2008.01.24
Typical mid-winter snow flurry-a-thon
We're in the typical snow flurry pattern this afternoon, as a new punch of Arctic air is bringing northwest winds that are carrying moisture up the western slopes of the Appalachians, where the lifted moisture condenses into low and mid level clouds and spits out snowflakes. While the western upslope regions near the Virginia-West Virginia border and points west get the most out of a setup like this -- a few inches may accumulate there -- some of the snow bleeds eastward over the mountains. In the Roanoke Valley, we have been seeing off-and-on snow flurries today. While you can never rule out a briefly whitened ground in a localized heavier snow shower, these usually don't amount to much for us on this side of the Appalachian spine, and that looks to be the case again today.
UPDATE 9PM: Just drove home to south Roanoke County for a while to find a dusting of snow from about the Tanglewood Mall area southward, including some on parking lots and even streets. A heavier snow squall must have blown through that area earlier this evening. If you were under one, you had quite a show for a few minutes. Elsewhere, such as back here in downtown Roanoke, just some flurries.
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I'm really starting to think Roanoke just isn't going to get a decent snowfall again any time soon. It's enough to drive a snow lover insane. And the insipid news anchors practically fall all over themselves with joy any time the weather forecast mentions a slight warming trend, as if they were living in the Arctic Circle.
Comment by P. Kelley — January 24, 2008 @ 3:58 pm
Christiansburg and Radford were getting a hard "flurry-a-thon" right about 4 p.m. High winds squeezed some snow out of the little moisture we have. Some accumulation, just a trace, but pretty to watch as it blew sideways. Now the sun's out!
Comment by Ralph — January 24, 2008 @ 4:28 pm
This is a difficult overall weather pattern to time and locate features just right for anything more than what we had last week. I think we might have another 4-6 inch type snow this winter, maybe, but would be surprised if the "big 'un" happened. We are now 12 years since the last foot-deep snow in Roanoke -- we had three of them in 1995-96 winter. It's not an unprecedented stretch ... we went from at least 1947 (possibly earlier) to 1960 without a really big snow.
I grew up in northern Arkansas where anything more than a couple of 2-inch snows was a big winter. I remember getting frustrated with the television people there for celebrating 70-degree warmups in January. Out there, 70 degrees in January meant just one thing to me: TORNADOES. We don't pay for our winter warmups like that here, but almost any winter warm spell, like the one much of the country will see for a couple of days next week, means somebody's house is going to blow away somewhere in the South or Midwest. There is a proper time for temperatures in the 60s and 70s. January is not it.
Comment by Kevin Myatt — January 24, 2008 @ 4:33 pm
The New River Valley usually gets a little bit more than the Roanoke Valley out of these upslope snow setups. It's a higher elevation and better placement with regard to the mountains to the west.
Comment by Kevin Myatt — January 24, 2008 @ 4:37 pm
We had a few nice squalls in Blacksburg this afternoon, and I even ran into a decent one around Bonsack and Daleville around 2 this afternoon. Now near Radford, we've had on/off showers with about an inch of snow, but the winds keep whipping it around so most places only seem to have a half inch of new accumulation. Plus, our roads are covered here too, which wasn't the case during the afternoon stuff since the sun kept poking out.
Comment by Other John — January 24, 2008 @ 9:15 pm
In Newport we got minimum half an inch, but no more than an inch at most. Slippery roads, once off the main travel routes.
Was in Christiansburg at 7:00, and it was snowing quite hard for more than an hour.
Currently, at 11:30pm, it's 12 degrees out, and the wind is really whipping through.
Comment by Danny — January 24, 2008 @ 11:28 pm
Are we going to have a big snow storm tomorrow (Saturday)?
Comment by AJ — January 25, 2008 @ 9:10 am
Nope. A weak disturbance goes just north of us maybe kicking up a few snow showers. Then we head into a pattern change that puts winter on hold for about a week.
Comment by Kevin Myatt — January 25, 2008 @ 11:36 am