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ELKINS -- After suffering through a hazardous weekend of weather that left thousands in the area without power, residents of Randolph and surrounding counties will again battle the elements today.
A winter storm warning was issued by the National Weather Service for the area on Monday and is set to continue throughout the afternoon today. Potential snowfall predictions for the region are ranging from 4 to 10 inches, with today's high temperatures to be around 20 degrees.
Frigid temperatures are projected during the night. The low in Elkins is expected to be 2 degrees Wednesday morning, with wind chill values down to -10.
Temperatures are expected to be even colder in the mountainous areas. Tucker County Office of Emergency Management Director Kevin White told The Inter-Mountain Monday that he is bracing for it to be very chilly in his county.
"It's pretty cold in Tucker County today, but it's going to get a little bit colder," White said. "In some of the upper areas of the county at the ridge tops, it could get to -25 with the wind chill."
"We had around 3,000 residents without power at one time or another this past weekend," he said. "There were several down poles in the county and trees on lines. Basically the entire western half of the county didn't have power. The last I heard was that everyone's power, except for five or six homes, have been restored."
High winds coupled with snow accumulations accounted for power outages in all local counties. Perhaps the worst hit with power outages over the weekend was Upshur County.
"We had over 5,000 homes without power this past weekend," Upshur County Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management Director Steve Wycoff told The Inter-Mountain. "Almost half of the county was without power at one time during the weekend. I think we are down to several hundred left without power and a lot of that is down toward the southern part of the county."
Wycoff applauded First Energy for its response in working hard to get power restored this past weekend.
"I know that First Energy had almost 600 technicians out trying to resolve the issue over the weekend," Wycoff said. "I really have to give them kudos for that."
Wycoff added that Upshur County residents could face more challenges in the next couple of days.
"We may be experiencing something similar with the snowfall and low temperatures that is expected through Tuesday night," Wycoff said. "If anyone is in need of assistance, they can call our non-emergency number (304-472-9550)."
Wycoff wanted to remind residents to use extreme caution when using secondary heating elements.
"For people who are not used to the colder temperatures, please find a nice warm place to hang out and stay – friends, relatives, something along those lines," he said. "People need to use extreme caution, when utilizing space heaters, kerosene heaters. When we have power outages during cold weather, people tend to bring stuff like that inside and increase the danger of carbon monoxide poisoning."
Barbour County Office of Emergency Management dispatcher Todd Lawrence told The Inter-Mountain Monday that residents without power in Barbour over the weekend numbered in the hundreds.
"The power outages today (Monday) are spotty here and there," Lawrence said. "There aren't any mass outages in the county. We had quite a few over the weekend, but for the most part everyone is back up and running."
Outages were also reported around Randolph County on Friday and Saturday nights, and there were still hundreds without electricity on Monday. Portions of downtown Elkins, especially residents along the South Davis Avenue area of the city, lost power for close to eight hours over the weekend.
As of 3:30 p.m. Monday, First Energy was reporting the following number of customers still without power: 200 in Upshur County, 121 in Randolph County, five in Barbour County, and zero in Tucker County.
Residents are urged to contact their county's OEM if they are in need of help, or to dial 911.