It's impossible to tell you which star is the brightest in the southern sky over West Virginia without knowing the specific time and date you're looking. The night sky changes constantly due to the Earth's rotation and orbit around the sun.

To figure out what you're seeing, I need more information:

* Date: When were you looking at the sky?

* Time: What time of night or day was it?

* Location: Where in West Virginia were you?

With this information, I can use a stargazing app or website to help you identify the bright star you saw.

Here are some popular stargazing tools that can help:

* Stellarium: [https://stellarium-web.org/](https://stellarium-web.org/)

* SkySafari: [https://skysafariastronomy.com/](https://skysafariastronomy.com/)

* Star Walk 2: [https://vitotechnology.com/](https://vitotechnology.com/)

These tools will allow you to input your location and time, and they will show you a map of the night sky with the stars and constellations visible at that moment.