Trending
ELKINS -- Today's spring storm will bring high winds that may cause power outages and other issues around our region.
Randolph County Office of Emergency Services stated in a Nixle message Friday afternoon that a "High Wind Warning (is in place) until 3 a.m. Sunday" for Randolph and Pocahontas counties.
The National Weather Service is warning that strong gusts of wind today may bring power lines down.
Francis Kredensor, a meteorologist with the NWS in Charleston, told The Inter-Mountain Friday, "The winds are getting a bit gusts across your region today. It looks like we're going to have two rounds of higher winds Saturday.
"From midnight to about 5 or 6 a.m. Saturday morning, we'll have one round of higher winds. As this cold front pushes through at that time, we'll see wind gusts in the lower elevations of 30 to 40 mph, and on the higher ridges we could see up to 50 mph wind gusts.
"Then by noon, the winds will really start to pick up, and this round two will definitely be the stronger one," Kredensor said. "We're looking at, up in the mountains, wind gusts getting up to 60 or 65 mph, and in the lower elevations we're probably looking at 50 to 60 mph.
"The strongest winds will be generally between noon and 1 p.m. to start, and in the lower elevations they will probably start to drop off by 5 p.m. or so. In the mountains, it could well stay gusty into the night, and not start to drop off until after midnight or 2 a.m."
Kredensor said power outages are very likely to occur today.
"I would definitely expect some tree damages, some power outages. I would definitely prepare for that," he said.
The weather is expected to calm down after today, with temperatures rising rapidly early on next week.
"It'll cool off briefly Sunday, but things will turn right back around, and in your region it'll probably reach into the low 70s on Monday, and you might see 80 degrees by Wednesday," Kredensor said.
Last week, Gov. Jim Justice declared a State of Preparedness for all 55 counties in response to forecasted hazardous weather.
The State of Preparedness will remain in place for a total of 30 days, and as such, state agencies, external partners and resources will remain on standby to respond quickly should help be needed this weekend.
The State Emergency Operations Center at the West Virginia Emergency Management Division continues at Partial Activation. The WVEMD will closely monitor weather threats, stream levels, and remain in close contact with local emergency managers across the state for the duration of this event.