Cold Snap Forecast for West Virginia: The Next Arctic Blast
In Charleston the coldest week is usually Jan 16 to 22, with a normal low of 26°F, and the coldest night of the last 10 winters was −2°F on Jan 22, 2025.
Reading the National Weather Service forecast for Charleston.
The coldest week in West Virginia, station by station
The week with the lowest normal low at each reference station, from NOAA’s 1991 to 2020 normals, beside the coldest night of the last 10 winters, the median first freeze and the record low.
The coldest week and the coldest nights at West Virginia reference stations
Station
Coldest week
Normal low
Coldest night, last 10 winters
First freeze
Record low
CharlestonCharleston Yeager Airport, USW00013866
Jan 16 to 22
26°F
−2°FJan 22, 2025
Oct 28
−16°FJan 19, 1994records since 1947
ElkinsElkins Randolph County Airport, USW00013729
Jan 18 to 24
20°F
−15°FJan 21, 2025
Oct 13
−24°FTwice, last on Dec 23, 1989records since 1926
MorgantownMorgantown Hart Field, USW00013736
Jan 20 to 26
23°F
−9°FJan 22, 2025
Oct 29
−20°FJan 16, 1972records since 1877
BeckleyBeckley Raleigh County Airport, USW00003872
Jan 16 to 22
24°F
−6°FDec 24, 2022
Oct 24
−22°FJan 21, 1985records since 1963
Normals from NOAA NCEI; nightly lows from GHCN-Daily, the winters of 2016 to 2017 through 2025 to 2026.
The panel at the top of this page sets the next 7 nights at Charleston against the normal low for each date and adds the Climate Prediction Center outlook for the two weeks after. Enter a ZIP for your own town; it uses the nearest of the 4 West Virginia reference stations.
At Charleston it is usually Jan 16 to 22, with a normal low of 26°F. At the other reference stations: Elkins Jan 18 to 24 (20°F), Morgantown Jan 20 to 26 (23°F) and Beckley Jan 16 to 22 (24°F). These are NOAA's 1991 to 2020 daily normals.
The normal low at Charleston reaches 32°F around Dec 4. The first actual freeze came around Oct 28 in the median of the last 10 winters, weeks ahead of the normal, because one clear calm night can run far below the average.
The coldest night of the last 10 winters at Charleston was −2°F on Jan 22, 2025, and the coldest night of a typical winter there was 3°F. Elsewhere: Elkins −15°F on Jan 21, 2025, Morgantown −9°F on Jan 22, 2025 and Beckley −6°F on Dec 24, 2022. The record at the Charleston station is −16°F, on Jan 19, 1994, in daily records since 1947.
At Charleston a typical recent winter brings 90 nights at 32°F or colder and 17 at 20°F or colder, the median of the last 10 seasons.
Each night's forecast low is compared with the NOAA normal low for that date at the nearest reference station. A night 20 or more degrees below normal is an arctic blast, and so is a night below zero where the normal low is 10°F or warmer. A night 10 to 19 below is a cold snap. A night 5 or more below, or a week that runs 3 or more below on average, is colder than normal, and a week 5 or more above is mild.
The normal lows and coldest weeks are NOAA's 1991 to 2020 daily climate normals for Charleston Yeager Airport (USW00013866), Elkins Randolph County Airport (USW00013729), Morgantown Hart Field (USW00013736) and Beckley Raleigh County Airport (USW00003872). The recent winters, first dates and records come from the same stations' daily lows in NOAA's GHCN-Daily archive, the winters of 2016 to 2017 through 2025 to 2026. The 7 night forecast is the National Weather Service's and the outlook is the Climate Prediction Center's.
