Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia Makes it Through the Ice Storm Virtually Unharmed

2007 has tried to go out with a bang in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia with an unusually snow storm in early December and now the Ice Storm that was thought to paralyze this area. The Eastern Panhandle though made it through the ice storm virtually untouched.

Residents of the Eastern Panhandle geared up for what was suppose to be a horrible ice storm on Saturday, with forecasts calling for three quarters of an inch of ice followed by high winds. The residents of this area can rest a little easier today as the ice turned into rain and began to melt in the early morning hours on Sunday.

The ice should just be a faint memory Sunday as the possible tropical strength winds hit the area. With the ice melted away it will be less likely for major power outages to paralyze the area as fore-casted. We are not completely out of the woods yet though. The high winds expected in the area could still cause power outages, but the lack of ice on the trees and power lines should make for a better chance of fewer power outages. The power crews will also have an easier go of things with roadways being passable and less dangerous for them.

A few things worked for our advantage here in the Eastern Panhandle. The temperatures hoovered around the freezing mark and did not drop into the low 20's as predicted. The track of the storm also stayed farther to the west than first anticipated as well. Forecasters reported that a Nor-Easter would merge with the storm from the west and that was expected to hurt this area, bring more moisture with it. The Nor-Easter may just have been what saved us pushing the colder area farther north and being warmer area into the area sooner resulting in the quick melt down of the ice.

NBC25 fore-casted on Saturday that the daytime high on Sunday would only get to the mid thirties, but the National Weather Service updated their reports at 4:30 am on Sunday that the expected high for the area would reach 44 degrees, but the high winds are still expected to roll into the Eastern Panhandle on Sunday afternoon. With the warmer temperatures and less accumulation of ice than first predicted has left the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia in much better shape this morning than expected.

The National Weather Service still has a Winter Weather Warning out for the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia until 10am this morning and a wind Advisory will begin at 1pm and last until Monday morning. The road conditions reported on the West Virginia Department of Transportation advise that I-81 is wet and slushy with possible patches of ice. I can also report that the secondary roads in my neighborhood of Martinsburg, West Virginia are wet with possible icy patches.

Overall we made it through the Big Ice Storm of 2007 nearly untouched with minimal damage to trees and few power outages so far. This was a close call for the area and with the residents stocked up on bread and milk there will surely be a lot of Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches consumed today.