Snow wraps up after 1-2 inches in most locations
I’m planning to be off the blog Saturday. Will return Sunday to look to the week ahead.
Other than some overnight snow showers from upslope northwest flow over the mountains, the snow is just about over for Southwest Virginia. Here is a listing of amounts turned into the National Weather Service-Blacksburg — lots of 1-2-inch amounts, a few lower and higher. This one pretty much followed forecasts and modeling with few surprises, other than arriving and departing a couple hours earlier, and a little bit more northward advance of sleet and freezing rain in the counties closer to the North Carolina and Tennessee line. Spotty freezing drizzle may also be possible tonight, so care is urged on highways, already slickened in spots from today’s precipitation.
We’ll see some daytime melting over the weekend as highs climb above freezing, possibly as high as the low 40s, but lows will continue in the teens and 20s, so there will be nighttime re-freezing. There also may be some chance of freezing rain Sunday night as warmer air overrides the cold dome. A warmup next week may take us to near 60 by midweek, but cold air returns for late next week. There is also some winter storm potential late next week. Today wasn’t our last rodeo this winter.
January 25, 2013 - 4:52 PM
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Kevin, Is it truly snow over Hampton Roads/Va Beach area? Any ideas on totals in Norfolk/Va Beach? Pretty unusual event there. My dad and brother live there. I will ask them what they are seeing too.
Over 270 comments,today,Kevin…great job once again! Thanks for keeping us straight and giving the best weather ( and other) info on the interweb…
Bust again for us! Local METS said 2 inches and barely a flake. Thank God for the freak 2 inches the other night, guess the Forcefield is back.oh well, monster storm next Friday according to hype master DT! How many models are showing this storm? I know from CHO to DC is due for a good snow!
Yes, bryhyf1 it’s snowing in Hampton, VA since 3pm. About 2 inches now.
Jared, No snow for you! Just kidd’n. Hope you’ll get yours too next Friday
Jared: Your clipper snow two nights ago was pretty much an even trade for this one. You didnt get cheated this week.
Well, just made it in from Charleston. Wasn’t too bad. 460 from 77 to Montgomery county line was the worst part.
Everyone was right on target…we all generally got 1-2″. That’s what Kevin, WDBJ, Accuweather and even DT said. Now on to next weekend. The high today was only 23…AWESOME!!! Finally a high that was actually cold!
Jared most every forecast model showed a big ole snow hole over the Shenando.( like my rhyme) haha. Can’t really call it a bust IMO.
Had a little bit of snow early on this morning and then several hours of sleet. As you drive through Henry County the yards are almost completely clear but any hard pavement (sidewalks, driveways, roads) are completely frozen and very treacherous. Went out sledding for several hours with the kids and now will be looking for the Ibuprofen. It was actually a great event for sledding on the hill in the neighborhood. Thanks for all the hard work Kevin.
Jared-since DT is calling for a “monster” storm on 2/1, does that mean it might actually snow for more than 5 hours? Just curious what “monster” means?
Bryhyf1: Here’s an article on the snow in Hampton Roads
http://hamptonroads.com/2013/01/snow-hits-hampton-roads-time-commute-home
What is up with our neck of the woods? Just can’t get any decent precipitation, even all that rain a few weeks back when everyone was getting 4-6 inches we probably only got a few inches. What’s gotta happen for us to get a storm riding up the coast?
Blacksburg Mike,
I just looked on DT’s site and didn’t see a thing about a 2/1 “monster storm”! I am not doubting you by no means but where was it located. I looked and couldn’t find!
Two things for a good chuckle….
1. The Weather Channel named this tiny little winter system….KHAN! What a joke! DT called it something else but will not repeat on Keven’s family style blog.
2. The female meteorologist on channel 10 said, “the second major snowstorm to hit this season”! Ummmmm…since when is 1-2″ major. Too funny! I remember the good ol’ days when the entire newscast wasn’t devoted to an inch and a half of snow!!
IV John, I do know the feeling, as do several other folks here. For 3 days it looks like aqll I got done was open doors. The one on the back of the house that slides to bring wood in. The one on the stove to chuck wood in and the one on the fridge to get beer out of. Lotta door opening fer 3 days. As for you Jared, go to the coast and show them how to drive in a blizzard like they’re havin. Should mean less time for you to complain. I know the feelin about a busted forecast, but since I can’t do anything about it, I hush up. My rants are directed to the week out model readers that can’t read a third grade primer. Models should be mentioned one time and then banned until 24 hours before the storm is supposed to hit. There will always be a forecaster or two that nails it. The rest needs to take an enema.
The Alberta clipper that gave Jared a couple of inches of snow on Tuesday night is likely to become STRONGER THAN SANDY …
http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2013/0125/Monster-storm-expected-to-explode-in-Atlantic.-It-may-be-one-for-the-books
This is my first visit to the blog, and I really enjoyed reading everyone’s comments. I moved here a few years ago and yes, hailing from Colorado, this 1-3″ snowfall really was not very big to me. That said, it is all what you are used to, right? Regarding the TV stations, I give credit to 13 and 10 going out on a limb a couple of days out…as opposed to just giving a forecast of “several inches possible.” Seems like everyone the day before was pretty accurate, but those two stations seem to give specific (and very accurate) amounts days before the storm hits…same thing with last weeks storm.
NWS now reporting 1.5 for official snow at Roanoke and 1.9 at Blacksburg.
scott saunders #16…major snowstorm? Really?! Have we been that hard up for the last several years that they consider 1-2″ a MAJOR snow storm. Of course I’m guessing Jared my welcome 1-2″ right about now..tee hee
That is an interesting bit about the clipper Kevin. I am fascinated by storms of that magnitude. I am glad that it won’t threaten land though.
I was out driving in the 1.9″ of snow in Hokieburg and it was actually pretty treacherous. This snow sticks on the car tires. I would rate this one was more dangerous on the roads than the heavy wet one last week. I saw a few sliding cars – one was a Jeep! Students are generally not as skilled in this and if they have a 4-wheel drive they think they can drive like normal. The roads were not great at 4:15 but much better at 7:30 PM. I saw lots of students walking – good idea!
When I was checking WeatherBug on my phone I saw that Austin TX is 75, right now. *sigh*
Tina B.
Yep, that is how the meteorologist started her news cast at 7PM by stating…second major winter weather storm to hit this season. I respect her and her work, but thought 1-2″ is FAR FAR from a major winter weather event. I think the high of 23-degrees was more major than that! That being said, I hope the streets clear quickly and aren’t too bad but think too much coverage is being given now to tiny little snow systems.
Yes, it is snow in Hampton Roads…looks like similar 1-2″ amounts and isolated amounts around 3″. We finished with 1.9″ here at the house, with a 0.21″ liquid equivalent, which kind of surprised me a bit. Nice and fluffy compared to last week’s wet cement snow…much easier to clear. The drive home wasn’t so bad though, the main roads were in decent enough shape, but the side roads are completely snow/ice covered at the moment. We also did have some freezing drizzle to top it off as I shoveled everything, but not too much. Just enough to be visibly noticed on surfaces that lacked snow cover.
I saw on the NWS point and click forecast for Roanoke there is a 40%-50% chance of rain from Tues. night thru Thursday. Then there’s chatter online about a possible winter storm next Friday. I didn’t think next week had a chance of being THAT wet. What do you think Kevin.
Looks like a 3 day warmup Monday through Wednesday. Then cold comes back and hopefully there will finally be a snowstorm! Running out of time for this winter, and No the little surprise Wednesday night does not qualify for a snowstorm.
Pattern is volatile with wild temperature swings and wet storm systems likely.
Current HPC 7-day precip map has us near the 1-inch line with more just west.
http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/qpf/p168i.gif
Chicago got its first 1-inch snowfall today, 1.1 inch, which is the latest on the calendar Chicago has gotten its first 1-inch snow in a winter and is the second longest period at 335 days without a 1-inch snowfall.
And Roanoke and Blacksburg still managed to get more snow than Chicago today.
Strangeness for the Chicagoans. It’s always weird to see weather typical trends turned on their head by mother nature every so often…
Kevin, now that you can see the end of the month from here….do we finish above or below average for temperatures?
Currently 23 degrees (high temp for the day) in Goodview. We were just out riding around in the ‘hood..side streets nice and covered/slick. Looks like we received right at an inch.
Heading to Snowshoe Thursday night through Saturday..ish…looks cold..hoping for a storm too.
Lynchburg is tied with Chicago with 2.8″ of snow for the season. Roanoke and Blacksburg are ahead of them. When was the last time that happened this late in the season?
Roanoke’s going to finish above normal for January. Going into the coldest day of the year today — 23 high, 18 low — Roanoke was still 5.4 degrees above normal, and we’re going to have 3 or 4 well above-normal days next week.
If February is warm on the whole, the 2012-13 winter still has a shot at being WARMER than 2011-12, which was Roanoke’s second warmest in the past 101 years. Last winter was consistently mild; this winter has had extreme warmth periods that have been longer and more extreme than the below-normal periods.
Doubt it ever has, Donnie.
But Blacksburg did finally vault ahead of that winter capital Little Rock today, now up to 11.6 inches (11.0 purely winter, with .6 during Sandy in October) to Little Rock’s 10.6. Roanoke (5.3) and Lynchburg (2.8) still pale.
I remember 2004-2005 when Roanoke trailed Victoria, Texas, (deep south Texas!) in total snowfall until Feb. 28!
We got about 1.5 inches in SW Roanoke. My wife and I are Arizona transplants so any amount is exciting for us. Roads are not all that bad this evening. Much better than last weeks storm. Hope to see some more before spring gets here.
Heat wave up here in the mountains. Its up to 30º and rising. Temp was 21º at 7 p.m. and 15º at 3 p.m.
GREAT NEWS, Johnny near KHLX!! Crazy old bearded letter carrier will be driving past your town about 9:15 tomorrow morn.
Scott Saunders-Jared said that DT is advertising a “monster” storm for 2/1. I quit going to DT’s site a while back for two reasons: it is probably the most cumbersome/difficult site to navigate I have ever seen, and more importantly, I finally realized he was more hype than substance.
There was one BUST today by the forecasters. They were not anywhere close on high temps, as highs were about 9 degrees below forecast, and now they are following it up by insisting the temps will drop tonight. The temps are NOT dropping, but rising, and look to continue to do so through the overnight hours.
DT primarily uses Facebook to post updates nowadays. I refuse to take him seriously again until he puts Roanoke in the right place on his map.
Another thought: If we are going to get a big ‘un this season, it will probabbly happen in the next three to four weeks. While you can never rule out March, the pattern looks ripe right now.
Just went back outside for a short walk. Not sure the trucks can do very much with residential areas. Nothing to really scrape since the roads are just completely frozen solid with sleet and freezing rain.
Brandon, the best thing about him putting Roanoke in the wrong place on the map is that he regularly blasts people on his Facebook for not being able to find exactly where they are on his precipitation maps.
Here in Dublin the Temp. is now 32 degree ? What is going on?
I had noticed that our temps are going up also. It is up to 27 here at FCX Doppler. There is a slight breeze out there tonight so now I am concerned about this snow being blown into drifts. Ugh!
Got the same thing going on as Johnny near KHLX. Temp here has shot up to 35 degrees. I am fine with that!
So we can’t bash Robin Reed but bash Dave Tolleris all you want! Nice!
I measured 2 & 1/2 inches here today. A decent little snow
Jennifer: Exactly. Anyone taking a cursory glance at it probably isn’t going to notice the mistake. He even got me confused with his forecast for this latest event.
Scott Mewborn: Not bashing DT. Think he’s really good at what he does. But the map thing is annoying.
Sorry.
Kevin…
I remember vividly that event in South Texas..
I was working flights in and out of McAllen..
We had a hard freeze that lasted 2 or 3 days with
black ice. There was no way to get it off the aircraft
nor even the paved surfaces. We had to wait for nature
to take its course.
I found myself planning flights based on when i thought the
paved surfaces would get warm enough to let go of the ice.
Scott: The Robin Reed debate carried on for 2 days and practically took over the blog. Everything that could possibly be expressed pro or con about Robin Reed was covered repeatedly, ad nauseam. I didn’t enact a permanent ban on discussing Robin Reed … just said we needed to give it a few days rest from that particular debate that was starting to get nasty not just about him but at each other.
The Dave Tolleris discussion has been more intermittent and generally limited to his forecasts and weather presentation. The Robin Reed discussion degenerated into personal judgments about his character and competence. The worst thing I’ve seen on here today about DT is that he has Roanoke in the wrong place on his map (which is true) and that his forecasts are more hype than substance (which is a commenter’s opinion of his weather presentation).
So here’s the policy from now on, across the board: Discussion about forecasters on here will be limited to their forecasts and media presentation. I WILL NOT accept or approve comments for post that question their character or competence. It will be OK to say that Forecaster X blew a forecast or their web site is too complicated or they hype too much or undercut snow forecasts too much, but NOT to call anyone a fraud or incompetent or an unsavory person.
And I always reserve the right to stop a debate that has just gone on too long and is just tilling old ground or is starting to get nasty. Or just because I’m tired of it.
The reason Robin Reed gets bashed is because most of us snow loving wishcasters get frustrated by his almost always accurate low ball predictions, while we (used to at least) get hopeful and excited by the hypemaster DT. Bottom line: Robin Reed is usually correct (like it or not), and DT is rarely correct (when it comes to nailing down snow totals, at least).
What exactly is the all the excitement about for next weekend?
Next weekend, it appears from many indications that the polar vortex MAY be favorably aligned in a manner that energy undercutting it MIGHT be able to trigger a large-scale winter storm system in the Gulf, South or Southeast, either riding up the coast or moving out to sea. Yesterday’s European model very clearly depicted a low developing and doing exactly that; today’s, not as specifically, but the pattern appears to have some potential for developing a low somewhere across the South that could throw moisture into cold air at our latitude.
That’s the general idea. Not sure I would call it “excitement” yet … just potential.
Wow, now 24 at Roanoke Regional and 34 at VT Airport. Don’t see a +10 temp discrepancy in Blacksburg’s favor very often. This post-storm warm-air advection continues to do its trick.
I’m taking a blog holiday on Saturday. It literally is a holiday for me … it’s New Year’s Day. In the newspaper biz, we sometimes don’t get to take our holidays until sometime later. So I plan to be on here exceedingly little myself … but I may post some comments from time to time.
Since we are about to close out Jan next week
thought itd be interesting to post this since
its been a relatively warm winter so far in most
of the country.
Keep in mind this piece is almost 2 yeaars old..
but its interesting to look at in a statistical sense
I think.
http://www.worldclimatereport.com/index.php/2011/03/01/coldest-back-to-back-us-winters-in-a-quarter-century/
Happy New Year’s Kevin!
30* here on a nice-looking morning. The Virginia 511 website shows green lines (i.e., no traffic nor road condition problems) for both I-81 and I-77 between ROA and the NC line just south of you-know-where, so Fancy Gap here I come. Take care, all. And have a great week.
Don’t worry (or DO WORRY, depending on your opinion of me in general LOL), I plan on checking in here from time to time.
Oh, if any of you feel like eating your words — whether privately or here — for having missed your snowcast prediction for yesterday’s event, I know how to contact Meals on Wheels. They can bring you as much Splenda and maple syrup as you want ….. they helped me last Monday and on a few other occasions.
What’s causing the snow here in Greene this morning? Really light and fluffy,but not enough to accumulate.
“Or just because I’m tired of it”…hahahaha. That cracked me up,Kevin. Nice way to sum it up when someone asks you,”but why?”.
For the second night out of the last three, I had that overnight warming experience too. In the Windsor Hills section of SW Roanoke City (elevation 1050), my temp went from 22 at 10 PM to 29 by 7 AM. Even though the wind picked up, it was still noticeably warmer around dawn.
We did get a light dusting of snow on Friday. Looks like there was a little more down near Charlottesville but that was in line with what the NOAA forecasters predicted from Thursday afternoon throughout the day yesterday. They never did post a WWA and it really wasn’t required. Not sure what the local TV mets predicted. Not sure if any of them do anything more than read the forecast off the internet anyway.
We’ve actually had a few waves of flurries push through this morning. Nothing to get worked up about but it was neat to look out the window and see them coming down. They were not forecast but goes to show what little it takes to get a few flakes flying if you have solid cold air in place and a small disturbance forms and pushes through.
Work had me traveling to Erie, PA this past monday as a up and back trip in one day. Now me being the smart(raising eyebrow) person that I am pulled out my overnight bag just in case the weather was bad since they were calling for lake effect snow that day.
But then i said to myself..”Self, you know they deal with snow all the time up there and there is no way you are not going to be able to fly out of there this evening.” …..So I didn’t pack my bag.
It was snowing when I landed in Erie, but during the day it was really snowing, I mean freaking sideways all day long. The term ‘lake effect snows’ has a new meaning for me. But the coolest thing is no one is bothered by it, they drive just fine on the roads, plow the parking lots, nothing was closing down.
Kept checking my flight status online for return ROA……on time, on time, on time; co-worker(who was scheduled to stay 2 days) takes me back to airport, go in terminal, ‘FLIGHT CANCELED’;well off to the hotel I go, no overnight bag(note to self-always take overnight bag)……….I survived though especially pleased for the whole experience when the news the next day says that the 16.5 inch snowfall was the most ever recorded for a single day in Erie PA
One thing we’ve been overlooking lately with all the rain/snow storms in the last two weeks is the dent they’ve put in the drought. Smith Mountain Lake is full pond or above, and a big majority of our region is out of drought now, with exception of the Allegheny Highlands. http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/DM_state.htm?VA,SE
Frosty the Snowman – who would ever guess that both Blacksburg and Roanoke have recorded more snow in one day than Erie, PA? Incredible and interesting fact.
Matt brings up a good point. I also noticed that the NWS is concerned about potential flooding this week. They mentioned it in their Hazardous Weather Outlook.
http://forecast.weather.gov/showsigwx.php?warnzone=VAZ022&warncounty=VAC770&firewxzone=VAZ022&local_place1=&product1=Hazardous+Weather+Outlook
MODERATE TO HEAVY RAIN WILL BE POSSIBLE DURING MID-WEEK NEXT WEEK IN
ADVANCE OF A STRONG COLD FRONT SLATED TO MOVE THROUGH THE REGION.
WITH SATURATED GROUND FROM RECENT RAINFALL AND SNOWFALL…AT LEAST
MINOR RIVER FLOODING CAN BE ANTICIPATED.
I enjoyed reading your comment about your travel to the NW corner of PENN, Frosty. Very interesting. The mistakes we make in life are (or at least should be) the ones we remember most, and never make again. But it is best when we can learn from somebody else’s boo-boo.
You went to a much colder, snowier place, FTS. I had the exact opposite experience today. It was in the upper 20s throughout my drive through SW Virginia, and it was only 28* at the top of the huge downgrade near Fancy Gap. Got a nice surprise when I made a pit stop at the NC rest area right at the border …. 34*. I thought to myself, hey great, that is the end of the sub-freezing temps. WRONG! As soon as I got back on I-77, temp dropped right back to 32 and fell all the way to 28 and even 27 briefly near Jonesville and Elkins, NC (25 miles into NC). STAYED at 32 or lower the entire way through NC (even though it was after 9:30 and even 10 AM) until the northern outskirts of Charlotte. Finally reached 36 the last few miles in NC and Rock Hill, SC. But then the sun came out and it was 52 in Colunmbia, low 60s when I stopped for lunch in Orangeburg, SC, and 72 the last few miles in SC and throughout Georgia. I am staying in Brunswick, GA, about 35 miles north of the FLA border. So I (well, OK, MY CAR) experienced a 45* temp swing today.
Just saw a local TV (Jacksonville station) forecast for the week ahead, and I perhaps should have brought something that I left home …. shorts. High of 81 they claim for Wednesday. Guess I will play in the morning that day.
I will be posting new this evening to note the freezing rain risk in the region for Sunday night/early Monday. I want to do that now since it could pose some problems, and I will continue to be on and off the blog on Sunday.
Angela, I heartily endorse your comment, especially the hahahaha, at 8:28 AM. I was one of the offenders, and used a word in the heat of “battle” that I should not have. I have already apologized to KM. Here is an apology for everyone else who thought I owed one for the use of that single word.
I noticed something about that warming trend overnight. Based on the 5 or 6 locations I looked at and read about here (thanks, Bburg Mike, for pointing that out yesterday evening), the ones that had some warming were all west of the Blue Ridge: Blacksburg, Hillsville, Fancy Gap (that village is just west of the BR) and later on Roanoke. Sam O and I (at least) both had warmer temps in the ROA valley in early morning than late evening. But I also checked on Mount Airy, NC, and it was 25 this early morning, so I doubt that it had warmed up overnight.