Heavy Snow in West Virginia, February 24 to 28, 2010

Name: Heavy Snow in West Virginia, February 24 to 28, 2010
Start: 2010-02-24T20:00
End: 2010-02-28T12:00
Location: West Virginia

February 24 to 28, 2010 · NWS RLX · 23 events in 23 counties and zones

The 2nd prolonged period of snow showers in the later half of February occurred from late on Wednesday the 24th into early on Sunday the 28th. The event started as a strong upper air disturbance crossed the area late on the 24th into Thursday the 25th.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 17 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: 23

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.

The 2nd prolonged period of snow showers in the later half of February occurred from late on Wednesday the 24th into early on Sunday the 28th.

The event started as a strong upper air disturbance crossed the area late on the 24th into Thursday the 25th. Winds increased late on the 25th into midday Friday the 26th, as the surface storm intensified along the coast. The snow showers continued on the 26th. Blowing snow and frequent wind gusts of 30 to 35 mph caused near blizzard conditions across the open high terrain of Randolph, Webster, Nicholas, and Pocahontas Counties. A peak gust of 47 mph was noted on the mountaintop at Snowshoe. Route 32 and 33 were briefly closed down in northeastern Randolph County by the poor travel conditions. Winds subsided by late afternoon on the 26th.

Late on Friday the 26th into Saturday the 27th, deeper moisture wrapped south, around the nearly stationary storm that was in the vicinity of New York City. The lowland counties from Pleasants, Tyler, Doddridge, and Harrison, on south to Kanawha and Boone saw their peak in the snow showers at this time. Snow accumulations of 4 to 7 inches occurred there, in about a 12 hour period.

The storm slowly weakened on Saturday the 27th.

Over the high mountains a total snowfall of 2 to 3 feet occurred over a 3 day period. One to 2 feet of snow fell along many of the river valleys in the mountainous counties over the same period. Of course, due to settling of the deep snow pack, the increase in the snow depth was less than the snowfall. Pickens reported a 38 inch snowfall. Their snow depth went from 12 inches prior to the storm, to 30 inches. The mountain observer near Richwood had a 30 inch snowfall, with their snow depth increasing from 8 inches to 32 inches. Valley Head had around 26 inches of snow fall with their snow depth increasing from 7 inches to 24 inches. Glady had a 24 inch snowfall. The snow depth at Glady was 12 inches prior to the storm. The snow depth at Glady was 28 inches at its conclusion. Buckhannon had a 23 inches of snow fall. Their snow depth went from 4 inches to 23 inches. Elkins had a 16 inch snow fall. The snow depth at Elkins went from 7 inches prior to the storm, to 17 inches at the conclusion. Beckley also had over a foot of snowfall with their snow depth increasing from 2 inches to 14 inches.

The month ended with over 100 inches of snowfall at Snowshoe. Several other mountain locations had around 75 inches or more of snowfall in February. The monthly snowfall totals of 45 inches at Beckley, 44 inches at Elkins, 38 inches at Clarksburg, and nearly 26 inches at Charleston were the most on record for the month of February at those sites.

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 24, 7:21 PM EST, 39 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 24, 7:21 PM EST, 39 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Feb 24, 4:23 PM EST, 3 hours 37 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
423 PM EST WED FEB 24 2010

OHZ066-067-075-076-084-085-WVZ007>011-014>020-026>036-252130-
PERRY-MORGAN-ATHENS-WASHINGTON-VINTON-MEIGS-MASON-JACKSON WV-WOOD-
PLEASANTS-TYLER-PUTNAM-KANAWHA-ROANE-WIRT-CALHOUN-RITCHIE-DODDRIDGE-
BOONE-CLAY-BRAXTON-GILMER-LEWIS-HARRISON-TAYLOR-MCDOWELL-WYOMING-
RALEIGH-FAYETTE-
423 PM EST WED FEB 24 2010

...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 10 PM THIS EVENING TO
10 AM EST SATURDAY...

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EAST CENTRAL OHIO AND WEST
VIRGINIA.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT.

PLEASE LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR GO TO WEATHER.GOV ON THE
INTERNET FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOLLOWING HAZARDS.

   WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY.

PLEASE LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR GO TO WEATHER.GOV ON THE
INTERNET FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOLLOWING HAZARDS.

   WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER
CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.

KYZ101>103-105-OHZ083-086-087-WVZ005-006-013-024-025-252130-
GREENUP-CARTER-BOYD-LAWRENCE KY-JACKSON OH-GALLIA-LAWRENCE OH-WAYNE-
CABELL-LINCOLN-MINGO-LOGAN-
423 PM EST WED FEB 24 2010

...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 AM EST THURSDAY...

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST
KENTUCKY...SOUTHEAST OHIO AND SOUTHWEST WEST VIRGINIA.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT.

PLEASE LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR GO TO WEATHER.GOV ON THE
INTERNET FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOLLOWING HAZARDS.

   WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY.

PLEASE LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR GO TO WEATHER.GOV ON THE
INTERNET FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOLLOWING HAZARDS.

   WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER
CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.

WVZ037>040-252130-
NICHOLAS-WEBSTER-UPSHUR-BARBOUR-
423 PM EST WED FEB 24 2010

...WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 AM EST SUNDAY...

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH CENTRAL WEST VIRGINIA.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT.

PLEASE LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR GO TO WEATHER.GOV ON THE
INTERNET FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOLLOWING HAZARDS.

   WINTER STORM WARNING.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY.

PLEASE LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR GO TO WEATHER.GOV ON THE
INTERNET FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOLLOWING HAZARDS.

   WINTER STORM WARNING.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER
CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.

VAZ003-004-252130-
DICKENSON-BUCHANAN-
423 PM EST WED FEB 24 2010

...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 AM EST FRIDAY...

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT.

PLEASE LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR GO TO WEATHER.GOV ON THE
INTERNET FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOLLOWING HAZARDS.

   WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY.

PLEASE LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR GO TO WEATHER.GOV ON THE
INTERNET FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOLLOWING HAZARDS.

   WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER
CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.

WVZ046-047-252130-
POCAHONTAS-RANDOLPH-
423 PM EST WED FEB 24 2010

...WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 AM EST SUNDAY...
...WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 10 PM THURSDAY TO 4 PM EST FRIDAY...

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR POCAHONTAS AND RANDOLPH
COUNTIES IN WEST VIRGINIA.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT.

PLEASE LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR GO TO WEATHER.GOV ON THE
INTERNET FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOLLOWING HAZARDS.

   WINTER STORM WARNING.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY.

PLEASE LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR GO TO WEATHER.GOV ON THE
INTERNET FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOLLOWING HAZARDS.

   WINTER STORM WARNING.
   WIND ADVISORY.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER
CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.

TRM

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

23 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Nicholas

When: February 24, 8:00 PM EST to February 28, 7:00 AM EST
Where: Nicholas forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer

Heavy Snow, Webster

When: February 24, 8:00 PM EST to February 28, 7:00 AM EST
Where: Webster forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer

Heavy Snow, Fayette

When: February 24, 10:00 PM EST to February 28, 7:00 AM EST
Where: Fayette forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer

Heavy Snow, Raleigh

When: February 24, 10:00 PM EST to February 28, 7:00 AM EST
Where: Raleigh forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer

Heavy Snow, Upshur

When: February 25, 12:00 AM EST to February 28, 7:00 AM EST
Where: Upshur forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 38.898, -80.233 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Barbour

When: February 25, 12:00 AM EST to February 28, 7:00 AM EST
Where: Barbour forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 39.133, -80.003 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Randolph

When: February 25, 1:00 AM EST to February 28, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Randolph forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer

Heavy Snow, Pocahontas

When: February 25, 1:00 AM EST to February 28, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Pocahontas forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer

Heavy Snow, Kanawha

When: February 26, 6:00 PM EST to February 27, 8:00 AM EST
Where: Kanawha forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 38.337, -81.528 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Tyler

When: February 26, 6:00 PM EST to February 27, 8:00 AM EST
Where: Tyler forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 39.465, -80.885 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Roane

When: February 26, 6:00 PM EST to February 27, 8:00 AM EST
Where: Roane forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 38.714, -81.348 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Wirt

When: February 26, 6:00 PM EST to February 27, 8:00 AM EST
Where: Wirt forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 39.022, -81.379 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Calhoun

When: February 26, 6:00 PM EST to February 27, 8:00 AM EST
Where: Calhoun forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 38.845, -81.118 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Ritchie

When: February 26, 6:00 PM EST to February 27, 8:00 AM EST
Where: Ritchie forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 39.178, -81.063 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Doddridge

When: February 26, 6:00 PM EST to February 27, 8:00 AM EST
Where: Doddridge forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 39.269, -80.707 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Clay

When: February 26, 6:00 PM EST to February 27, 8:00 AM EST
Where: Clay forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 38.463, -81.075 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Braxton

When: February 26, 6:00 PM EST to February 27, 8:00 AM EST
Where: Braxton forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 38.700, -80.719 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Gilmer

When: February 26, 6:00 PM EST to February 27, 8:00 AM EST
Where: Gilmer forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 38.924, -80.857 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Lewis

When: February 26, 6:00 PM EST to February 27, 8:00 AM EST
Where: Lewis forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 38.996, -80.502 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Harrison

When: February 26, 6:00 PM EST to February 27, 8:00 AM EST
Where: Harrison forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 39.284, -80.380 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Taylor

When: February 26, 6:00 PM EST to February 27, 8:00 AM EST
Where: Taylor forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 39.336, -80.046 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Pleasants

When: February 26, 6:00 PM EST to February 27, 8:00 AM EST
Where: Pleasants forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 39.371, -81.161 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Boone

When: February 26, 6:00 PM EST to February 27, 8:00 AM EST
Where: Boone forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 38.023, -81.711 (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

Every storm in West Virginia in 2010 Every state in 2010 This day in weather history Warnings in West Virginia, February 2010

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: 210308, 210310, 210315, 210316, 210313, 210314, 210311, 210312, 210317, 210318, 210319, 210320, 210321, 210322, 210323, 210324, 210356, 210357, 210358, 210359, 210360, 210361, 210362.