FAIRMONT – A majority of north-central West Virginia was still digging out Monday after a pre-winter calling card over the weekend.
The storm clamped down with Arctic cold and copious snow that made travel treacherous.
As much as 7 inches of snow fell over Fairmont and Morgantown, according to the National Weather Service and other sources.
Terra Alta – no stranger to such occurrences of climate – notched more than a foot of snow, with the bulk of it arriving Saturday in the Preston County mountain town as the weather settled over the region.
In Monongalia County, first responders grappled with 68 wrecks on area roadways, MECCA 911 director Jim Smith said. There were another 72 motorist-assist calls, Smith reported.
“Those were the people in the ditches who needed towed out,” he said.
On hilly Alpine Street, a car slid into an apartment building in the 800 block Saturday night, sending a pedestrian and the car’s passengers to the hospital. Smith, though, didn’t immediately know the extent of their injuries, he said.
In Marion County, responders had to remove the windshield of an overturned car so its driver could be freed.
“All the responders and all our dispatchers were busy, but they did a great job keeping up with it all,” MECCA’s director said.
Most schools across the state were canceled Monday, including Marion, Monongalia and Preston’s districts. A handful of others shifted to remote learning or operated under delays.
West Virginia University and Fairmont State University both made provisions for its students taking finals that day.
Fairmont State even issued a weather-related architectural edict in the aftermath.
The school announced the closure of the top level of its parking garage “for the next few days,” in order to allow for a natural melting of snow and ice.
Using chemical agents to hasten the above, the school said, could compromise the integrity of the structure over time.
Meanwhile, it won’t take any time for said warm-up to commence, AccuWeather said.
Look for a high today of 40, AccuWeather said, with a steady inching to 46 on Wednesday.
Thursday’s weather, the forecaster said, will be positively balmy for the season. The mercury then is expected to rise to 60.
