ELKINS — Residents woke up Tuesday to the first substantial snowfall of the season in Randolph and surrounding counties.

Snowshoe saw the biggest total of snow with three inches reported Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service. Elkins and Beverly both posted around one inch each, while Parsons had a total of 1.6 inches.

To the west of Elkins, Buckhannon and Ellamore each saw about 2.5 inches on the ground. Holly River State Park reported one of the highest numbers in the state at 5.2 inches.

The National Weather Service in Charleston said accidents during the first snowfall of the season are not uncommon.

“This is basically the first widespread snow this season, so it does tend to happen,” NWS meteorologist Megan Kiebler said of mishaps on the roadways. “It’s a good idea to plan ahead and take extra precautions when the weather changes to snow.”

Snowfall is expected to tapered off today, but another chance for the white stuff is projected to hit the Mountain State sometime later this weekend.

“As of right now it doesn’t look like it’s going to be as impressive as what we had (on Tuesday),” Kiebler said of the weekend outlook. “The system itself hasn’t formed out in the gulf yet, so more toward the end of the week we will know more on how much snow we’re going to get.”

As for an outlook for the winter months ahead, Kiebler said it could go one of two ways.

“Right now it looks like there’s an equal chance for it to be either a snowy winter or a rainy one, it’s on the fence right now for which way it can go,” she said. “It’s going to be pretty similar to what we’ve seen the past few years. There’s a chance we’re going to see some snow throughout the winter, but it could also stay too warm where we will just see rain. It’s hard to say, we’re about 50-50 either way.”

When it comes to whether there will be a white Christmas this year or not, the National Weather Service says that it will have a better idea around a week before the holiday.