Ohio Valley Slips and Slides Through a Snowy Monday

photo by: Derek Redd
From left, Brianna Hutchison of Wheeling pushes husband Sam Hutchison and son Mason, 3, down the hill for some sledding at Wheeling Park.
WHEELING — The Ohio Valley got its first real taste of winter weather this season, as a huge snowstorm passed through the region, bringing snow — in greater volume in some areas compared to others — to everyone in the area.
The farther south the storm touched, the more people had to dig themselves out. While the Weirton-Steubenville area received about an inch of snow, that total climbed past four inches in Belmont, Ohio and Marshall counties, then grew to about six inches in Wetzel and Tyler counties.
And the precipitation didn’t stop coming until Monday evening, making both morning and evening commutes a challenge across the valley.
WVU Medicine canceled all in-person visits Monday at any WVU Medicine Wheeling, Reynolds or Wetzel physician practice outpatient offices due to the weather. All outpatient services at Wheeling Hospital were still offered.
All offices planned to open under normal hours today.
Meteorologist Jared Rackley of the National Weather Service’s Pittsburgh office said Monday that the total four to five inches of snow that fell in Ohio and Marshall counties was close to, but a bit short of predictions made on Sunday.
Snow accumulation from four to six inches was expected around Ohio and Marshall counties by the National Weather Service on Sunday.
Rackley said Ohio and Marshall counties ride a “fine line” regarding whether a snow storm shifting north or south will result in a “big drop off” in snow totals. Rackley said it became “apparent” that snow totals would skew toward lower projections when the storm shifted “a little bit further” to the south than initially planned.
“The storm shifting further to the south did lower totals across the area a little bit,” Rackley said on Monday. “Yesterday we were looking at whether the storm would shift north or south for our predictions. Our predictions from Saturday were maybe an inch lower than what was forecast (on Monday) since the storm shifted south.”
Rackley said another half inch of snow could be expected in the area on Monday evening in addition to the snowfall that began on Sunday night.
In Ohio County, as city crews cleared roads, the county’s emergency management director advised drivers to proceed cautiously.
Ice wasn’t an issue, Ohio County EMA Director Lou Vargo said, just the several inches of snow that accumulated Sunday night and Monday. There had been a couple minor accidents in the county due to the storm but they did not yield any injuries.
Vargo said no roads had to be closed and all were passable, but he advised extreme caution.
Steve Johnston, Operations Superintendent for the city of Wheeling, said a fleet of snow removal vehicles were called out at around 4 a.m. Monday, but there was already a midnight crew working on the city streets.
“In total we had 10 trucks with spreaders and plows, 15 trucks in total that were out spreading, cindering, salting and plowing,” Johnston said, noting that all of Wheeling’s primary routes and hills were tackled first, with secondary streets targeted later in the day on Monday. “We’ll not get to the alleyways obviously (Monday) – there’s too much yet to do.”
Johnston said motorists in town on the evening commute helped the cause by churning and spreading product the crews have already put down. He noted that because of low overnight temperatures, road salt loses its working potential.
“We do have calcium chloride in sensitive areas as well, and on walkways and bridges, he said. “But with that, the cinders will give them a little bit of grit and traction as the day goes and as the night goes on, even if the calcium and the salt stop working.”
Although the fleet hit city streets with plows and spreaders, some neighborhoods still remain treacherous for driving, and snow showers were expected to continue into Monday evening.
“Obviously there are going to be spots, no matter what – no matter how hard we try,” Johnston said. “We do get calls in, and we do follow those calls up for assistance.”
Each snow event offers unique challenges for the Operations Department, Johnston noted. For example, a fairly significant water line break occurred on Washington Avenue during the storm, which created challenges for both the Water Department and the street crews. But Monday’s snow storm was not unusual for winter in the Ohio Valley.
“This one hasn’t been too far outside the norm,” Johnston said. “We have a lot of experienced employees here. They’ve worked here for decades, and it seems nothing much surprises them.
Johnston advised motorists to be aware of the conditions and of other vehicles on the roadways.
Marshall County road crews began working on Sunday night to clear the roads from the snow showers that hit the county before midnight and “picked up” at 3 a.m., said Marshall County Emergency Management Director Tom Hart on Monday.
Depending on the elevation, Hart said the county was hit with two to four inches of snow. He noted that areas of higher elevation in the southern end of the county, toward the Wetzel County line, picked up “a little bit more (snow).”
Hart noted that school cancellations — the entire Northern Panhandle closed schools Monday and again today — helped keep vehicles off roads in the county’s higher elevation areas, which can be more challenging to travel on in snowy conditions.
“There’s still people out and about, going to work and stuff,” Hart said. “That’s one good thing about the folks in Marshall County. They’re pretty resilient regarding winter weather. You’ll see residents helping out neighbors and plowing driveways, as they’ve been through this before.”
Marshall County Sheriff Mike Dougherty said that as of Monday afternoon, there had been five vehicle accidents in the county since the snow began on Sunday. One accident resulted in minor injuries. Dougherty attributed all the accidents to snow on the road.
Dougherty said Big Grave Creek Road was the “biggest problem spot” in the county, with three accidents occurring on the road. Dougherty noted all three accidents on Big Grave Creek Road involved coal miners traveling to work, with the “amount of traffic and deplorable road conditions” resulting in the accidents, not “speeding or anything like that.”
Belmont County was under a Level 2 alert Monday due to road conditions, meaning that roads were hazardous and only those who felt it necessary to drive should do so. New Belmont County Sheriff James Zusack said the Level 2 alert would remain in effect until at least Tuesday morning.
“The roads are continuously getting covered and ODOT is still out there in full force,” he said. “They’re trying to keep up with it and they’re doing their best.”
He added that the level 2 allows the snow plows to have more room to do their job because the traffic is at a minimum.
Once the snow hit early on Monday morning, the Ohio Department of Transportation quickly sprung into action sending out its 25 snow plows to treat Belmont County roads. ODOT District 11 Public Information Officer Lauren Borell said that around 8 a.m. Monday was when the bulk of the snow came.
“Into the morning commute time we were definitely seeing some snow covered roads. I-470 was covered at some points of the early morning but by daybreak snow was breaking up on the roads and our crews were getting it plowed off,” she said. “By mid morning we were in good shape.”
She added that since the completion of the I-470 micro-surfacing project of the section of highway where Interstate 470 and Interstate 70 meet in St. Clairsville in July, that she has not received any reports of incidents on that specific stretch of road.
Ohio State Highway Patrol Lieutenant Brian McFarland said that during the early morning of the snow storm he received reports of five single-vehicle accidents on the highway, none of which resulted in injuries.
“We’ve handled a handful of crashes,” McFarland said. “The road conditions were poor but people need to slow down when the weather’s bad like this.”
McFarland said that one of the wrecks was commercial vehicle jackknifing on I-470 East, resulting in traffic delays for people commuting to work.
“If you see snowplows out, give them the distance to do their job,” McFarland said.
Borell added that since the start of the winter season, ODOT has had 13 of its snowplows struck by vehicles statewide.
She added that although the bulk of the snow is complete, that residents should still be alert and look for bridges and roadways having black ice.
Wetzel and Tyler counties had received five to seven inches of snow from the latest storm as of Monday morning. Forecasters had predicted six to 12 inches for Sunday night through Monday, causing Governor Jim Justice to declare a state of emergency throughout the state.
Road crews began Sunday night treating the Wetzel and Tyler roads, as snow mixed with sleet, which turned into all snow, began falling around 10 p.m. Sunday. By early Monday, they had tapered off to flurries with accumulations of several inches. Cold temperatures are expected for the next 10 days which could make any additional snowfall stick around for a while.
“We have been out all night and are working 24 hours a day to keep the roadways clean and safe,” said Michael Daley of the West Virginia Division of Highways District 6. “We are spreading salt, cinders and calcium and will continue to work on them until the storm ends and the roads are clear.”
Jefferson, Brooke and Hancock counties “lucked out” with the snowstorm according to National Weather Service meteorologist Mike Kennedy of the weather service’s Pittsburgh office in Moon Township. Kennedy said Monday that the system — named Winter Storm Blair — had a pretty sharp gradient between heavy and very little snowfall. Jefferson, Brooke and Hancock counties fell on the “lighter side of the map,” while still experiencing enough snowfall to warrant a winter weather advisory.
Across the Tri-State Area, state and municipal crews have responded to the storm with standard street clearing protocol. No major issues had been reported by Monday afternoon. Being on the storm’s northern fringe, Jefferson County picked up between 1 and 2 inches of snowfall between Sunday and Monday afternoon, Kennedy said. Heavier snowfall occurred in areas farther south and east, he added, with Tucker County in West Virginia dealing with 10 inches of snow by 7 a.m. Bellaire had reportedly received 4 inches of snow by 3:52 a.m.
By Monday afternoon, Kennedy said, the three counties were “pretty much out of the woods,” occupying the back end of the storm. Kennedy projected that a hardly significant amount of lake-effect snow would continue to accumulate into Tuesday.
Eric Ayres, Niamh Coomey, Christopher Dacanay, Emma Delk, Ed Parsons, Randy Rutherford and Gage Vota contributed to this report.