CHARLESTON, WV (LOOTPRESS) –Plenty of advance warning has allowed West Virginia Division of Highways (WVDOH) road crews to pretreat most West Virginia interstates, US routes, and many West Virginia routes in preparation for a major snowstorm expected to hit Saturday, January 24, 2026.
“Our crews have been preparing for this snowstorm for the last several days by pretreating our major roads and highways,” said WVDOH State Highway Engineer Jake Bumgarner.
Parallel stripes running down the highway are a sure sign the road has been pretreated with salt brine or a mixture of brine and beet juice. Crews have been pretreating since Thursday, January 22, in preparation for Saturday’s storm.
As of 10 a.m. Saturday, road crews had pretreated most interstates, US routes, and many West Virginia routes and other thoroughfares throughout the Mountain State. Pretreating with brine or other liquids makes it harder for snow and ice to stick on roadways, and makes snow and ice easier to plow off.
All roads maintained by the WVDOH fit into one of four priorities and are addressed as storm conditions dictate. Once priority 1 routes are accessible, they move to priority 2 and 3 routes. As snow returns, they return to the priority 1 routes.
- Priority 1 routes include interstate, expressway, National Highway System, and all other United States and West Virginia routes. Some Priority 1 routes also include high-traffic county routes.
- Priority 2 routes are all other school bus routes that are not considered Priority 1.
- Priority 3 routes are the remaining routes, not including park and forest routes.
- Priority 4 routes are park and forest routes.
“We’re as ready as we can be, and we’ll be out on 12-hour shifts working throughout the weekend,” Bumgarner said.
