WMOA News

Mild Effects, Scattered Power Outages Reported Locally from Sandy

Posted on: 10/30/2012

This report is valid as of 7:00 a.m. Hear morning local news updates at 6:33, 7:33 & 8:33 following ONN News on AM 1490...

Good news this morning for commuters: The snow is not sticking. Temperatures around Washington and Wood counties are in the mid 30s. If you’re heading to Athens, be aware that OU's Scalia Lab is showing 32 degrees at 7:00 AM, so bridges, overpasses and sidewalks around Athens could be slick.

Radar shows the heavy band of snow, rain and gusty winds that moved across the area overnight has moved away. Precipitation should be more scattered the next few hours before another band of rain currently between Canton and Morgantown affects the Marietta area.

With the ground saturated and winds gusting overnight, AEP is reporting 473 customers without power in Washington County. Salem-Liberty Elementary School between Lower Salem and Warner is closed today due to a power outage. The rest of the Fort Frye School District is on a two-hour delay. AEP reports 210 outages in Athens County, with none in Morgan or Noble.

In West Virginia, so far so good for our listening area. Mon Power is reporting just 44 outages in Wood County and five unlucky souls in Pleasants County. Over in the mountains it’s a much different story. Power is out this morning in most of eastern West Virginia. A state of emergency is in effect for the West Virginia mountains, where higher elevations have received a foot or more of snow, and travel there is strongly discouraged.

A Blizzard Warning remains in effect for eastern and southeastern West Virginia until 4:00 PM Wednesday.

Back in Marietta: As far as the Ohio River is concerned, it’s still too early for predictions of any high water problems. We should have some preliminary numbers tomorrow. One bit of good news regarding rainfall totals in the Ohio, Allegheny and Monongahela watersheds: Rainfall predictions late yesterday were lowered by about one inch across the entire region.

The Wayne National Forest urges hunters and other Forest visitors to exercise extra caution in the woods the next few days. The combination of strong winds and wet ground could very well bring down trees, including some that were damaged during last summer’s derecho.