Blizzard in West Virginia, January 7 to 8, 1996

An historic winter storm, known as the "Blizzard of '96", crippled all of eastern West Virginia during the first full weekend of January. In general, snow totals ranged from 28 to 36 inches at most locations in the Potomac Highlands and the eastern Panhandle. Gusty winds produced drifts between 6 and 10 feet. The storm produced the largest storm totals since the "Superstorm of March 12-14, 1993", which dumped similar amounts of snow across the region.The storm was induced by a digging upper level trough over the eastern Great Plains. At the surface, an inverted trough extended from the Gulf of Mexico through the Deep South. Surface pressures began falling as the upper trough approached on the afternoon of the 7th. Meanwhile, confluent flow, behind an upper-level arctic vortex over the Canadian Maritimes, maintained strong (1034 mb) surface high pressure over northern New York state. As the upper-level trough approached the southeast U.S. on the 8th, a new surface low developed along the Georgia coast. The low deepened explosively while the arctic high remained in place. Copious Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic moisture was entrained into the system, producing heavy snow; the increasing gradient between the intensifying low and the arctic high caused winds to strengthen to 25 mph with gusts to 35 mph.The system moved slowly from South Carolina to the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay overnight on the 7th. The slow movement prolonged near-blizzard conditions into the 8th. The storm finally moved towards New England later on the 8th, ending the snow but maintaining gusty north winds (and substantial blowing and drifting snow) until evening.All major highways were effectively closed through the 7th, as snow removal equipment fought a losing battle with the considerable blowing and drifting snow. All state and local governments, as well as all area school districts, were closed Monday (the 8th) and Tuesday (the 9th).