After an overall chilly start to January, a period of milder temperatures arrived from the 20th through the 24th. This caused river ice to start breaking up and flowing.
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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.
The episode as NWS RLX wrote it up.
After an overall chilly start to January, a period of milder temperatures arrived from the 20th through the 24th. This caused river ice to start breaking up and flowing. An ice jam occurred on the Muskingum River near Stockport on the 23rd, which caused localized flooding along the river between McConnelsville and Stockport. Several roads were closed.
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 23, 3:16 PM EST, 1 hour 44 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Charleston WV 316 PM EST Tue Jan 23 2018 .SYNOPSIS... Low pressure system exits northeast, but remains unsettled through Wednesday. Warmer to end the week. Cold front next weekend. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... As of 205 PM Tuesday... Lull in the precipitation this afternoon, however, low clouds are gradually sneaking their way back into the CWA, with CAA and upper trough influence across the area. Gusty west/northwesterly wind continuing across the area this afternoon, will decrease somewhat overnight, but overall remain gusty for much of the period. With increase in moisture depth overnight, and a couple of shortwaves during the period, one late tonight/early Wednesday, and another one on Wednesday, expecting periods of light snow showers. Little to no accumulation expected across the lowlands, with light accumulations across the higher terrain. Although QPF will be light, high snow to liquid water ratios will allow for a few inches across the higher terrain counties. Possible that on Wednesday, area of -shsn activity may need to be increased in coverage and duration, but will allow future shifts to reevaluate this based on trends. && .SHORT TERM /WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY/... As of 230 PM Tuesday... Any brief lull in showers during the day on Wednesday will fill in Wednesday night with the passage of another shortwave evident on all long-range models. Renewed CAA and some low-level flow off the Great Lakes will again generate snow showers, primarily across the WV mountains and perhaps into the northern WV lowlands immediately adjacent to the mountains. Many models are indicating more widespread snow shower activity, however CAA won't be as strong as our normal post- frontal scenarios so have opted to dial back PoPs some, similar to previous forecasts, and defer to future forecasts when hi- res moisture data becomes available as it is more of a limiting factor. Accumulations through Thursday morning will be on the order of 2-3" in the mountains. High pressure builds to the southwest and slides from west to east, turning surface and low-level flow westerly, effectively cutting off any snow showers. Drying and warming will prevail through the end of the short term. Clouds from the southwest will start to stream in early Saturday morning ahead of the next system. && .LONG TERM /FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY/... As of 250 PM Tuesday... Long-range models continue to struggle to grapple with the next system, with differences existing from the top-down. This model run, the GFS (still) tends toward a faster solution, the Canadian toward a slightly slower/deeper solution, and the ECMWF toward somewhere in the middle. Either way, there is consistency in widespread, overriding precipitation setting up over the lower Mississippi through the Ohio River Valley Friday night into Saturday, shifting westward through the weekend with the passage of a long-wave trough in the upper levels. Widespread rain showers are most likely late Saturday into Sunday... model differences return for the exit of precipitation. Again, the GFS is quite progressive with a digging trough making for a hasty exit of rain by mid-day Sunday and enough northwesterly flow behind to generate decent CAA/upslope showers. Meanwhile the ECMWF is slightly slower with less favorable low-level flow for showers on the backside of the system until the mid-level trough swings past Monday evening. A stronger, digging troughing would equate to a greater likelihood of widespread snow showers with the arrival of stronger CAA on the backside of the trough and cooler temperatures to start the work week. Opted to stick close to a blend of operational models Sunday through the end of the period given large model differences. && .AVIATION /20Z TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/... As of 1250 PM Tuesday... 18Z Tuesday through 18Z Wednesday... VFR conditions across the area this afternoon, but expect a gradual lowering to widespread MVFR particularly after 00Z Wednesday, along with developing -shsn. Brief IFR conditions are possible in -shsn, particularly across the northern and central mountains. Otherwise, gusty west to west-northwesterly winds for the TAF period, with gusts in the 20 to 30 kt range area wide, although gusts will decrease to the teens after 09Z Wednesday. FORECAST CONFIDENCE AND ALTERNATE SCENARIOS THROUGH 18Z WEDNESDAY... FORECAST CONFIDENCE: Medium. ALTERNATE SCENARIOS: Rain and snow showers, and associated IFR restrictions tonight may be more widespread than currently forecast. EXPERIMENTAL TABLE OF FLIGHT CATEGORY OBJECTIVELY SHOWS CONSISTENCY OF WFO FORECAST TO AVAILABLE MODEL INFORMATION: H = HIGH: TAF CONSISTENT WITH ALL MODELS OR ALL BUT ONE MODEL. M = MEDIUM: TAF HAS VARYING LEVEL OF CONSISTENCY WITH MODELS. L = LOW: TAF INCONSISTENT WITH ALL MODELS OR ALL BUT ONE MODEL. UTC 1HRLY 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 00 01 02 EST 1HRLY 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 CRW CONSISTENCY H H H H H H H H M M M L HTS CONSISTENCY H H M H H H M M M M M L BKW CONSISTENCY H H H H H H H H H M M L EKN CONSISTENCY H H H H M H H M M M H M PKB CONSISTENCY H H H H H H H H M M M M CKB CONSISTENCY H H H H H H L M M M M L AFTER 18Z WEDNESDAY... IFR snow possible in mountain terminals Wednesday/Wednesday night. && .RLX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WV...None. OH...None. KY...None. VA...None. && SYNOPSIS...MZ/26 NEAR TERM...SL SHORT TERM...MC LONG TERM...MC AVIATION...SL
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Charleston WV 314 AM EST Tue Jan 23 2018 KYZ101>103-105-OHZ066-067-075-076-083>087-VAZ003-004-WVZ005>011- 013>020-024>034-039-040-515>526-240815- Greenup-Carter-Boyd-Lawrence KY-Perry-Morgan-Athens-Washington- Jackson OH-Vinton-Meigs-Gallia-Lawrence OH-Dickenson-Buchanan-Wayne- Cabell-Mason-Jackson WV-Wood-Pleasants-Tyler-Lincoln-Putnam-Kanawha- Roane-Wirt-Calhoun-Ritchie-Doddridge-Mingo-Logan-Boone-Clay-Braxton- Gilmer-Lewis-Harrison-Taylor-McDowell-Wyoming-Upshur-Barbour- Northwest Raleigh-Southeast Raleigh-Northwest Fayette- Southeast Fayette-Northwest Nicholas-Southeast Nicholas- Northwest Webster-Southeast Webster-Northwest Pocahontas- Southeast Pocahontas-Northwest Randolph-Southeast Randolph- 314 AM EST Tue Jan 23 2018 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for northeast Kentucky, southeast Ohio, southwest Virginia and much of West Virginia. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight. No hazardous weather is expected at this time. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Wednesday through Monday. No hazardous weather is expected at this time. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not expected at this time.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
County Road 2 had high water in spots. Water also backed up into the Hanwood and Cottonwood Drive areas.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Ohio in 2018Every state in 2018This day in weather historyWarnings in Ohio, January 2018
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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 729127.