Cold in West Virginia, January 23 to 25, 2005

Name: Cold in West Virginia, January 23 to 25, 2005
Start: 2005-01-23T18:00
End: 2005-01-25T10:00
Location: West Virginia

January 23 to 25, 2005 · NWS RLX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

An 84 year old woman, living alone in a house in Capels, died from exposure to the cold. A local minister had checked on her during Sunday afternoon the 23rd.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 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: 1
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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.

An 84 year old woman, living alone in a house in Capels, died from exposure to the cold. A local minister had checked on her during Sunday afternoon the 23rd. Her house was warm at that time. Sometime afterwards, late on Sunday or during Monday, her furnace stopped working. She died sometime Monday afternoon or night, on the 24th. Temperatures were on either side of zero at dawn on the 24th. High temperatures on the 24th were in the 25 to 30 degree range, dropping into the teens that night. The temperature in her house was reportedly in the teens, when her body was discovered early on the 25th.

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 Jan 22, 6:27 PM EST, 23 hours 33 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 22, 6:27 PM EST, 23 hours 33 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

1 cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.

Cold/Wind Chill, McDowell

When: January 23, 6:00 PM EST to January 25, 10:00 AM EST
Where: McDowell forecast zone
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 37.379, -81.654 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Cold/Wind Chill, McDowell	2005-01-24	84	Female	Permanent Home	Direct

What these are

Cold/Wind Chill: Cold or wind chill below warning criteria that caused deaths, injuries or damage.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in West Virginia in 2005 Every state in 2005 This day in weather history Warnings in West Virginia, January 2005

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: 5432757.