SW Va on the outside looking in
As expected, for the Roanoke and New River valleys southward, this is someone else’s winter storm, our region only catching an edge of it or practically nothing, depending on where you are. Snow is slamming much of central, northern and eastern Virginia today, with reports topping a foot in parts of the Shenandoah Valley and where Interstate 64 crosses the Blue Ridge. How that makes you feel depends on your feelings about snow. To hard core snow fans, this is a pretty bitter pill, missing out on the season’s sole shot at a “big’un” by what amounts to mere inches on the scale of global weather. To those who don’t like snow, this is a huge relief. I can see both sides of it as a weather blogger. We don’t have to deal with massive power outages and paralyzed travel today. At my location, the 2 1/2 inches of snow that fell last night and early this morning was beautiful and more than sufficient for play in with my 3-year-old son on my birthday (largest birthday snow ever in 4 decades-plus) without all the trouble of a huge storm. But for anyone with meteorological interest like mine, there is a certain desire to be in the middle of the big event, too. And my snowshoes haven’t gotten good use in 3 years.
We’ll warm up for the weekend, with some 60s possible, but I can’t honestly tell you that spring is moving in for good. It looks like there will be another shot of unseasonably cold air next week that may settle in for a while. I can’t even tell you for sure this will absolutely be the last shot at snow, though as the calendar moves deeper into March, the setup required to trigger one locally leaves less and less room for error. From what I’m hearing, I think most people in our region, snow lovers and haters alike, are ready for spring.
March 6, 2013 - 11:36 AM
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Happy birthday!
Thanks for keeping us so well-informed. Your tireless vigilance does not go unnoticed!
Kevin, you’re THE man! Happiest of birthdays!
Have a gooden. I’m in the spring camp right along with most everybody else, but I know better than to discount March.
My snow shoes are hanging on the side of the barn for decoration but I did break out my cross country skis and took spin around the field and along the woods just to say I did, although the heavy wet snow stuck to the bottoms and prevented nice sliding action. Mike in Marshall, enjoy your snow while you can-I’m thinking this is the last hurrah for old man winter here. Better luck next year!
Didn’t know it was your birthday, Kevin! Have a great day!
Haven`t had time to post for a while as i was cooking breakfast for my family and watching it snow.Still pouring here , between 10-12 inches now as it keeps compacting as it snows. Hard to get a precise measurement.Had whiteout conditions at times.Gonna try and get out later to the store.
Happy Birthday! I for one hope this is the last snow of this winter season. Time for spring and summer and warm temps and sunshine so I can break out the shorts and short sleeve shirts!
Brian in Botetourt-1129 ft
Happy Birthday, Kevin! After dealing with this winter you’ve got to be feeling at least a year older!
Happy Birthday, Kevin! May the Best, Finest, and Happiest be yours!
Looking at radar before going in to work..
Looks like the last arm of precip in the Lynchburg
area swept about over the Hales Ford area
on the border of Franklin and Bedford Co’s..
Anyone out there to verify?
ps…I think there might be one more shot at psbl
snow…another system coming in from southern
Miss Valley/Tenn a bit down the road..
Watch for discussions for around 12 Mar timeframe.
Quags,
I like that noaa link you posted on last thread. nice options for the map. Thanks.
Happy Birthday, Kevin! Many happy returns!
Got a good wet snow….power out around 7:30 a.m. just came back on around 12:55 p.m. shoveled the walk and driveway…just as I got in house ..a snowplow came down the street and closed off my driveway…oh well, I don’t have anywhere to go and I can shovel it out again tomorrow….As long as I’ve got power and my computer I’m a happy geezer..
What a miss! Very disgruntled snow lover here. Quite disappointed. Only a dusting outside the house this morning. All melted 3 hours ago. One thing I’m happy about is that at least this March has been below normal or average. I was getting really tired of Marches that were unseasonably warm. March 2011 and March 2012 were just too warm. Allergies were miserable. So I’ll welcome that cold snap next week!
I still hold out hope for one more snow! Would be nice if SW VA got a good one since it missed us. Any hope for an overrunning event? Coastal storms seem to disappoint us more than deliver. Seemed like things were so right for this one to develop here…didn’t really do so.
Seems crazy that I’m still wanting/hoping for snow but it’s March in SW VA! You never know what to expect…for instance March 30, 2003. Or even Easter Sunday April 2007. Also, while this didn’t deliver, it could’ve have been a significant snow: March 26, 2011. Griggs, or anyone else remember? Lots of moisture. Looked great for 4-8 inches widespread but the Gulf t-storms stole our moisture! Talk about bitter pill to swallow! That was also after a strange winter of 2010-2011.
The fact that it is 60 next week doesn’t totally dash my snow hopes…76 on March 29, 2003. A week of 70s and 80s prior to the busted March 26, 2011 event. Blast furnace March 2007 for the mini April 2007 event.
Happy birthday Kevin! Mine is on the 22nd. Not much snow has happened on my birthday. Only 1.5 inches on March 22, 2004. Might have been a mini one on my birthday around 2002 or 2001. And March 22, 2010 had a light wintry mix. And 2006 possibly. The last two birthdays though have been awful heat waves!
Our heavy wet snow turned to rain and now it looks like we are done even though noaa is calling for more snow this afternoon and evening.
Got to use the snowblower for first time in awhile and the power is back on.
Nick, I too have the 22nd as my birthday. I remember one year we had not had a lot of snow so when asked what I wanted for my birthday, I said “I want 20 inches of snow”. The day before March 21, we got 19 inches of snow in Christiansburg. I have been trying to figure what year it was – may have been the early 80′s. The Man of the House has warned me to not ask for snow again for my birthday so keeping my mouth shut. In 1978, on April 26, my son’s first birthday, Christiansburg had 10 inches of snow. Our peas were at least 9 inches high in the garden.
Joe, I’m 5 miles from the Hales Ford area in Franklin County, and haven’t seen a flake of snow all day. Had about half an inch on the ground this morning, but it’s all gone. Maybe the bridge was the dividing line! To all the disgruntled snow fans… take a day trip up to Snowshoe…. don’t even plan on skiing, just go walk around the bars, shops, etc, and I promise you’ll get your snow fix!
Still hammering hard at Rancho De Quago now up to 6″ and now 32 with a NNW wind of 25 gusting to 36 mph and still no power. At least the iphone still works.
In the end…looks like the Euro may have called it right from the get go for the most part. Looks like we are going to be in the heavier bands another 3-4 hours.
As cold/cool and wet as this year has started I would not be surprised to have an early spring shot at another round of snow.It was some years back we had a early spring snow that broke down a lot of the pear trees in the valley that had already bloomed out.
Kevin do you have the date of the last time Roanoke had a measurable snow fall after the 15th of March?
It’s not uncommon in these heavy wet snow situations for the outer fringe to change back to rain. The surface air gets a little warmer just outside where it’s not snowing and that works into the edge of the precipitation shield.
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I’ve pretty much had my fill of heavy wet snow this winter. Totalled a little more than a foot of it in 3 storms. This, I think, was the wettest snow of the three (6 1/2 inches on Jan. 17, 4 1/2 inches on Feb. 6-7, 2 1/2 inches this morning). Only the 1 1/2 (everything was something and a half) I got on Jan. 25 was powdery. This one, I think, was the wettest of all. Kind you stepped in and there was a muddy footprint underneath.
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Topped out at just over 8 inches here in cville. Some of the pics on Wintergreens website are crazy. Still no power and the snow is rapidly melting. Basically a sloshy mess. Roads are mostly clear already….basically 6 hours of fun…now I’m ready for spring.
Snow? What snow? If you blinked here in NRV, you might have missed it. The piddly bit that fell last night is gone – no trace but a vendor I work with said Richmond is pretty much paralyzed. He said it was different amounts in different parts of the city. West of I-95 got anywhere from 1-2″ to 4-6″. Crazy!
Happy Birthday Kevin!!! See ya next winter!!!!!
OK…I have 3 locales to report all varying greatly. In Fincastle/Daleville locale where I live, I measured about 4.5″ in the grass. A good friend of mine who works in the RRA Weather Tower said the official RRA amount was 2.5″. He drives down here from Waynesboro 3 times a week and his wife told him on the phone they received a solid foot in the Waynesboro/Staunton/Fishersville locales. He picked me up in his 4-wheel drive vehicle as we went to eat at Longhorn Steakhouse because he was spending the night at his dad’s in Vinton, whom only received a dusting and was amazed what we had up here in my own yard. Our driveway was just plowed by a generous neighbor and all is good! Point is…amounts varied from a dusting in Vinton to over a foot in Waynesboro! So goes another late winter day for SW Virginia! I guess Roanoke’s total for the winter is about 12″ now isn’t it Kevin, with this extra 2.5″ added to the 9.5.
Still out of power out here throughout Lexington. Only the traffic lights on Rt 11 N are working as of 1pm.
Doppler Carol, you must speak up and ask for snow! “The Man of the House” should not ruin it for the rest of us
Are you nuts?! On April 26, 1978, there was 10 inches of snow in Christiansburg? That is crazy! That must have been the perfect setup. That’s a time of year where it can also hit 90 on that day. Incredible. Kevin, you have any info on April 26, 1978?
I think it’s finally over here in the central Shenandoah Valley. Melting and packing down fast. Rt 11 has been pretty much clear through Verona most of the day even though there’s at least 18″ in my yard and driveway. Fun stuff to shovel.
I’m tickled with my measly 4″ of snow, which caused no traffic problems, no downed trees, no power outages and no grief. You rather swap places with some of the folks on up the valley? We can’t have it both ways. Hope this is it but know better. 36.5* and dropping and ice would be a bigger problem than the snow except most roads had no snow on them. Black ice will still be a concern in the AM tho.
Happy birthday, Blog Meister Myatt!
Bring on spring!
Doppler Carol ain’t crazy. The April 26, ’78 snow was for real. I went up to Mountain Lake the next day and there was at least 18″ of fresh up there! It was my first XC ski experience, so it’s pretty well burnt into my memory’s ‘hard-drive’! Living in CA now, gotta drive 4 hours to play in the snow. When I was living in Newport I read Kevin’s weather columns religiously, so I still click on the bookmark when I see interesting weather going on back East. Kevin, you’ve got meteorological skills!
Happy birthday Kevin! I’m a March baby too!!
I am a snow-loving gal, but even I was hoping that this storm would be a minor one. We have had several episodes this winter where we have lost power, and that’s too much like roughing it. Yay for just enough! The snow was lovely this morning with white and crystal trees. It’s all gone now with the occasional wind gust. (That will be the most detailed weather info you’ll ever read from me as I’m superficially knowledgeable.)
The day off from school (Roanoke County) was worth it to play catch-up and to give my sick child a day off to fully recover.
Yes, I’m a longtime lurker and this is my first time commenting.
Hope you have a happy-filled day with you and yours, Mr. Myatt.
Looks to me like the low is slowly moving southeast instead of up the coast. This is what the Euro had been showing for a week. It missed on some of the details (Roanoke didn’t get anywhere close to a foot), but if this trend continues and it doesn’t move up the coast, it’s going to be a major win for this model.
the low sat on us most of the morning in the Hampton Roads area. now windy with fog and heavy mist. looks like the biggest forecast miss was D.C. where the feds shut down for the day (doesn’t take much to do that) and it has been raining most of the day. Dulles got an early shot of snow, but roads remained clear all day. modern miracle of traffic cams has let me keep an eye on most of the state through last night and today. Happy birthday Matt. Can we declare the drought over for all of VA?
Still snowing big flakes but not heavy now.Total acculation 12 inches.Finally got the big one.First one in 3 years.Temp warming up, 34 now.And yes Original Sandy i really enjoyed this snow.Now i have to go out and shovel.
Next time we get a “big’un” in our neck of the woods down here — and there will be a next time, in a year or a decade or something more or something less — I hope it is 15-25 degrees outside with extremely cold air aloft so we can have a dry powdery snow that doesn’t do this number on trees and power lines. 3 feet of dry powdery snow doesn’t have the negative impact on trees and power lines of even 6 inches of heavy wet snow.
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In the “fun” department, wet snows are better for snowballs and snow men but dry snows are better for almost all forms of winter weather recreation like skiing and snowshoeing. We’re all impressed seeing those half-dollar-size snow clumps coming down, but it’s a blinding, blowing fog of those tiny, exquisite snow crystals that really piles up.
Seeing quite a bit of Internet chatter about how the storm was a huge bust for D.C. proper, minimal accumulation and wet streets. Picks up fast west of town, but 6+ was forecast.
That 1978 snow is something a former coworker of mine mentioned years ago. He said he and his wife were on a vacation in Daytona, when they turned on the TV to see video of downtown Pulaski buried in snow, with trees toppled from the weight of the snow. He worked for VDOT then doing maintenance, and his coworkers at the time had a real mess of a time…the snow was a real surprise, and the tree damage alone took a long while to clean up.
So, which model won the guess casting this time?
The GFS, Euro and NAM converged pretty close to the final solution on the overall low development and placement of the precip field in the final 36 hours. Each missed some signficiant local details.
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Somebody smarter than me about such things will be doing detailed analysis and writing lengthy technical papers on this subject.
This winter/spring just feels deep down like one that’s going to try do some kind of wintry craziness again.
No more wintery weather. It had better not throw us a snow/iceball. I’ve got lettuce, radishes, spinach, and potatoes to get in the ground before the moon completely wanes.
Large amounts of snow tend to overshadow other aspects of East Coast cyclones, but the coastal flooding aspect is getting pretty serious, especially as it is affecting areas already battered by Sandy. Highway 12 is closed through the Outer Banks again.
The 1978 storm also coincided with the third highest stage of the Roanoke River on record, 18.95 feet, exceeded only by 23.35 in 1985 (Juan) and 19.61 in 1972 (Agnes). Would be interesting to look into that more.
Overwash around Salvo again. They are just slow learners down there and only prolonging the inevitable. Man was not intended to build permanent structures on an outer banks strip of sand. History has proved that point.
Happy Birthday Kevin. Great job as always keeping everyone informed and reasonably in line.
Well, I said 2-3 inches for Roanoke on Tuesday … and the official total clocked in at 2.5 inches.
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But also said 2-3 inches for Blacksburg … and the official total there clocked in at a whopping 0.4. Barring 0.6 in a random upslope squall, snow meter busts there yet AGAIN.
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Still, Blacksburg quadrupled the total for Reagan National Airport in D.C., where 0.1 snow accumulated, and 6+ forecast.
Rain here. Happy Birthday Kevin
It’s a rare occasion when RRA gets more snow than B’Burg. Was a good call.
KM – comment #38. This was a colossal bust for the DC metro. The offical forecast was not merely 6″+, it was a whopping 8″-12″ per the NWS-Sterling as recently at 9am this morning. Reagan National only came it a 0.1″, heck, Blacksburg got more than that. But, I never bought into ANYONE along I-95 getting alot of snow, and basically when you nail it down, all the significant 12″ plus snow was confined to Bath, Highland, Rockbridge (northern), Augusta, and Rockingham, all west of the beautiful Blue Ridge.
With a few excpetions to my comment above, Jared French, where are you? NWS-Sterling is reporting 19″ in Lydia, Route 33, Greene Co. Congratulations on being in the 1-2 foot bullseye! I am sure you are loving it!
And now it’s happened twice in the same winter … 4.5 ROA to 0.8 Blacksburg on Feb. 6-7. That stat alone points to what an oddball winter this has been.
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Been here 13 winters and this one is the weirdest. Every storm system with any wintry precip had some element of weirdness — except for Jan. 25, and it was actually weird in the sense that it almost perfectly followed forecasts for 1-2 inches of snow and no discernible oddities.
Best I could keep up with it, this snow puts me up to around 20″, probably give an inch or so, so not far off the average.
Bedford officially ends up with more snow than Blacksburg,Roanoke and Lynchburg after the Coop station measured 4.5″ of snow this morning. However you had to live about 3 miles north of the City limits to get that much. In the city it was mostly 1 to 2 inches of snow. Another strange storm in the strangest winter I can remember.
Kevin, look at the temps for that snow. Wasn’t any ifs,ands or buts with that one. And, that’s been the ONLY one this year that acted like it should.
I was surprised a bit that there were so many 1-2 foot totals in the Shenandoah Valley. Was thinking an 8-12 type snow with a few 12-18s. Not too surprised about the DC bust, though I thought they’d get more like 3-5 inches. Western suburbs still got up to 8 inches. Warm air advection off the warmer than normal East Coast waters not accounted for well by models or human forecasters.
Roanoke Valley totals weren’t nearly as uniform as Feb. 6-7. Ranged from less than an inch to 4 inches. Elevation and urban development were a big key to the patterns. Heaviest amounts were generally in the northern and northwestern fringe of the county, and then also in higher elevations just south and southwest. And it started melting early, especially lower elevations, when the sun popped out.
Agreed, wd, if you’re talking about Jan. 25, the only event the entire winter with well-below-freezing temperatures locked in. That was the major issue this winter. We got lots of bursts of cold, but the pattern wouldn’t lock it in for more than about 3 days. We ended up with lots of retreating wedges rather than strong cold-air damming setups.
Hey Blacksburg Mike i had 12 inches here in Marshall and i`m on the east side of the Blue Ridge with an elevation of only 700 ft.Only about 45 miles northwest of D.C..Started out all snow,but ended as as mix of rain and snow.Was outside shoveling for an hour.Biggest snow here since the winter of 09-10.
Front Royal had more snow than i did as there on the west side of the Blue Ridge.They came in with 14 inches.But i will take a foot any day.Temp here at 35 now the warmest its been all day.And snow is melting here.
Jared how much snow did you get down there in Greene County?Are you happy now or do you still want more?
Happy birthday, Kevin! Looking forward to spring but would love to see another surprise snow!
Mike in Marshall – thanks for the update. You are only about 10 miles east of the Blue Ridge, and certainly were helped out by your elevation, compared to your neighbors to the east who are standing in puddles. I think we all need to hear from Jared – to verify the 19″ report coming out of Lydia, Greene Co. Jared, what can you confirm 19″ in Greene?
Happy Birthday Kevin! Thanks for all your hard work and keeping us informed with the latest and greatest of weather details!
Btw Kevin, think we’ll see some good thunderstorms this spring? I’d love to see some, nothing shouts springs like huge downpours, a vivid bolt of lightning, and the nice crackling sound of thunder!
Well the 1-2″ here in Washington Co did not melt. Temps stayed below freezing all day and there is a lite mist of snow/sleet/drizzle now falling. These clouds, cold and snizzle are part of our usual upslope event in far SW VA. Schools are already on delay for tomorrow and I suspect they may close if we get black ice tonight. We called off Church tonight for that same reason. Just sitting by the fire and enjoying the rest.
Happy Birthday Kevin. You are by far the best weather blogger in the business. Also, I know you do not take credit for predictions but you do a lot better than some who do it for a living.
Ended up with about 4-5 inches of slop here in my part of Greene! Didn’t get much snow and to add insult to injury the power has been out all day and still is.
Glad I was not home to witness the big DC snow bust! It would have been too much for me to handle given the 8 other near misses and paltry 2″ for the winter. Now I will look forward to spring and MY FURLOUGH!!
Speaking of oddities, was there more than the usual thunder snow this winter? Seems like just about every system that came through someone was reporting it.
Trevar: I have had that exact same thought.
I am blessed by all the compliments and the happy birthday wishes. It got brought up in the last thread, so I mentioned it myself on this blog entry.
You are kidding me Jared…you got as much as I did in Fincastle…a good 4-5″. I thought you were gonna get clobbered with at least a foot. The snow god’s must have issues with Greene County this winter. I hope WE ALL have better luck for winter 2013-2014!!
Would anyone have ever guessed beforehand that Roanoke would get D.C.’s snow (as measured at Reagan National) multiplied by 25 in this storm?
Ended up with 6 1/8 inches at Rancho De Quago in eastern Goochland County. It has been really windy here since about 2.
Here’s the link from the NWS Sterling Office Snow Map Public Information Statement concerning snowfall totals
http://www.erh.noaa.gov/lwx/events/snowmaps/
Also this is a link to a radar loop from the Wakefield NWS Radar courtesy of COD Meteorology. Clearly you can see the storm and low shifted to an eventual southeasterly track . This also explains and shows the heavier convective activity that we had with all the thunder/lightning/heavy rain before the change to heavy thundersnow that last thru the morning here. Enjoy.
http://climate.cod.edu/flanis/nexrad.php?type=AKQ-N0Q-1-200
Bazaar storm for a bazaar winter. I don’t think it’s over either. With this oddball winter wearing down it wouldn’t be a shocker to see some April snow regionally.
Jared – are you sure you live in Greene Co.? How do you only have 4-5″ of “slop”, when the folks all around you, in the same very small county, are reporting up to 19″ and many reports of 12″ plus? KM-do you think alot of these totals are just pure bunk? Also, I just saw Carl Parker report on TWC about 30 minutes ago that Harrisonburg, VA had 29″. That’s not true! Just goes to show that people tend to send in whatever snow measurements they feel like. I guess it makes them feel better to report more snow than they actually received.
Happy Birthday Kevin. I am ready for spring too however, I have seen it snow a couple of inches on April 7, 2007 in Hampton, VA so snow is still possible. I hope we don’t have long term heat starting so early in the spring and, that we have moderate rainfall on a regular basis throughout. Just want a normal spring and a mild summer.
Jared i was watching the radar all day on Capital Weather gang and it was dark blue for heavy snow over Greene County all day.It looked like you got clobbered on radar at least.
I know, heavy totals all around me! I am in a small valley running along the blue ridge, so my guess is warmth got trapped and the snow just never added up for me. Go a few miles either way and folks had over a foot! Blows my mind, I’m ready for spring to heck with winter!
Charlottesville got about 14 inches and have family there that lost power for about 5 hours. Kevin Happy Birthday! I know colder temps are coming. When will they be here and what are the highs going to be in the daytime? 40′s? How long to you think the colder weather will last? Love to see one more decent snow before it warms up to much and trees start budding.
I say we all wish for spring…that way, maybe we can get something from Murphy’s law or reverse psychology and get the big’un on March 12th. I am personally ready for my pontoon on SML and canoeing and kayaking on our rivers here in Franklin County and also on the James and Smith Rivers. Also, for what it’s worth, I’m a diehard ECMWF fan and pretty much discount the GFS after this winter. Our Gov’t HAS to do something about our model (yes it had rare hits, but was far and away inferior to the Euro).
As weird as this winter’s events played out, I was happy just to have as many as we did compared to the ’11-’12 season. I think we’ll have 1 or 2 more borderline events to follow before I have to put away the ice melt and shovels. Looking forward to this weekend’s warmth.
DC getting nearly shutout really surprised me. It looked like they would get 6+ inches of snow. Who would have thought Richmond would get snow while DC struggled with rain/snow mix?
While this may have been a quirky winter (and a frustrating one for snow lovers like me), it has provided much needed rainfall and we are pretty much out of our drought situation. So in that regard it has been a great winter. And it looks like more rain on the way early next week. Still can’t help thinking that there’s one more quirk left before spring really arrives.
Also hard to believe next Wednesday is the 20 year anniversary of the 93 snowstorm.
Happy Birthday Kevin:-) Hope you had a fun filled day.
April 14th or 15th, (not sure which day it was) 2004 I closed on my house. The attorneys office was in Christiansburg, When I walked into the office there were flurries. When I walked out, it looked like a blizzard had hit. It didn’t last long because I remember going into the house that week, opening all the windows and cleaned. I don’t discount March or April becasue you never know what mother nature is going to throw at you.
Any snow of the horizon?
Jared, I’m not surprised that you were shafted. I remember this happening time after time when I lived there. I was looking at radar returns today and noticed the slush ball hole developing over the foot of the ridge north of Stanardsville. I suspect you live up South River or Middle River. That being said, back in 1995, this same area was destroyed by up to 23″ of rain in 12 hours while it was sunny in Ruckersville only 8 miles away.
Some upslope snow tonight/Thursday and next week after the cold front is about all I see out there right now.
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The deeper we get on the calendar now, the fewer corners the pattern can cut to make it snow. Even this setup was lacking quite a few things — chiefly, a well-placed high to push in deeper Arctic air. Repeat this exact setup in 2 weeks and the snow area is smaller, not as deep over as wide an area, mixed with more rain in more places, and even more elevation based. Yes, it can snow in mid to late March and even deep into April, but it takes more and more to be just perfect the farther we go along.
Random thought… has there ever been a Blizzard Warning for our area?
Has not happened on a widespread basis since I came in 1999, Matt. A few counties in the mountains have had them for local setups. But I do think they were issued widely with the 1993 Superstorm.
GFS hinting at something around the 23rd…so I don’t think we done yet either
I’m baaaaaack. Computer was down all day, but the person in this household who knows something about how compukers work just came home and solved the problem while she was on the phone with Cox.
Vice Chairman, that was absolutely brilliant what you said about Kiki Dee and “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart,” which is one of my alltime favorite songs and was a duet with none other than Reginald Keith Dwight. I was so happy that the snowfall was nothing more than a nuisance both here (about 3/4 inch of frozen chowder in my driveway this A.M.) and in my zip code (an inch), that I was humming Kiki’s other huge hit, “I’ve Got the Music in Me!”
Meanwhile, lots of forecasters, both professional and otherewise, got turned into donkeys today. Been there, done that many times before and I am sure that I will be braying many times in the future, too.
More in separate comment.
Snow lover here, but we got about an inch and it’s pretty much gone. I would be OK with spring now, though. ( Not that it matters what I’m OK with, right?) I think I’m tired of storms that miss us and ready to move into the next season!
Blizzard warnings…didn’t we have one in January 1996? I know we HAD a blizzard, or at least a huge snowstorm, then.
Forgot to translate who the pell Reginald K. Dwight is in my previous comment …… Elton John. If some or many of you snow lovers are bummed out by what happened with this storm, imagine what a diehard snow lover in the Washington DC area must be feeling. Just saw a report on TWC that most models were forecasting close to a foot for that area, but they got ……… ALL RAIN!!!
OK, I know that folks in the NRV got zippo or just about that from this, and lots of spots in ROA and Franklin, got very little, but this was still a winter weather event. I say that wd, Indian Valley John, Doppler Carol, Kevin, me, and anyone else who was skeptical that winter was done get first dibs on all the towels and forks that are lying around on this blog.
Wd said it best, March can be mean. It sure was for Elkton, VA (east and very uphill from H-burg) which got bombed with 29 inches, and Sean Sublette on 13 said that many spotters in the Wintergreen resort had reports of between 27 and 30 inches.
Sam Oakey, Newman (please check your e-mails later this evening or tomorrow), Henry of Lexington (GREAT to see you back on this blog …. unless I am making a mistake, you are a snow hater also), and anyone else who doesn’t like the white frozen precip, I have an announcement by me, still Chairman of the Snow Haters Club. I hereby announce that Zach has been awarded honorary admission into the Snow Haters Hall of Fame for his brilliant and early call that this snowstorm was going to be a light event for everyone south of the US 460 corridor. I realize he probably doesn’t even want this honor, but tough, Zachster, you have it. CONGRATULATIONS ON A SUPERB FORECAST!!! I am shocked that in looking through the previous comments (and perhaps I missed one mentioning you …. I had to look through at least 3 threads) no one else commented about it.
Happy Birthday, Kevin!!! You don’t look a day over 9 years old. ………… ….. However, that is in dog years.
{Kevin is probably running down the hall about now asking his I.T. people if there is any way that they can throw me off-line again} :>) :>)
Zach and I were in pretty regular contact through some other social media during the run-up to this storm. He had some interesting insights. Hope to go into those in a little more detail in the next day or two. Excellent early forecast on his part.
Vicki: January 1996 didn’t meet the wind criteria for a blizzard. A blizzard warning can actually be issued for small amounts of snow if accompanied by high enough winds to whip them into visibility-shrouding whiteout. Or sometimes even if no actual snow is falling and the skies are clear but the wind is blowing existing snow cover into a whiteout situation — these “ground blizzards” are fairly common in the Plains states. On the flip side, you can have many feet of snow without it being a blizzard if the wind is not sufficiently high. 1993 is without a doubt the best example in recent history locally of a true blizzard.
I greatly “dislike” some of the NWS definitions. “Blizzard” is definitely one of them. All my friends and older relatives back in the Northeast referred to any really big snowstorm that had lots of wind as a blizzard, and to heck with the definition. Then there was that unfortunate situation with Hurricane Sandy when the NWS (although it was technically correct in doing so) changed the description of Sandy away from being a hurricane.
And then they call so many weather situations “severe weather.” Others here have commented (and I agree with them) that the NWS needs to come up with some gradations of severe weather. High wind warning, for example. They may have issued one for today around here, because gusts may have gotten to 40 or more in some spots. But compare that with the humongous high winds of the derecho, which caused several million customers and people to be without power in about 7 states.
Actually, by weather service definition, severe weather refers to that having to do solely with large hail, high winds and tornadoes related to thunderstorms. Some people took Roanoke.com to task for having a little header “severe weather alert” that linked to a wide variety of weather. I got that changed — it only says “weather alert” now. I think the readers’ concerns were correct, that frost advisories are NOT “severe weather.”
Oh, by the way, my rain gauge is back outside. I received exactly one inch of liquid equivalent.
Seems like I heard an “official” definition of blizzard some years ago that involved temperature, rate of sustained winds, and per hour rate of snow, yet a casual search tonight turns up things like “severe snowstorm with sustained winds of at least 35 mph.” Anyway, got about 1″ precip today with about 3″ snow.
I found Giles County’s snow – Newport was hogging it. Looks like they got 2 or 3″ vs my nothin’.
Thanks for making that adjustment about the severe weather warnings, Kevin. Has March ever started off exceptionally cool!!! Blacksburg is 7.6 degrees colder than normal through Tuesday, and ROA is almost as “deviant,” -6.9. Although high temps are expected to get above normal (about to be 55 for Roanoke) this weekend, it doesn’t last, according to the 7-day planners on both “7″ and “13.” Back to low 50s after Monday.
Drove over Brush Mountain into Newport today and they got several inches. Brush Mountain is pretty cool. Not a Mountain Lake by any stretch but they tend to get more snow than Blacksburg – - and they always catch squalls on NW events – - even if Giles County doesn’t.
And Kevin, I think you just sealed the deal. A big un will come this winter.. simply because in your comment earlier you said one will, and named options that assumed it wouldn’t happen this winter. I think the weather God’s are gonna hold that one against ya
haha
Not presuming anything, as my new post will touch on.
Yes, Zach did do a very good job in nailing down a lot of the bigger picture things with the storm, like that most of SWVA would see very little in the way of snow.