FAIRMONT – North-central West Virginia hunkered down Monday in the frigid aftermath of Winter Storm Fern, which brought substantial snow – and teeth-chattering cold with it – to the region over the weekend.
Students from kindergarten from graduate school stayed home as classes were canceled.
With snow flurries still in the air, a number of businesses also gave their employees a Fern-induced day off.
That’s because the cold in the air was the real consideration for the day, said Shannon Hefferon, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh.
“The temperatures and wind chills are what everyone is going to have to deal with now,” she said. “It’s just not going to let up. We could have these temperatures into mid-February.”
Tuesday’s high is expected to crest at around 20, she said, with an evening low of 2 degrees.
Daytime temperatures the rest of week will hover in the teens, the meteorologist said.
Look for it to get even more Arctic as the sun goes down Thursday and Friday, Hefferon projected, with nighttime lows of 6 below and 5 below respectively.
“We’re looking at what are likely going to be record lows here,” she said.
The storm, meanwhile, made a big entrance on a big stage. Fern’s calling card was in the form of an arcing, 2,000-mile swath from New Mexico to Maine.
As much as 31 inches of snow was dumped on the mountains of New Mexico, in fact, at the height of the storm.
In Mississippi, trees and utility poles were bent and slanted down from the weight of ice.
Across West Virginia, nearly two feet of snow piled up in the Tucker County mountain town of Davis.
Here, a foot of snow fell in Terra Alta, with Morgantown recording 8 inches of precipitation. Around 7 inches of snow came down in Fairmont and outlying Marion County.
At least 13 people across the U.S. died in the wintry onslaught. That was national news that prompted Marion Sheriff Roger Cunningham to send a local, succinct message to his Facebook followers Sunday: “It’s just not safe to be out,” he posted.
Marion County and Preston County schools, meanwhile, canceled classes Monday and today, as well.
Superintendent Eddie Campbell of Mon’s district also did the same for both days, while saying he and other officials will take the rest of the week into consideration – as the vise-grip cold continues to clamp down.
“We’ve got our folks out in our buildings, making sure everything’s OK with water pipes, freezers in the cafeteria, things like that,” he said.
“We’re out looking at our bus routes, especially on the secondary roads,” the Mon superintendent said. “And of course, we’re thinking about those wind chills. Keeping our kids safe is our No. 1 priority.”
