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weekend squall brought brisk temperatures and a small amount of accumulating snow to an already white and icy Kanawha Valley, resulting in at least one death, officials said. The weather system added more precipitation to a region still covered by last week’s Winter Storm Blair.
The National Weather Service (NWS) in Charleston issued a winter weather advisory for the region beginning Friday and running through Saturday afternoon. By Jan. 11, two to four inches of accumulated snow were reported in most areas of the Kanawha Valley, most from the week's earlier storm.
Officers with the Charleston Police Department were dispatched to the home of an elderly citizen during Friday’s advisory.
“Our Hybrid [Unit] got a call about an elderly lady who has been stuck in her home since the snow hit,” representatives with the police department wrote in a social media post. “She was running out of food and medicine, and needed to pay bills. With nowhere else to turn, she asked for some help so we were happy to oblige.”
Officers with the unit cleared the woman’s driveway.
After temperatures climbed out of the teens on Friday, thermometers struggled to reach the upper 20s on Saturday, pushing a high of 29 degrees Fahrenheit by early afternoon.
On Saturday, a body was found near a gas station along Spring Street in Charleston. Officials told local media that weather may have played a factor in the man’s passing.
An official cause of death was not immediately released. The man’s identity was not known at the time of this writing.
Kanawha County's Regional Transportation Authority (KRT), which canceled service on Saturday due to road conditions, announced they were providing a warming bus at their City Center terminal in downtown Charleston. The warming bus is open from 5:00 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily, officials said, and is available free to the general public.
Also on Saturday, nearly 6,500 Appalachian Power customers were reportedly without power in northern Kanawha County. Most of those residents were in the Big Chimney/Elkview/Frame and Pinch/Quick communities. By Sunday morning, service had been restored to the area.
The Kanawha Valley could see more winter weather in the coming days, though minor compared to last week. The NWS in Charleston is forecasting possible snow. Meteorologists say overnight temperatures could reach single digits on Tuesday and Wednesday before warming to highs in the 40s by the weekend.
