UPDATE 7:30 AM, 10/30: Sandy inland; windy weather continues in SW Virginia, with some rain and snow
Latest warnings/advisories from National Weather Service-Blacksburg
UPDATE 7:30 AM: I will be working on a new blog post soon. The worst is over for Southwest Virginia, but winds may still gust locally to over 50 mph at times today, so the high wind warning remains in effect, and there may be a few snow or rain showers blowing in that wind (a few flurries out my window just south of Roanoke this morning). The center of the massive circulation of what was once Hurricane Sandy will drift west through Pennsylvania today, then northward on Wednesday, with winds still gusty but gradually decreasing. END UPDATE
UPDATE 12:30 AM, 10/30: Roanoke has continued to record several 50-plus gusts in the past 3 hours, with sustained winds 26-33 mph. Power outages remain scattered, but continue to grow in number in the Roanoke and New River Valleys and nearby areas — thousands are losing power with heavy wet snow in West Virginia and far Southwest Virginia. Expect similar and winds and gusts through Tuesday morning, before a gradual lessening of the wind as Sandy slows her inland motion and then drifts north. Some snow showers may continue in the higher elevations and west of Roanoke. END UPDATE
UPDATE 10:45 PM: Just before 10 p.m., a 60 mph gust was recorded at Roanoke Regional Airport, with sustained winds now topping 30 mph. The map linked here vividly illustrates the surface wind flow over the U.S., swirling around SandySuperstorm in the East. END UPDATE
UPDATE 9 PM: The National Weather Service in Blacksburg has extended the winter weather advisory to include elevations above 2,500 feet in Wythe, Pulaski, Montgomery, Carroll and Floyd counties, with 2-5 inches possible in those areas. … Nearly 2,000 power outages in the localites around Roanoke with several thousand in Tazewell County and southern West Virginia. Click here for Appalachian Power’s latest outage map. END UPDATE
Hybrid hurricane-extratropical storm Sandy — the strongest ever storm as measured by low barometric pressure in the recorded history of the East Coast north of Cape Hatteras — is nearing landfall in the Delaware Bay area. While the brunt of its impact will of course slam the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast coastal areas with 
wind, heavy rain and waves over an enormous area, impacts in the inland East and Appalachians will ratchet upward through the evening. In Southwest Virginia, first and foremost, this will mean strong and gusty winds. They have been gradually picking up through the day, working from higher elevations downward and also east to west, but will pick up more as the center of Sandy (I’m keeping this name for easy reference) moves inland and closer to our region. Understand that this is far from a typical hurricane landfall, where the winds of the storm might be confined to a couple hundred miles from its center. As a large hurricane-nor’easter hybrid storm, energized by a strong jet stream dipping from the Arctic Circle, Sandy’s strong winds extend many hundreds of miles from its center. In our area, the wind is augmented by the mountain topography causing strong winds to break into waves that can crash into valley areas as well. So that’s why we have a high wind threat this far away from Sandy — and already more than 1,000 power outages locally with just the increase we’ve seen. These winds will not be the quick blast of the derecho that occurred four months ago today, but periods of gusts throughout the night and into Tuesday, sustained at 20-40 mph with top gusts near 60 mph possible. We do normally get 2 to 4 high wind warnings each winter from Arctic frontal passages — I would rate this a notch or two higher than most of those for intensity and it will also be longer in duration than most, with some gusty winds possibly lingering into Wednesday. Scattered damage and additional power outages are just about assured. At this time, I don’t think they will be as widespread in our area as during the derecho.
(Photo at left from road to Mountain Lake in Giles County, taken by Matt Gentry of The Roanoke Times). There will also be periods of rain and snow intermittently through the night. Moisture rotating around Sandy is expected to dry up some headed south as it encounters downslope wind flow over the mountains. This will likely limit the amounts of either rain or snow that falls east of I-77 and the ridges along the Virginia-West Virginia line and south of I-64 in our region. Still, a few bursts of heavier snow could collect on grassy areas and exposed objects at elevations above 2,000 feet or so, and there is a chance snow will penetrate a little lower at times during the night, maybe even all the way down to Roanoke for a time. It does NOT appear at this time that moisture will be thick enough or cold air deep enough for a long enough duration of snowfall for widespread heavy accumulations in the New River or Roanoke Valleys, or along the Blue Ridge excluding perhaps the highest peaks (Peaks of Otter, Mount Rogers, Poor Mountain, etc.). It’s much different closer to the thick moisture flow, with blizzard warnings above 2,000 feet along the I-64 corridor and northward, and of course in West Virginia and the part of Virginia west of I-77, where many inches to a couple of feet will fall. In our area, elevation-dependent winter storm warnings and winter weather advisories continue for some counties along the West Virginia border (Bland, Giles, Craig, Alleghany, Bath), those west of I-77 (Tazewell, Smyth, Grayson and westward), and for Rockbridge and Amherst just south of the I-64 blizzard warnings.
This is a somewhat fluid and uncertain situation with an unprecedented storm, so this could certainly need some tweaking as the night goes along. I’m sure I’ll hear from you with your reports if snow begins falling or sticking where it hasn’t previously.
October 29, 2012 - 5:26 PM
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Looks like a pretty good sized echo of heavier precipitation forming near Blacksburg. Could be one of those heavy snow bursts I was talking about.
It was snowing at Peaks of Otter before noon today. It wasn’t accumulating down at the lodge and lake up the peak itself was white. There was some snow mixed in with rain over my way this morning but it has ben mostly rain since then. Wind has picked up considerably in the last hour or so. We had a few blinks of our lights but thankfully they are still on. Hope everyone stays warm, safe, and dry!
Snow indeed in Bburg – big flakes, windy and sticking to cars, roofs. We’ll see how long it lasts.
Just got in from working in Mt Airy today,crazy winds on 77 through Fancy Gap. Supposed a few trucks havnt blown over already!! 34 here in Woodlawn with snow flurries. Strongest wind gust I have recorded is 32mph,but that was at 4:50pm,so bet it picks up as night goes on. Snow showers all day long,but nothing able to stick…
Kevin-so NWS in Sterling has Blizzard Warnings for counties EAST of the Blue Ridge above 2,000′, and yet, NWS Blacksburg has no accumulating snow in Blacksburg at 2,100′? Someone will be way off.
I don’t see any counties east of the Blue Ridge with a blizzard warning — the affected parts of the counties in red are the Blue Ridge areas in Shenandoah National Park, mostly.
They do have better moisture flow up there. Radar does show the stuff weakening as it spreads south. It is colder lower down here, though. How long and strong will the southward moisture pivot continue as Sandy moves inland? That’s a critical question with snow accumulations. We get to a point and we just have glorified upslope.
Dew point at Roanoke is 32 with an air temperature of 42. If any heavier precipitation moves into the valley, there is room for some evaporational cooling there — and a snow level only about 1000 feet above the valley. That’s why there is some mixed rain/snow even in Roanoke’s forecast.
41 Here now rain all day heavy at times,windy conditions here now with power going off and on.Calling for lows in the mid-high 30`s but no snow,only in the mountains west of here.Stay safe all Mike
Here in Indian Valley (SW Floyd County) It has been snowing all day and I have not seen a drop of rain since yesterday.
Not surprising, Manfred, Indian Valley is close to 2,500 feet. How many inches do you have? You were expecting several.
Kevin-There are 5 counties East of the Blue Ridge with Blizzard Warnings above 2,000′ (Rappahnock, Madison, Greene, Albemarle, and Nelson). Some of them also have flood warnings, so when you look at the map the green code for flood warning shows up first, but when you click on the county, sure enough they are also under a Blizzard Warning. Just having a hard time understanding why the NWS in Sterling feels as Blizzard Warning is in order that close to the warm air of the storm, and out here with higher elevations and much colder current temps, the NWS in Blacksburg feels that much differently.
33.7 degrees on my thermometer here in Radford. Let it snow!!
It has been blowing snow all day up here near the Doppler. Temps are now down to 32 and the snow is starting to stick to the porch railings again and now on the ground.
Got supper made for the evening and we still have power. I will try to check in later this evening.
Mike: The western edge of all five of those counties are on the Blue Ridge, including a part of Shenandoah National Park. Short answer is they have deep moisture and confirmed blizzard conditions on Skyline Drive. We have slightly deeper cold but not as much rich moisture and no confirmed blizzard conditions anywhere.
Kinda misleading to issue warnings for those entire counties when only a small sliver is experiencing those conditions. Not sure I would have pulled the trigger on elevation-dependent and small-area blizzard warnings. Happens a lot on Mt. Rogers without Grayson County getting such a warning. NWS software doesn’t allow winter warnings to be small polygons or very local like severe warnings.
Kevin-great explanation on the blizzard warnings. The Mt. Rogers analogy makes perfect sense. By the way, 35 degrees here and snowing moderately, but still not accumulation. Hope it can drop at least 3 more degrees.
DT from wxrisk.com was on WRVA 1140 AM in Richmond at 6:10 PM tonight.
DT http://www.1140wrva.com/player/?station=WRVA-AM&program_name=podcast&program_id=LelandConway.xml&mid=22579552
This storm is Booooorrrring! For us here in Roanoke. Need some rain or something. Anything!!!
Been snowing here almost all day but the grass only got white about an hour ago at my house (2,400′ elevation). Temperature just above freezing.
Crazy dry slot/donut hole with no precip around Woodlawn and Galax! Looks like snow to our west,north,and east,and rain towards Winston Salem,nc but dry as a bone here!! Been that way for well over an hour. Check it out on your radar…I might be able to see the full moon through the hole! LOL.
Can’t help you, Bryan. We’ve known for days this would be mostly just a bag of wind here.
Not quite enough cold air advection for solid snow accumulations at anywhere but the high ridges.
Clark: You may be in one of these terrain-induced precip shadows NWS-Bburg has been noting on radar. Roanoke Valley has been similar, with only very light sprinkles all day.
Saw snow squalls on the ridges in Floyd County this evening looking west from Franklin County. I could be wrong, but I think we’ve just about maxed out on the winds. Sustained at 15-25 mph with gusts to maybe 35 mph aside from the ridges.
Lil help…
For some reason can’t get the latest NAM Clown Map to load.
Someone plz send me a link here or tweet me @quagmirewx
Don’t think we’ve maxed out. I’d be tickled if we maxed out short of forecasts. But most models show winds peaking midnight-6 a.m.
Roanoke Regional has had a 45 mph gust. I think I had about a 50 mph gust an hour ago.
Crazy Wind and Tons of snow in the burg. Thermometer reads 36, but we have snow on the grass, almost completely white. looks like we might be in for some more snow than expected.
Bent Mtn @ Floyd County/Roa County line (2941 ft) seeing fierce wind, blowing lite snow and 31.6 degrees.
Well we went ahead and had a quick football practice tonight. When we broke at 6:20 the wind was howling and there was some kind of frozen precipitation.
I wonder if TWC will do something goofy and name the snow portion of this storm Sandy-Athena to validate their egocentric charade this winter?
Ok, I apologize in advance for using the A word on this blog. It won’t happen again!
Hi Captain. Here’s the NAM clown map.
http://wxcaster.com/gis-snow-overlays.php3?STATIONID=FCX
It’s rain rain and more rain in Mendota (Poor Valley). Al Archer says 6 inches to 24 inches but I don’t think that will happen in our river valley.
Ground white(and snowing sideways), wind gusting ferociously. Temp reading 31 degrees at 2700ft on Poor mountain. Wood stove rolling so plenty warm in the house though.
Stay safe out there folks!
Mike
The wind is starting to really howl and the front storm door is rattling in its frame every now and then. I am bringing the computer down for the evening so it doesn’t get fried if the power goes. Be safe everyone!
Can’t believe it but it’s flurrying in Goodview I never thought we would have any snow. Winds are pretty bad out there and Kevin is that band of precipitation from Blacksburg going to be one of those heavy snow bands we get. If so what time do you think it will arrive
Hey, folks, you all are doing a great job of updating us on what conditions are like in your neighborhoods, but don’t forget to include your rain totals if you have a rain gauge. I will PWIP (“Practice What I Preach”). I had 6/10ths of inch of rain in gauge when I emptied it just before 6 PM. 3/10ths of that was already there early this morning.
I am grateful that our home is very much protected from big northwest winds by the steep hillside above us. About the only time we would get the full brunt of the winds would be if a trop storm or remnants of a hurricane passed to our west, and ROA would be getting big easterly winds.
Post-tropical cyclone Sandy (yes, that’s the official name) has now officially made landfall in southern New Jersey.
Good news for any of you who have loved ones in the Rehoboth Beach (and probably also Ocean City, MD) area. Fox News Reporter Doug McKelway reported live from R. Beach about 7:15, and the winds have shifted almost completely. Instead of being out of the E or NE while Sandy girl was offshore, now the winds are out of the west. Instead of tidal water being pushed onshore, the wind is helping to keep the waves from coming in. So if your loved ones have “weathered” the storm so far without any damage or power loss, they may be home free. My opinion. Now Kevin may advise why whaty I posted is a bit too optimistic.
34 with horizontally blowing snow. Nothing’s sticking and the wind isn’t any worse than a typical winter day around here yet. Glad I’m not out in it though.
It’s better to be south of the landfall than north of the landfall.
Three hours ago I briefly turned on TWC, and they were posting rainfall totals from scattered spots. The one that caught my eye was Virginia Beach: a colossal 9.36 inches!!! Other John, have you been in contact with your parents? OJ’s parents live in V. Beach, fortunately several miles inland.
I think I saw Ocean City, MD total, and it (or it might have been a different coastal location …) was at 6+ inches about 5:30 PM.
Are there any reports of power outages in Roanoke or NRV/Pulaski areas? Anyone know?
What caused Sandy to gain so much speed on its approach to the coast? At the 2pm advisory she was moving at 28 mph, up from the mid teens at the previous advisory…
Snow is falling and the temp is 33 degrees. Mailboxes, cars and decks are covered with slush. Some areas of the county have a coating of snow on the ground but our valley location is just above freezing. Power still on but wind is strong. Hoping for the power to stay on. Areas to our immediate north in Tazewell Co will get slammed. We may end up with 3-6 inches if the temps drop overnight.
Now, I’m not well versed in maps as most on here, but could the Roanoke area see some heavier rain around 2am tonight?
I can’t understand how the NWS is calling for 1 to 3 inches of snow accumulation in Blacksburg.
Moderate snow, winds gusting to 40-45mph radford.
Also APCO saying 313 in the city without power. That number has been rising the past hour.
NYC is getting hammered. 84 mph gust at JFK with water coming over the wall at Battery Park & LaGuardia Airport. Fox News Reporting NYC surge over 9′and still rising.
My deck is getting white and slippery at 32 degrees and LOTS of wind.
Smattering of power outages around Roanoke area. A few hundred in a half-dozen localities.
https://www.appalachianpower.com/outages/
Thousands losing power in far SW Va (Tazewell) and southern WVa as the wet snow (plus wind) begins to take its toll over there.
Last reports are about 3 million are already out in the East.
Tayree: True, it may be like a “normal winter day” in lots of places, but it’s not unusual for several hundred to loser power around here even during those normal winter wind events.
JoeS: I’m only seeing less than half an inch being called for in Blacksburg.
http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=37.22522860627116&lon=-80.41523505859374
Did you think 1-3 was too much or too little?
OK … now seeing a new winter weather advisory for these counties — WYTHE-PULASKI-MONTGOMERY-CARROLL-FLOYD — for elevations above 2,500 feet — with 2-5 inches expected at that elevation.
ah wow, I just used the default location it gave me for zip 24060
http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=37.2724841&lon=-80.43265209999998
Which, I suppose, is just _slightly_ north of Blacksburg. You’re right the smack middle of Blacksburg is quite different.
That would be the difference in being above and below 2,500 feet, I suppose.
I think the variation in Blacksburg Forecast is all in where you click on the point forecast. Price’s Fork just west of Blacksburg is supposed to get 1-3″. There is a very tight gradient apparently.
http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=37.208278819761674&lon=-80.47257489990233
The snow has blown sideways here all day, with just a dusting early on that melted before noon. Everything (including our driveway and the road below us) turned white just a little before 6 PM. It’s impossible to measure as the wind seems to be coming from every direction on this SE facing slope of Buckhorn Mountain above Wolf Creek in Bland County. The closest ridge behind us (west) is East River Mountain which of course marks the WV state line. We’re at 33 degrees with a strong, steady wind.
Question…does anyone know how to check road information for Afton Mountain? I’m supposed to go to UVA for tests tomorrow but our decision to stay or go will hinge on conditions up that way…also on whether things worsen considerably between here and Blacksburg before morning.
Renee – Don’t know if it applies to you, but UVA has closed for tomorrow.
Just walked the dogs and we have about an inch so far. Wind still howling and snow still blowing. Looks like someone has been spraying us with a snow making machine. Still holding at 32 F and still have power. Expecting to lose it overnight – wood fires in stoves keeping us warm.
Shutting down computer for evening – will check back in Tues. morning.
Oh Doug – we have “0.06″ in our rain gauge.
Tayree in Narz – I think I know you! I’ve been watching Facebook and posts by my former students who live up in NYC and other places east. One NYC alum wrote “Neighborhood flooding. Heading west.” Many in NoVa do not have power now. This has been stressful for VT students, worrying about their families. No one got any work done today so they should have just stayed cancelled.
I have a friend up in Tazewell County. Her lights went out early today and then AEP got them back up. Not sure if they still have lights or not.
Here in Dublin we’ve had blowing snow just about all day. It’s melting as soon as it hits the ground.
For those of you who are getting both snow and high winds, you may feel a bit like WC Fields did in the link below from an ancient movie called “The Fatal Glass of Beer” which represented a scene in the Yukon. The fun starts about the 0:40 mark, and W.C. repeats the key phrase several times: “It ain’t a …..”
ENJOY!! The link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbiKQZ0_pE
PLEASE LET IT BE THE CORRECT LINK …..
My home weather station temp trending up the last three hours now at 44 degrees. Noticed several other stations around me also trending up a bit as well (looking at Wunderground). Bonsack area at 1250 feet.
Renee in RockyGapVA (#54)- if someone hasn’t already suggested it you can pick up 460 in Roanoke and take that over to 29 in Lynchburg right up to UVA and miss Afton Mountain completely. Its the best way to go I think if you want to avoid going over Afton.
RATS!!! I left out one character: one more time. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbiKIQZ0_pE
Renee…
Here’s the VDOT 511 link. It has everything you need from VDOT including traffic cams for Afton Mountain. Word of caution. Blizzard Warning for Afton Moutain so be careful.
http://www.511virginia.org/
Renee, you’ll probably want to call UVA before you leave. UVA classes are cancelled again and several departments are closed. Not sure about the Health side though. Go to: http://www.virginia.edu/ and click on the “Operating Schedule Changes” link near the top of the page.
I’d expect Afton to be OK but you can go here to see conditions and roadcams: http://www.511virginia.org/
Snow heavy now on Afton Mt. per State Police.
Paul: That slight rise in temperatures also occurred in some northern parts of the state. Likely related to warm air advection with the former tropical nature of the moisture.
Kevin,
Getting some pretty strong gusts here in Roanoke around 9:30. The wind warning is lasts through late tomorrow it looks like. Should I expect these gusts all through tonight and tomorrow?
Thanks
Angela, the situation you described at your home, lots of snow in the air, but melting all the time, has probably been going on in dozens of communities throughout SW Virginia. Sure sounds like it. Now that daylight is gonzo, perhaps some of it will start to stick and accumulate. But it seems that temps are still borderline in lots of places, so don’t expect much.
And I think it was you who asked about power outages. You have to search through Kevin’s long post above, but it is up there. Small phrase highlighted in blue in the 2nd paragraph.
Oops. KM posted the link in his 8:56 comment, too.
Cole: Yes, models show wind peaking midnight to 6 a.m., with continued strong gusts during day Tuesday, and some decent gusts into Wednesday.
I “second” Cole’s comment. Just took you-know-who out to lift a leg and squat, and it is really howling out there, at least in our front yard. Blondie-boy is so furry and low to the ground, he was not bothered at all. Not raining here righ tnow,either.
wd and Doppler Gal, are you two still there, or have you become airborne?? Definitely winds kicking up “like an irate mule,” as one great person commented that way months ago (not me).
Thanks to all for the links and suggestions. Aaron…thank you. Route 29 might not be a bad idea. I’d rather sit at some traffic lights than get stuck on Afton Mtn. The hospital called me this afternoon and I have contact info for the department I’m going to so that will help in case they do close.
Doug – I looked at our rain gauge but it has snow caked in the top of it. I’ve never seen that before. My oldest dog is refusing to go out btw…how about your “Golden Oldie”?
TWC reporting for Snowshoe and they are getting hammered, it appears. Several friends in Bluefield have lost power. Ours went out once but came right back on, thankfully.
Tayree in “Narz,” your comment at 8:36. Where on earth is “Narz??” Or is that slang for Narrows??
60 mph wind gust recorded at Roanoke Regional Airport just before 10 p.m.
This question just posted to another thread:
Mr. Myatt, Could you explain what exactly has caused snow to fall in our area because of Hurricane Sandy?
Comment by Wendy Zehner — October 29, 2012 @ 10:19 pm |Edit This
It’s because Sandy was captured by a polar trough — a deep dip of the jet stream bringing air from the Arctic Circle. Sandy threw moisture back into the Arctic air the trough brought southward, and in turn, the Arctic trough and a system moving through it absorbed Sandy’s energy and converted her today from a hurricane to a “post-tropical cyclone” — or extratropical storm. So Sandy is no longer a hurricane, no longer tropical, but a big powerful low-pressure system.
10:15pm – 48 degrees and raining sideways in DC. Wind is HOWLING. Just under 5″ of rain for the day. My Golden Retriever loved the walks today… Me less so. Quite a storm.
No, Renee, Blondie-boy went out quite willingly. But we don’t have snow on the ground, nor was it even raining when I took him out. LBM hates to go out when it is raining hard. {LBM stands for Little Blonde Man, by the way} I just looked up where Rocky Gap is, and you are just south of the West Virginia border and Princeton, on I-77 in northern Bland County!! And you are thinking of travelling all the way to C-ville tomorrow, with very high winds and off-and-on rain or snow showers?? C-ville is about 120 miles from my house, and you are about that same distance from here …..
Huge wind gusts right now in Grandin Village. Would venture to say 50+. Power is still holding as of now. Should be an interesting night.
Seems like the high winds are hitting earlier then models suggested. Is the storm speeding up and out, did it move, or are we peaking early? Better yet is it all placebo and I just want this to move on? However I’m glad we aren’t dealing with what the coast is. Hope everyone is safe; property can be replaced life cant stay safe people.
The temp in Blacksburg simply will NOT budge. Still sitting at 35-36 as it has all day. Imagine if it had been just 4 degrees colder. Would have easily seen 12″ in the NRV, but as it stands this will not even break the record of a measly 1.5″ for the biggest October snowfall in Blacksburg. What could have been.
Roanoke has been dryslotted tonight — probably due to strong downslope winds. Models did great job picking out this feature. Other than struggling a little bit with the exact degree of cold air advection, and therefore the areal coverage of snow, models have overall done very well with this storm — especially the Euro, that more or less nailed this entire event 8 days ago.
Keith: We’re likely to have similar gusts to this on occasion over 6-12 hours. Not sure we’ve peaked yet. Storm is projected to slow down in Pennsylvania on Tuesday before slowly drifting north and weakening.
Mike: I think there’s a little too much tropical moderation of the air mass east of the spine of the Appalachians (Va-WVa border, generally). Temps have been slowly rising at some sites east of the Blue Ridge.
32 degrees in Woodlawn with blowing snow..highest gust I have is 36mph about 20 mins ago…being in the donut hole or elevation shadowing or whatever it is…was able to see a beautiful full moon as I was walking (actually pushing) the chihuahuas outside for the final action of the night. Still got flurries around and stiff winds..deck is white and some on the trees…
I dont work for them. I’ve complained about them. Rate increases, slow service, you name it. But you gotta take ya hat off to AEP today. Mine might go out anytime, but they have got power back on through this today when everybody said it would be days before ya got power if it went out. Just wanted to throw that out there. Them boys gotta been workin’ hard. SW VA style. Windy here in Grayson. Little “blowsnow”. Just seen the full moon through the clouds on the dog outing.
Kevin, when reporting stations report wind speed is that simply the average speed over the time span (usually 1 hour) or the speed when the report was filed. Probably also a dumb question but I assume the gust that they report is the peak gust during that hour.
Is there a chart or graph available with some of our local weather stations that record wind speed on a higher frequency than every hour? It would be interesting to see it charted by the minute during big storms, frontal passage, etc
Thanks
First time I’ve ever seen snow from a hurricane. This is probably a once in a lifetime event. Amazing!
Back through the Pass…East to West…
Mount Washington New Hampshire has long been known
for having some of the highest surface winds recorded.
Winds with this system are reversed from usual prevailing.
They are out of the east at 77 gusts to 107…zero vis..rain and fog.
Its at 6289 ft.
For 76 years until 2010 the weather station on the summit had the highest
wind speed recorded on earth..April 12 1934…231mph.
It will be interesting to see what happens to the trees that have favored growth and list facing the current winds.
Kevin, I agree fully with what you said recently about the performance of the Euro. On a 0 to 10 scale, I would give it a 10.
Doug: I know it sounds crazy but these appointments are hard to come by as are the scheduled days off. If we can get off our mountain in one piece 61 along Wolf Creek to “Narz” is totally flat so easy to navigate. Brush Mtn to Blacksburg and Afton Mtn are our only other concerns if the roads look as good in the morning as they did earlier on the VDOT webcams (thanks Captain Quagmire and John from Ruckersville for the VDOT link!). The younger dogs don’t seem to mind the snow and wind but the old dog poked his nose out the door and did a 180, lol. Can’t say I blame him…it’s a raw, nasty night out there.
Kevin, read an article today in the hometown paper about this storm. Just wanted to give ya a shout out. Dont have to post it. The Gazette if ya wonderin’. I have advertised with them for years. Good bunch of ppl.
Power went out in Martinsville about 30 minutes ago.
joe, have you ever been up to the summit of Mount Washington? If you are ever up that way between roughly May and mid-October, you can either A. drive your own car up there, or B. park your car at Pinkham Notch on the east side and ride their specially tooled van up, or C. go to the Bretton Woods side on the west and take the Mt. Washington Cog Railway. I have done A. and C. Both in mid-summer. Temp at the summit is usually 25 degrees F cooler than the base. And of course the wind speeds can be amazing. If a person goes up early on a clear summer day, the view can be stunning. I was not able to see it either time, but supposedly one can see the ocean under truly rare clear conditions. That might happen in a few days after “Sandy” finally exits.
It seems the NWS weather stations in Dublin and Blacksburg have not updated since 8:55. Is there any other way I can see the current wind/gust speeds for the Pulaski area?
Do you think that Sandy is a sign of more extreme weather to come this winter? Or is this simply a rare, isolated event?
The Dublin weather station seems to be working again. Thanks,anyway.
I suspect the storm had something to do with that outage on the site.
John-Ruckersville — Remind me to find some specifics on your question. Sustained wind is somewhere between 1 and 3 minute average. Gust is peak recorded wind at any time.
I think I’m going to sign off soon and get some rest as the wind roars in trees outside.
Doug..
Yes
Nice picture from Mountain Lake area by Matt Gentry. Road toward Butt Mountain or War Spur? That’s god’s country up there. Did you see any grouse?
Just watched Leo H. on “7.” Boston is 57* right now!! The enormous rotation around the former Sandy must be sucking some warm air up to New England.
I woke up to 1-2 inches here. Still snowin and blowin.
Not much sleep up here on Doppler Ridge last night. Wind is still howling and it looks like we still have just an inch of snow. The temps have stayed right around 31-32 and have not budged. Expect there will be a nap sometime today.
Still have power and I am anxious to see what it looks like outside when there is light.
How is everyone out there?
Kevin- Do you think the NRV could get more snow today and tonight? Temperature has dropped to 34 degress.
A few snow flurries in my flood light just south of Roanoke a few minutes ago.
Brayden: If you can get a heaveir band, you could get a little more accumulation. But most of its going to be west of us. And it’ll probably edge up from 34 during the day.
Hi all, and hi Carol! Wow, no sleep here either, and the big, huge trees in my yard are terrifying! Kids on a two hour delay for school but I don’t know how they can do that considering the ice and snow and huge winds……..
When and where did Sandy and the other system(s) actually merge? I Understand the general idea, but I’m having trouble working out the particulars of the event and the before/after evidence.
I have tried to find the data, but what is the latest first frost on record in Roanoke, and are we getting close to it? I notice the low for Saturday may get to freezing but if it doesn’t it looks like it could be quite sometime before we get there.
Ok— We are in a little bit of a heavier band now..We have a good inch and a half on the ground here in blacksburg..
Posting from very near top of Brush Mt, Blacksburg. Fortunate to still have power, no surges overnight (very touchy clock radio not flashing this morning!). Very white outside, blustery conditions, fierce wind gusts at times. Some snow accumulation on deck overnight, not sure how much blew on or off with wind. Snow still falling now, very horizontal at times. Am not venturing out at all; very large trees line all roads here, not risking falling trees/limbs or other flying debris!
Brayden: Do you live on a ridgeline in Blacksburg? I’ve gotten no other reports of snow that deep there.
Micah: We are not close to the latest first freeze date in Roanoke, which is Dec. 6 from 2009.
Evans: The merging of the Arctic trough and Hurricane Sandy began when the storm was still east of Florida and was completed just before it made landfall in New Jersey. A “shortwave trough” moving through the larger trough completed the process (this is why some accounts have said three systems merged, whereas I have commonly referred only to two). Once Sandy began to move northwest instead of northeast is probably the best point at which to say the merger occurred.
Doug, my dad and sister are doing well in Virginia Beach. Rain and wind, but they kept power and didn’t experience flooding. They’re in one of the higher parts of the city and enough inland to avoid some of the worst impacts from tropical and coastal storms. They are susceptible to street flooding if rains come hard and fast enough and tides are up, but it’s a once every few years thing, and the way their subdivision was built, the homes are elevated several feet from street level on purpose, to allow for it and keep the homes dry. Water has still yet to make it into the garage, even in Dennis, Floyd, Irene (2 different storms), Isabel, Bonnie, Gloria, etc.
No accumulated snow at my house, and the winds never topped 17 there, but I can tell that the terrain and trees to our north and west break it up well, because the winds were howling at the tree top level, and barely stirring at ground level…so that explains why our gusts were so much lower than other folks. The ground is white in Blacksburg though…
Once I got to sleep, near 2 AM, I slept well. 31 degrees and snow on the ground and my pumpkin here in Hokieburg – whatever just didn’t blow away. No leaves left on the trees in my nearby forest. Power still on.
It looks like our part of Dublin has been spared. Doesn’t even seem like the lights so much as flickered here over night. I’m praying that the rest of these winds will pass us by. I’m grateful that I stood on my front porch and prayed last night!
Everyone stay safe! And how bout Snoe Shoe? They’ve been on the Weather Channel several times since last night. Crazy snow up there! I’ve got a friend in Norther Tazewell county that reported about 10 inches or so of snow last night and they were expecting more overnight.
31 degrees and 3-4″ snow near Marion.
Just saw comments about Brayden’s report of 1.5″…in more sheltered areas, there is at least 1″ of snow on the ground where I am, about a mile south of Brush Mt. west of 460. Living so close to Brush, we catch all the wind waves. The town needs to get their snow fence up soon on Prices Fork. Last year I think they thought they could do without it or perhaps for budget reasons but after a good snow, it finally went up. It really helps manage the drifts and blowing snow off of Brush from going into the road.
Kevin– No, we are inner city blacksburg. I did measure in the grass if that makes a difference. We have had a tone of blowing snow.. so maybe a drift? I’ll go measure one more time..
Brayden: I’ve seen some photos that corroborate the general idea of your report.
Just posted a picture of the measurement on twitter.