CHARLESTON — The National Weather Service reports there is “increasing confidence” that there will be a “significant” local winter storm with the possibility of more than a foot of snow this weekend.

At 12:28 p.m. Wednesday, the NWS declared a Winter Storm Watch for a large portion of the state, including Randolph, Barbour, Upshur and Pocahontas counties, from the morning of Saturday, Jan. 24, through the morning of Monday, Jan. 26.

Heavy snow is expected, with total snow accumulations between 6 and 12 inches possible. Higher amounts are also possible in higher elevations. Travel could be very difficult to impossible, with “hazardous conditions” possibly impacting the Monday morning commute.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty in exactly how much snow we’ll get, but we’re having growing confidence that there will be 6 inches or more of snow,” NWS Meteorologist Joe Curtis told The Inter-Mountain Wednesday, before the Winter Storm Watch was declared. “It’s going to start on Saturday, continue through Sunday and probably will end early Monday, and so that’s kind of what we’re looking at right now. The potential for a foot of snow is not out of the question.”

A separate Winter Storm Watch was also issued by the NWS for the specific regions of southeast Randolph and northwest Pocahontas counties, which include Harman and Snowshoe. For these areas, heavy snow is possible, with an estimated total snow accumulation of between 10 and 15 inches. Higher amounts are also possible in higher elevations.

As of press time, the NWS had only issued a Hazardous Weather Outlook for Tucker County from today to Tuesday, Jan. 27. The Outlook states that a winter storm may result in warning-level snow amounts on Saturday night and Sunday. There is “low confidence” on snow amounts or storm track, but “the potential is there.”

“It’s all going to depend on what the track of this storm is going to do,” Curtis said. “For example, if it moves farther to the north, we might get some more freezing rain or sleet mixed in, and that could cut down on snow totals, but if it’s a little bit farther to the south, we could get a little bit more (snow). So it all depends on what happens with this storm track.”

Curtis also explained that the recent trend of colder weather is expected to continue throughout this weekend, with the worst of the cold appearing on Sunday night.

“So we are looking pretty cold all weekend,” Curtis said. “Saturday for the highs it will be in the teens. Saturday night, also in the teens. Sunday is going to be a little warmer. It’ll be in the upper 20s, lower 30s. Sunday night it’s going to go down into the single digits.”

The National Weather Service advises area residents to monitor the latest forecasts for updates on this weekend’s weather conditions. Additional information can be found at www.weather.gov/rlx, as well as on the NWS Charleston’s X and Facebook pages.