The 2021 song “Storm Coming” features lyrics in which the vocalist issues a challenge to the storm — “Give me your best shot and I’ll show you what I got.” The storm Fern may not have given Putnam County her best shot but Fern will be remembered. Details of what Putnam got follows.

At 9:58 p.m. on Wednesday, January 12, Governor Morrisey declared a State of Preparedness for all 55 counties in response to a Winter Storm Watch issued by the National Weather Service.

The Weather Channel named the storm Fern sometime between January 21 and 23.

Shoppers at the Hurricane Walmart emptied the bread shelves prior to 7 p.m. on Thursday, January 22.

At 4:31 p.m. on the 22nd, Governor Morrisey gave notice that he would issue update on preparations for the storm on Friday, January 23, at noon.

WV Metronews (wvmetronews.com) 6:15 a.m., January 23, headline read: “Storm Watch goes to Storm Warning as system approaches the Mountain State 9 to 12 inches possible.”

At 1:56 p.m. on Friday, January 23, Morrisey urged State residents to prepare for a potentially significant winter storm. The Governor said state agencies, local emergency managers, public safety officials, utilities, FEMA, the National Weather Service, and the federal Department of Homeland Security have been in close communication and voluntary and community organizations have met Friday to discuss readiness related to food banks, shelters, and crisis response plans.

As needed, the State Emergency Response Center will be activated and staffed to support coordination and focus the response on saving lives and protecting property.

On Friday, January 23, the City of Hurricane Facebook page posted a notice from the Hurricane Construction Services Team for residents park vehicles off-street to allow for snow removal.

At 7:49 p.m. on Friday, Governor Morrisey declared a State of Emergency for all 55 counties in response to The National Weather Service forecast of nine to twelve inches of snow along with ice accumulations of approximately two-tenths of an inch to begin on Saturday and continuing through Monday. At 9:52 p.m., Morrisey issued a press release stating that he had requested President Trump to issue a Presidential Emergency Disaster Declaration for the State of West Virginia.

At 6:00 a.m. on Saturday, January 24, The National Weather Service posted a map predicting 6-8” snowfall and <0.1 inch ice for Putnam County from the storm. At 6:20 a.m., the NWS posted a map which predicted precipitation in Putnam County to begin between 12 noon and 3pm.

At noon on Saturday, Accuweather (accuweather.com) forecasted: Snow beginning at 2pm and continuing 3 hours (1” accumulation possible), 3-6” to fall during night. In an updated forecast at 1:49 p.m., Accuweather had snow beginning in 32 minutes (1” accumulation possible) with 3-6” to fall during night.

In a 1:49 p.m. Facebook posting, Hurricane Mayor Scott Edwards posted Governor Morrisey’s Proclamation of State of Emergency and a short sound clip from the Alternative/Indie band Once Monsters’ 2021 hit “Storm Coming.”

The failure of Fern to meet projected arrival times prompted the Breeze to create a log, titled Reality Update, that paired prediction to ongoing observations at the Ranch (Breeze office).

3:27 pm 1-24-26: Reality Update
No snowflake sighting at the Ranch
Accuweather — Snow to begin falling in 7 minutes
National Weather Service website — No updated forecast (last 6-hour forecast period ended at 1:00 p.m.)

3:54 pm 1-24-26: Reality Update
No snowflake sighting at the Ranch
Accuweather — Snow to begin falling in 4 minutes

3:58 pm 1-24-26: Reality Update
No snowflake sighting at the Ranch
Accuweather — Snow to begin falling in 10 minutes

4:15 pm 1-24-26: Reality Update
No snowflake sighting at the Ranch
Accuweather — Snow to begin falling in 4 minutes

4:27 pm 1-24-26: Reality Update
No snowflake sighting at the Ranch
Accuweather — Snow falling and to continue for 60 minutes

5:22 pm 1-24-26: Reality Update
Snow falling at the Ranch
Accuweather — Snow falling and to continue for 60 minutes

6:37 pm 1-24-26: Reality Update
Dusting of snow at the Ranch
Accuweather — Snow falling and to continue for 60 minutes

10:32 pm 1-24-26: Reality Update
Dusting of snow at the Ranch
Accuweather — Snow to begin falling in 16 minutes

12:25 am 1-25-26: Reality Update

0.25 inch dusting of snow at the Ranch, none falling
Accuweather — Snow is falling and to continue to be heavy for at least 60 minutes.

5:18 am 1-25-26: Reality Update
1 inch accumulation of snow at the Ranch, wintry mix falling
Accuweather — Wintry mix is falling and to be heavy at times for at least 60 minutes.

8:26 am 1-25-26: Reality Update
1 inch accumulation of ice-crusted snow at the Ranch, rain falling
Accuweather — Rain for at least 60 minutes.

10:30 am 1-25-26: AEP Customer Outages:
11 outages on Teays Valley Road near Hurricane City Park; Estimated restoration is 4:30 pm Jan 25, 2026.
45 outages on Harmons Branch Road near Winfield; Estimated restoration is 3:30 pm Jan 25, 2026.
26 outages in Windsong Acres Road area near Winfield; Estimated restoration is 3:00 pm Jan 25, 2026.

12:30 pm 1-25-26: AEP Customer Outages:
432 outages along entire length of Cow Creek Road and several miles of Hurricane Creek Road; Outage began 11:49 am Jan 25, 2026.

3:00 pm 1-25-26: Putnam County schools closed for Monday, January 26.

9:03 am 1-26-26: AEP Customer Outages:
Putnam – 590 (3rd highest in State); Kanawha – 14,630, Lincoln – 1,726.

9:26 am 1-26-26: Accuweather forecast:
Snow for at least 60 minutes.
Current temperature — 15° (Reality at the Ranch — 10°)
Predicted high of 21° at 2 p.m.

1:05 pm 1-26-26: AEP Customer Outages:
Putnam – 637 (3rd highest in State); Kanawha – 11,508, Lincoln – 1,465.

1:30 pm 1-26-26: Putnam County schools closed for Monday, January 27.

3:02 pm 1-26-26: Accuweather forecast:
Snow for at least 60 minutes.
Current temperature — 18° (Reality at the Ranch — 16°)
Predicted high of 21° (19° projected for 4 pm, to drop to 7° at midnight) [actual 4 pm temperature — 18°]

6:07 pm 1-26-26: AEP Customer Outages:
Putnam – 283 (3rd highest in State); Kanawha – 7,198, Lincoln – 984.

6:12 pm 1-26-26:
InfoOne.us customers without power
Putnam – 241; Poca – 133, Red House – 58, Scott Depot – 38

12:02 am 1-27-26: Accuweather forecast:
Very cold with a low of 1° and high of 27°
Current temperature — 3° (Reality at the Ranch — 3°)

2:01 am 1-27-26:
infoOne.us customers without power
Putnam – 131; Poca – 110, Winfield – 7, Scott Depot – 8

6:06 am 1-27-26: Accuweather forecast:
Clouds and sun with a couple of flurries this afternoon; dangerously cold; bundle up; high of 29°
Tonight: Mostly cloudy and frigid with occasional snow and flurries with little or no accumulation. Low of 3°.
Current temperature — 5° (Reality at the Ranch — 0°)

9:03 am 1-27-26: AEP Customer Outages:
Putnam – 134; Kanawha – 4,626; Lincoln – 829; Boone – 204.