2009.01.27
Some spots are getting ice, and others may yet
UPDATE 6:10 PM: The winter storm warning has expanded southward to include Bedford County and the Lynchburg area, where ice has accumulated much of the day. Temperatures are dropping in the Roanoke Valley and patchy ice has developed on trees and exposed objects in some areas. Spotty ice may become more widespread as slightly colder temperatures work in for a time overnight. END UPDATE
You don't have to go too far off the floor of the Roanoke Valley to find some light ice accumulation. I drove up to Happy Hollow Gardens, a park not far from Valhalla Vineyards on Mount Pleasant Road in southern Roanoke County, and found a winter wonderland of ice-tinged trees and fence railings. (Click here to see two more photos on the SwoCo blog) Temperatures have been hovering 33-34 along the floor of the valley but have dropped to 31-32 in some of the higher elevation areas just outside the valley. I noticed the ice line was about 1,600 feet, though that's variable, and it's spotty up to about 2,000 feet. The ice isn't thick enough to cause problems with tree damage or power lines, at least not yet, and I found no ice at all on any roads.
The National Weather Service in Blacksburg isn't giving up on the ice just yet ... in fact, the same advisories and warnings remain in effect with just a few western counties like Pulaski sliced out. If you've followed the temperatures today, you may have noticed that places like Dublin and Bluefield, W.Va., have shot into the 40s while it remains near or slightly above freezing at Roanoke and Lynchburg. Two different forces are at work this afternoon and evening. One is warm air advection being pulled primarily to our west by the developing low pressure system much farther west. The second is a slight tendency for high pressure to wedge in cold air to our east. We're caught between those forces today. The weather service is actually hinting that temperatures may drop a few degrees from Roanoke eastward and northeastward because of the wedge. If that is the case, we might still have some ice to deal with overnight in many spots before the warmer air eventually wins the battle.
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Blacksburg is reporting snow.
Can this be ruled false?
Comment by Snowless in Roanoke — January 27, 2009 @ 3:09 pm
Kevin,
I've been watching the temps and dew points around the area, and they look like they're dropping now. Blacksburg was at 36/36 but is now 34/34, while Dublin was 41/41 and is down to 37/37. It looks like maybe the wedge is building south like you mentioned, especially since winds look to be more from the E or NE than the SE like they were earlier today, at least here in the NRV. It very well might get a bit dicey tonight before the wamrth completely takes over...we will see.
Comment by Other John — January 27, 2009 @ 3:53 pm
Hi Kevin, It's 4:15 p.m. I have a Maple tree growing near my house in Raleigh court that has about an 8 inch icicyle hanging from one of the branches. There are no other icicles hanging on the tree nor did I see any other icicles anywhere in Raleigh court or anywhere else on my drives around town. Can you explain its' existence? I have photos if you would to see it. Thank you. Paul
Comment by Paul — January 27, 2009 @ 4:26 pm
Some trees in lexington are slightly covered. Temperature holding right at 32
Comment by Matt — January 27, 2009 @ 4:31 pm
1. I had nothing but rain on the postal route today (GRIGGS Predicts!), but in our subdivision the temp is 32 and there is that very light frosting of frost and "ice?" on our taller bushes and small trees. Temp on the entire commute home was 34 degrees until I turned onto my street! 2. Will the higher elevations like mine (1450 Feet) be more likely to have icy roads in the morning, or low spots? I have not seen any precip totals, but we had to have at least a half-inch of precip here in Rnke today, judging from the depth of the puddles. Another wet 27th of the month!
Comment by Doug Griggs — January 27, 2009 @ 5:00 pm
Came up Bent Mtn. from Roanoke to Floyd about 45 min. ago. Ice is visible in the trees/on power lines from just above Autumn Ridge subdivision. As you get further up, ice is visible in tall grass beside the road mid-way up the tight curves, and by the time you get to the Bent Mtn. fruit stand, it's visible on the shorter grass. It is pretty foggy in a few spots, as well. I just measured .15" ice accretion here at home (near Check); it has been at 30F with light to moderate rain since 3 PM. If we get another degree or two colder, ice will form more rapidly and road conditions will deteriorate rapidly.
Comment by Julie — January 27, 2009 @ 5:49 pm
I can feel a bit of slush under my feet outside. Temps are hovering right at 32. Have been all day.
Comment by Snowless in Roanoke — January 27, 2009 @ 5:51 pm
In the aftermath- I would be curious to know why this ended up being less snowy than anticipated- is it simply a temperature issue?
Comment by Matt — January 27, 2009 @ 6:22 pm
The cold air wedge is definitely building in from the north and freezing rain is expanding in coverage. In the Roanoke Valley, the worst problems will be up in higher elevations, but trees and exposed objects are collecting ice at some locations on the valley floor even now according to a few reports I'm getting.
Roanoke's rainfall total through 5 p.m. was .37 inch. That would have been about a 4-inch snowfall.
Comment by kevinmyatt — January 27, 2009 @ 6:26 pm
Roanoke Regional Airport is now reporting freezing rain even though the air temperature is 33. They must be seeing some ice developing on objects.
Comment by kevinmyatt — January 27, 2009 @ 6:29 pm
They are, Kev. I live right near the airport and WDBJ off of Hershberger.
Temp is now 31.
It's starting to get a little dicey out there. Please, everyone, be careful!
Comment by Snowless in Roanoke — January 27, 2009 @ 6:35 pm
As for Matt's question about why there wasn't any snow this morning in our area (and very little sleet) ... a warm nose of air moved in aloft with the precipitation, ensuring that it was liquid. It was expected to develop, but moved in a bit earlier. This complicated storm has been forecast well in general on the large scale but continues to defy with details.
Comment by kevinmyatt — January 27, 2009 @ 6:49 pm
It looks like a dry slot is working in on radar just to our southwest as the new low takes shape to our west and lifts the whole shield of precipitation northward ... this might cut off our rain for a while just as we're starting to get some spotty ice in the valley.
There is no ice at my location in south Roanoke County (1,100 feet), even on metal objects and trees, which is unusual because I often see ice a little before some of the other areas that are reporting it.
Comment by kevinmyatt — January 27, 2009 @ 6:53 pm
It's been strange. For example, I took a walk. There is ice in front of my apartment but none as you head closer to Hershberger/Williamson.
How long will the dry slot last? I think that might be some good news..
Comment by Snowless in Roanoke — January 27, 2009 @ 6:54 pm
Could be hours. There's nothing really behind the edge of it. Something would have to redevelop. Since this may be the whole system lifting, we might get a considerable break, until the stuff way out west pulls in overnight. And Roanoke escapes again ...
It should shoot up to about 50 with strong southwest winds on Wednesday ... that will take care of any ice that remains/develops overnight ...
Comment by kevinmyatt — January 27, 2009 @ 7:12 pm
I do have considerable icing on exposed objects at my location in south Roanoke County now. Light freezing drizzle is falling.
Comment by kevinmyatt — January 27, 2009 @ 9:54 pm
Kevin,
31 on Peakwood Dr (1500 ft) with quite a bit of ice in the trees. Several small branches are down in the yard. Drizzle falling at this time. Temps here topped out at 32 today. Is the big warm up coming next week?
Steve in Roanoke
Comment by Steve Murray — January 27, 2009 @ 10:16 pm
I live in South Roanoke off of Avenham Ave. I just checked outside and we too have a good amount of icing going on. The cars, tree limbs, and other exposed objects are getting iced. The porch is very icey so be careful if you have venture out early tomorrow.
Comment by JT — January 27, 2009 @ 10:16 pm
Still getting FZRN here. Temp at 29F and light rain. Grass, walkway, and driveway are really slick, but roads seem to be OK. Small branches breaking under weight of about .20" accretion. VDOT trucks have been by numerous times, so roads are really pretty good under the circumstances. Thanks, VDOT!! Watch out for those bridges and overpasses, though - and slow down!
Comment by Julie — January 27, 2009 @ 10:18 pm
One thing I told a friend in an e-mail that I did not share here (until now) -- If you have bushes or small trees that are already coated with ice, you may want to go out right now with some old clothes on and shake as much of the ice as possible off of them. This is especially true of small, fragile, or new vegetation. I did it at my house, and the sturdiest of our 4 trees was the one with the most ice. Vegetation may be able to withstand 2 or 6 or even 10 hours with ice on it, but if you cna see branches/limbs bending way low, get that ice off. You may awaken to find broken branches if you don't. I used my arms on some of the growth, an old plastic rake on others.
Comment by Doug Griggs — January 27, 2009 @ 10:22 pm
This little drizzly stuff often freezes more readily than the harder rain ... but we will probably get some more of that overnight too ...
Comment by kevinmyatt — January 27, 2009 @ 10:28 pm
For the first time all day, Roanoke Regional Airport is now reporting 32 degrees.
Comment by kevinmyatt — January 27, 2009 @ 10:40 pm
It took forever to get to freezing. Will it take forever to get above it?
I don't want it below freezing all night with freezing fog/drizzle and then that heavier stuff..
Comment by Brandon R. — January 27, 2009 @ 10:54 pm