Monday, December 29, 2008

Weekend Weather Wrap-up

Three storm systems tracking along the northern border of the U.S. caused everything from damaging winds, to snow, and heavy rain this weekend. The first storm to mention is the same system that brought gusty winds to Virginia Sunday and scattered light rain showers continuing into Monday morning. But farther to our north, this system disrupted flights in the Northeast with gusty winds up to 74 mph. Before the front moved through Virginia, near-record highs occurred in many locations. Richmond's Sunday high was 74 degrees, just three degrees short of the record high for December 28 of 77 in 1984.

The next system on the map moved through Wyoming and Montana, with gusts up to 71 mph at Bordeaux, WY, 61 mph at Arlington, WY, and 60 mph at Miles City, MT. This small system is moving through the Dakotas Monday morning, bringing a light snowfall of a few inches.

The last storm system in the country right now is moving into the Pacific Northwest, and it has produced impressive rainfall totals so far. Here are some of the totals late Saturday into Sunday:
3.5” rain in 6 hours at Obrien, OR
3.2” rain in 9 hours at Powers, OR
2.9” rain in 12 hours at Brookings, OR
3.3” rain in 23 hours at Myrtle Point, OR
2.3” rain in 24 hours at Scottsburg, OR

This storm system will approach the East coast by New Year’s Eve, and will bring us cooler weather in time for New Year’s Day. At most, this system may squeeze out some flurries in the Virginia mountains west.

The next storm system to bring us a chance of rain will follow quickly on the heels of the previous one, bringing us a decent chance for rain and possibly a wintry mix on Friday.
--Carrie