The autumn ground was still warm, and snow accumulated to even greater depths off the ground. Department of Highway crews estimated at least three feet of snow fell on Point Mountain in Webster County. On the mountains overlooking Richwood, the snow was 36 inches deep. The deepest average accumulation at Kumbrabow State Forest was 38 inches. The high terrain of Nicholas, Webster, Upshur, Randolph, and western Pocahontas Counties had snow accumulations near 40 inches. Snow at the Raleigh County 911 center reached 18 inches. The maximum snow depth in Elkins reached 15 inches before settling. For example, the maximum snow depth was 25 inches at Canaan Heights near Davis, 21 inches at Terra Alta, and 19 inches at Bayard, Grant County. One to three feet accumulated from Raleigh County north, through Fayette, Nicholas, Webster, Upshur, Randolph, and western Pocahontas counties into Tucker and Preston counties. Snow accumulations were highly dependent on elevation. The snow decreased in intensity overnight Tuesday, but some lighter snow mixed with drizzle and freezing drizzle lingered during the morning hours of Wednesday, October 31. A gust to 57 miles per hour was measured on the mountaintop at Snowshoe during the morning of the 30th. Wind gusts of 35 to 45 miles per hour were common in the mountainous counties. By evening of the 30th, the weakening low pressure was in western Pennsylvania north of Pittsburgh. ![]() The low pressure center moved northwest from southern New Jersey on the evening of October 29, across northern Delaware, and into south-central Pennsylvania by dawn on October 30. Drifting snow was limited mostly to the highest exposed locations. Blizzard conditions were observed during this time from the Ghent and Beckley vicinity north toward Elkins and Canaan Valley. The brunt of the storm occurred overnight Monday through Tuesday, October 30. The main event for the mountain counties began around midday Monday, October 29. This included areas around Williamson, Logan, Madison, Charleston, Clay, Sutton, and Philippi. Rain changed to wet snow late on October 29 into the early morning hours of October 30 for the western foothills. Heading west, the rain continued well through the evening hours. ![]() Heading north, the rain took longer to change to wet snow, especially in the river valleys around Elkins and Buckhannon. ![]() Snow fell across the high terrain of Southwest Virginia northward into the mountainous counties of central West Virginia. Light rain changed to the first snowflakes on October 29. There were periods of rain on October 27 and 28 as a cold front moved east. A rare consolidation of a strong mid- and upper-level trough in the polar jet stream with tropical hurricane Sandy resulted in a historic snowstorm in October 2012.
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