The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

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October 28, 2008

West Virginians wake up to snow — before Halloween

By Amelia A. Pridemore

Most people are putting the finishing touches on their Freddy Krueger or Jason Voorhees costumes this time of the year.

But Tuesday morning, Beckley looked like it was time to put the finishing touches on a Christmas tree rather than make sure Leatherface had enough gas for his chainsaw.

Beckley area residents saw snow pour from the skies for the first time this season — but long before winter normally begins.

However, snow accumulations, if there were any at all, were light, and temperatures should drastically warm up before the week’s end.

Eric Seymour, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Charleston, said the storm system that entered the area Monday first began with cold, Canadian air being swept across the Great Lakes.

That merged with moisture left over from last weekend’s rain.

A very strong low pressure system now in New England also brought strong northwest winds into the area that swept all the cold air and moisture upward — with snowfall being the end result, he said.

However, there were no reports of significant snow accumulation in the Beckley area, Seymour said.

One inch was reported at Flat Top Mountain, known for some of the region’s harshest snowstorms.

“If we had this pattern in December or January, we would have had significant snowfall,” he said. “But the ground temperatures are very, very warm, causing most of the snow to melt. It was cold for a time, but not extremely cold.”

As of Tuesday afternoon, Seymour said, NWS forecasts called for possibly another inch of snow to fall overnight.

No accumulations would be significant.

Then a major thaw-out is to begin today. High temperatures should be in the lower 40s.

By Friday, high temperatures will reach the lower 60s.

No rain is in the immediate forecast.

— E-mail: apridemore@register-herald.com

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