West Virginia, 2021

Heavy Snow and Winter Weather in West Virginia, January 30 to 31, 2021

January 30 to 31, 2021 · NWS RLX · 6 events in 6 counties and zones

A slow moving winter storm began impacting West Virginia on the evening of January 30th, with a period of heavy snow affecting most locations. The precipitation changed to rain across the lower elevations by the 31st, before changing back to snow for the start of February.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 6 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
6

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 slow moving winter storm began impacting West Virginia on the evening of January 30th, with a period of heavy snow affecting most locations. The precipitation changed to rain across the lower elevations by the 31st, before changing back to snow for the start of February. Freezing rain was also noted to have fallen across portions of southeast West Virginia before the transition back over to snow.

The end of January portion of this event allotted 4 to 6 inches across the highest ridges of the state and 2 to 4 inches along the adjacent foothills. Additional snowfall continued to fall into the start of the new month.

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 30, 4:41 AM EST, 4 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 30, 4:41 AM EST, 4 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, Jan 30, 4:44 AM EST, 1 minute 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

3 heavy snow, 3 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Southeast Randolph

When
January 30, 4:45 AM EST to January 31, 12:45 PM EST
Where
Southeast Randolph forecast zone
Reported by
Broadcast Media
Coordinates
38.775, -79.876 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Southeast Pocahontas

When
January 30, 4:45 AM EST to January 31, 12:45 PM EST
Where
Southeast Pocahontas forecast zone
Reported by
Public
Coordinates
38.332, -80.008 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Northwest Pocahontas

When
January 30, 4:45 AM EST to January 31, 12:45 PM EST
Where
Northwest Pocahontas forecast zone
Reported by
COOP Observer
Coordinates
38.332, -80.008 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Southeast Raleigh

When
January 30, 4:45 AM EST to January 31, 12:45 PM EST
Where
Southeast Raleigh forecast zone
Reported by
Broadcast Media
Coordinates
37.771, -81.249 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Southeast Fayette

When
January 30, 4:45 AM EST to January 31, 12:45 PM EST
Where
Southeast Fayette forecast zone
Reported by
Public
Coordinates
38.029, -81.081 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Southeast Nicholas

When
January 30, 4:45 AM EST to January 31, 12:45 PM EST
Where
Southeast Nicholas forecast zone
Reported by
CoCoRaHS
Coordinates
38.292, -80.799 (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.
Winter Weather
Snow, sleet or freezing rain below warning levels that still caused disruption, damage or casualties.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in West Virginia in 2021Every state in 2021This day in weather historyWarnings in West Virginia, January 2021

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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 937855, 937857, 937858, 937859, 937860, 937862.