A total of 55 inches of snow has fallen on 4,848-foot-high Snowshoe Mountain Resort in Pocahontas County over the past week, with 19 inches arriving during the previous 24 hours. The additional snow allowed the resort to reopen its most challenging run, Shay’s Revenge, restore glade skiing, and keep all 42 trails in the Snowshoe section of the resort open. SNOWSHOE MOUNTAIN RESORT | Courtesy photo
By: Rick Steelhammer, Staff Writer | Posted: Mar. 14, 2018 | Source: WV Gazette-Mail
A snowstorm that swept across much of West Virginia late Tuesday and early Wednesday left some communities buried under a foot of snow, causing classes to be canceled in 15 counties, while giving state ski resorts a late-season boost.
On Wednesday morning, the Pocahontas County town of Bartow had 12 inches of snow on the ground, while nearby Frost was covered with 11 inches, according to the National Weather Service’s Charleston Forecast Office. Summersville, in Nicholas County, started the day with 10 inches of snow on the ground, while 7 inches of powder had piled up in Elkins and 6 inches in Beckley.
Most of West Virginia’s higher elevation communities have been accumulating snow since Sunday, when an earlier storm passed through the region, but failed to drop significant quantities of snow on most of the western lowlands. The most recent storm left much of the Kanawha Valley covered with an inch or two of snow.
A total of 55 inches of snow had fallen on 4,848-foot-high Snowshoe Mountain Resort in Pocahontas County over the past week, with 19 inches arriving during the previous 24 hours.
The bumper crop of snow allowed the resort to reopen its most challenging run, Shay’s Revenge, restore glade skiing, and keep all 42 trails in the Snowshoe section of the resort open.
At Winterplace, the state’s southernmost ski area, five inches of fresh powder was on the ground early Wednesday, bringing the resort’s three-day snow total to 13 inches. Three of nine lifts serving 9 of 27 trails were operating on Wednesday. Plans call for offering daily skiing and snowboarding at least through Saturday, with a couple of “bonus days” possible after that date if conditions warrant them.
Tucker County’s Canaan Valley on Wednesday was blanketed with 8 to 9 inches of fresh powder — enough to give Timberline Four Seasons Resort good conditions for a season finale four-day weekend of skiing and snowboarding that begins on Thursday.
Canaan Valley Resort closed its ski slopes for the season last week.
At nearby White Grass Touring Center, the state’s largest cross-country ski operation, all 50 kilometers of trails were open on Wednesday, with snow depths ranging from 6 to 18 inches.
Heavy snow prompted the closure on Wednesday of public schools in Fayette, Greenbrier, McDowell, Mercer, Monroe, Nicholas, Pendleton, Pocahontas, Raleigh, Randolph, Roane, Summers, Tucker, Webster and Wyoming counties.
Snowfall in the higher elevations is expected to taper off on Thursday and end by Friday morning, to be replaced with a day of chilly sunshine, according to the National Weather Service.
In the Kanawha Valley, Thursday is expected to be partly sunny with a high near 50, while Friday should be sunny with a high of about 45 degrees.
Reach Rick Steelhammer at rsteelhammer@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5169 or follow @rsteelhammer on Twitter.
