Heavy Snow in West Virginia, February 3 to 5, 2009

Name: Heavy Snow in West Virginia, February 3 to 5, 2009
Start: 2009-02-03T15:00
End: 2009-02-05T03:00
Location: West Virginia

February 3 to 5, 2009 · NWS RLX · 10 events in 10 counties and zones

A strong upper air disturbance triggered a relatively small but heavy band of snow. The snow moved east, out of northern Kentucky and into southern West Virginia, during the afternoon of the 3rd.

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.

A strong upper air disturbance triggered a relatively small but heavy band of snow. The snow moved east, out of northern Kentucky and into southern West Virginia, during the afternoon of the 3rd. The heaviest snow remained south of Huntington and Charleston, affecting the southern coal fields. This feature, tracking across southern West Virginia, delayed the start of the snow for the central mountain counties around Summersville to Elkins.

By late that night, 4 to 7 inches of snow had accumulated over Mingo and Logan Counties. For example, Lorado had 7 inches, Naugatuck had 6 inches, and Chapmanville measured 5 inches.

By the predawn hours of Wednesday the 4th, another upper air disturbance, low level moisture, and the colder air helped develop snow showers further north. As a result, the snow showers increased over the central mountain counties of West Virginia. Meanwhile, fluffy snow showers lingered over the southern mountain counties.

By late Wednesday afternoon, 4 to 8 inches of snow was common across Fayette, Raleigh, Wyoming, and Mcdowell Counties. Some representative snow accumulations were 8 inches at Cool Ridge, 6 inches at Cyclone and Lookout, 5 inches at Beckley, Oak Hill, and Iaeger.

Across the central mountain counties, the fluffy snow showers lingered into the early morning hours of Thursday the 5th. Total snow accumulations were widely variable across Webster, Nicholas, Pocahontas, and Randolph. The higher windward terrain had over a foot of snow. This includes places like Point Mountain of Webster County, the high terrain around Pickens, Snowshoe, and across Cheat Mountain. In Nicholas County the mountains around Richwood reported 8 inches. Meanwhile, some river valley communities only measured 2 to 4 inches of accumulation.

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 Feb 3, 2:26 PM EST, 34 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 3, 2:26 PM EST, 34 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

Hazardous weather outlook, Feb 3, 4:36 AM EST, 10 hours 24 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

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, Mingo

When: February 3, 3:00 PM EST to February 4, 3:00 AM EST
Where: Mingo forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 37.726, -82.135 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Logan

When: February 3, 3:00 PM EST to February 4, 3:00 AM EST
Where: Logan forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 37.832, -81.935 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, McDowell

When: February 3, 3:00 PM EST to February 4, 6:00 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, Wyoming

When: February 3, 3:00 PM EST to February 4, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Wyoming forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 37.610, -81.549 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Fayette

When: February 3, 3:00 PM EST to February 4, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Fayette forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Heavy Snow, Raleigh

When: February 3, 3:00 PM EST to February 4, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Raleigh forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Heavy Snow, Nicholas

When: February 4, 4:00 AM EST to February 5, 3:00 AM EST
Where: Nicholas forecast zone
Reported by: Department of Highways

Heavy Snow, Webster

When: February 4, 4:00 AM EST to February 5, 3:00 AM EST
Where: Webster forecast zone
Reported by: Department of Highways

Heavy Snow, Randolph

When: February 4, 4:00 AM EST to February 5, 3:00 AM EST
Where: Randolph forecast zone
Reported by: Department of Highways

Heavy Snow, Pocahontas

When: February 4, 4:00 AM EST to February 5, 3:00 AM EST
Where: Pocahontas forecast zone
Reported by: Department of Highways

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

Every storm in West Virginia in 2009 Every state in 2009 This day in weather history Warnings in West Virginia, February 2009

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: 146746, 146747, 146749, 146751, 146753, 146754, 146761, 146762, 146764, 146766.