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Stella Strikes

The Inter-Mountain photo by Kristi Groves Snow covers the trees along the Tygart Valley River on Tuesday near Scott Ford Road. Winter Storm Stella coated the area in a blanket of snow Monday and Tuesday

ELKINS — As Winter Storm Stella spread several inches of snow over the region and prompted school closures, it also brought a blast of arctic air that will last into Thursday morning.

Temperatures were “changing rapidly,” said Ray Young, a meteorologist from the National Weather Service in Charleston on Tuesday afternoon, as two waves of winter weather brought varying amounts of snow to Randolph County and surrounding areas.

“We’re looking at temperatures in the low to mid-teens in lower elevations and in single digits in higher elevations,” Young said of the forecast for today.

However, winds of 10 to 20 miles per hour with some stronger gusts could put the wind chills at10 to 20 degrees below 0 on higher elevations, he said.

“It’s going to stay cold, and you’ll have a good, solid cold morning,” Young said for today and Thursday.

The Inter-Mountain photo by Beth Henry-Vance ‘Shep,’ a blue healer/Labrador mix, plays with his owner in Elkins Tuesday afternoon, as the area received snowfall from Winter Storm Stella.

More snow was expected through today, with 8 to 12 inches total in the forecast for Tuesday through today at higher elevations in areas of Randolph, Pocahontas and Tucker counties, he said.

Young noted March traditionally can bring significant winter storms.

“Looking back through history, there can be some big ones in March,” he said, pointing to March 21, 1936, when measurements indicated 20 inches of snow on the ground. In March 1993, a storm brought 18 inches of snow, he added.

For Elkins as of 8 a.m., the latest data he had available, Elkins had seen 2.5 inches of snow, for a total month-to-date amount of 5.9 inches. He said Tuesday and into today, Elkins could see an additional 2 to 5 inches of snow.

As of Tuesday afternoon, there were very few power outages reported in the region.

Mon Power spokesman Todd Meyers said Randolph County had just over 20 customers without power as of 2:30 p.m., affecting a few people in Elkins, Pickens and Bowden.

He said 31 customers had been without power in the Parsons area from 9:45 a.m. to just after noon on Tuesday, and luckily, the snow wasn’t heavy enough to bring down many trees or cause significant power outages.

“We’re lucky with the consistency of the snow — that’s very helpful,” Meyers said Tuesday afternoon. “We may actually see more outages tomorrow due to wind.”

The storm brought larger amounts of snow to the Eastern Panhandle, with Berkeley County receiving 10 to 15 inches of light, “dry” snow, he said. Even so, there were no power outages to report Tuesday afternoon in that area.

“I think things are pretty much under control right now,” he said.

Besides the consistency of the snow, Meyers said another key to preventing power outages is increased, “aggressive” tree trimming, especially in rural areas.

He said Mon Power and all the utility companies in West Virginia in recent years have worked with the state Public Service Commission to “take tree trimming to another level.”

“It’s proven worthwhile as far as not having as many tree-related outages, and when we do have them, the duration isn’t as long,” he said.

Other components with improving the company’s power system include making ongoing improvements and using newer technology, he added.

For example, Meyers said newer types of “reclosure switches” can quickly and efficiently test problems in power lines. If there is no problem in that particular area of the line, customers might just experience a brief instance where the power flickers off and then comes right back on.

He said new equipment also can allow problems to be fixed remotely.

“There are all those types of things that we do to try to make the system better,” he said.

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