West Virginia, 2001

Heavy Snow in West Virginia, March 5 to 6, 2001

March 5 to 6, 2001 · NWS RLX · 10 events in 10 counties and zones

Rains on Sunday the 4th, changed to snow overnight, as a storm pulled east of the central Appalachians. Cold air poured in during the day on the 5th, with occasional snow showers.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 4 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
10

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS RLX wrote it up.

Rains on Sunday the 4th, changed to snow overnight, as a storm pulled east of the central Appalachians. Cold air poured in during the day on the 5th, with occasional snow showers. Accumulations were light during the daylight hours. Snow showers increased by the evening, as a strong pocket of cold air aloft dropped south from the eastern Great Lakes. The snow showers diminished 24 hours later, during Tuesday evening the 6th.No snow was on the ground prior to the storm, even across the mountain ridges. A snow depth of 1 to 2 feet was common above 3,000 feet, with wind blown drifts of 3 to 4 feet. The mountain valleys saw 6 to 12 inches of snow accumulation. Downslope winds off of Cheat Mountain resulted in only 2 to 5 inches of snow cover across the upper Greenbrier Valley in Pocahontas County.Some specific snow depths at the end of the storm included 23 inches at Pickens and Kumbrabow State Forest, 19 inches in the mountains near Webster Springs, 15 inches in the mountains near Richwood, 14 inches at Glady, 13 inches on Arista Mountain along the Wyoming and Mercer County line, 11 inches at Elkins and Hacker Valley, 7 inches at Philippi, Mullens, and Oak Hill, and finally 6 inches at Beckley and Buckhannon.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Charleston, WV wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 4, 4:15 PM EST, 8 hours 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 4, 4:15 PM EST, 8 hours 45 minutes before
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The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

10 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Barbour

When
March 5, 1:00 AM EST to March 6, 11:00 PM EST
Where
Barbour forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
39.133, -80.003 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Fayette

When
March 5, 1:00 AM EST to March 6, 11:00 PM EST
Where
Fayette forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER

Heavy Snow, McDowell

When
March 5, 1:00 AM EST to March 6, 11:00 PM EST
Where
McDowell forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
37.379, -81.654 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Nicholas

When
March 5, 1:00 AM EST to March 6, 11:00 PM EST
Where
Nicholas forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER

Heavy Snow, Pocahontas

When
March 5, 1:00 AM EST to March 6, 11:00 PM EST
Where
Pocahontas forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER

Heavy Snow, Raleigh

When
March 5, 1:00 AM EST to March 6, 11:00 PM EST
Where
Raleigh forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER

Heavy Snow, Randolph

When
March 5, 1:00 AM EST to March 6, 11:00 PM EST
Where
Randolph forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER

Heavy Snow, Upshur

When
March 5, 1:00 AM EST to March 6, 11:00 PM EST
Where
Upshur forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
38.898, -80.233 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Webster

When
March 5, 1:00 AM EST to March 6, 11:00 PM EST
Where
Webster forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER

Heavy Snow, Wyoming

When
March 5, 1:00 AM EST to March 6, 11:00 PM EST
Where
Wyoming forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
37.610, -81.549 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Heavy Snow
Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in West Virginia in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in West Virginia, March 2001

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5230305, 5230306, 5230307, 5230308, 5230309, 5230310, 5230311, 5230312, 5230313, 5230314.