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WV snow non-event analysis
Any meterologist will tell you that forecasting snowfall is one of the most difficult aspects of his or her job, and this morning's snow event (or more accurately the lack thereof) was no exception. It turns out that the models overforecasted QPF and under-forecast the low temperatures, which at this moment are just below 40F across the lower elevations of West Virginia and right at freezing at 2500 feet. At just before dawn, we're at what should nearly be the low temps for the night before the sun starts warming things up. Watching this event unfold overnight, the cold air moving in from the west never threatened to drop Charleston below 32F. A few upslope snow flurries did develop from around Wallback northward on I-79, with most of the measurable snowfall occuring in Pennsylvania. I noticed a few lake-effect bands with lightning strikes around Erie-Buffalo. A cloudy sky with a few flurries here and there sum up the weather observations this morning, and I don't see any stations in the region reporting subfreezing temps except for one lone ob in Mansfield, Ohio at 30F. So the situation should be 'all clear' for the roads for the region this morning.
Since there are no automated weather reporting stations in the highest elevations of the mountains, I can only assume what the situation is above 3500 feet right now. With the flurries in the central lowlands and the temps at 32F at 2500 feet, one can infer that the highest ridges may have eked out an inch or two and may be at around 25-29F. But aside from skiiers at Snowshoe resort, this will be of little consequence to anyone.
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