. Not only did I not get that, I didn't see one visible bolt of lightning the entire day. I ended up going back home and letting the 'junk-vection' pass over, with maybe six weak rolls of thunder in the heavy rain. Here are two of the three lone DSLR frames I snapped today (the third was just another angle of the first scene here). The first is a 'whale's mouth' under a shelf cloud at Ripley, just as I turned around and headed back south. The second is the shelf cloud as viewed from Kenna, a few miles south of Ripley.

click to enlarge

That will probably be it for quite a while as far as storms go - not only for West Virginia, but much of the country as well. Not only that, but we are on course for a frost/freeze event here Monday and Tuesday mornings - the latest of either of those I've seen in WV since I've been 'watching' weather. The latest frost I can remember prior to this was May 4 in 2005.