Saturday, December 19, 2009

Drum Roll Please...

And the highest snow totals in Virginia are...

Wintergeen...30"
Waynesboro...28"
Staunton...22"

Woodford, VA

Thanks Tiffany for sharing this photo!

A Storm To Remember, But...

This Nor'easter dumped lots of snow across the area and will be remembered for years to come. However, we *only* received officially 7" at RIC, so we did not crack the top fifteen snowstorms in Richmond history. Here is the list below:

1) Jan 23-24, 1940...21.6"

2) Jan 27-29, 1922...19.1"

3) Feb 10-11, 1983...17.7"

4) Dec 22-23, 1908...17.2"

5) Feb 11-14, 1899...16.3"

6) Mar 5-7, 1962...15.2"

7) Jan 4-5, 1980...14.9"

8) Jan 25-27, 1966...14.8"

9) Mar 1-2, 1980...13.0"

10) Feb 6-7, 1936...12.6"

11) Jan 25, 2000...11.0"

12) Feb 18-19, 1979...10.9"

13) Mar 3-6, 1912...10.6"

14) Dec 12-14, 1917...10.4"

15) Jan 31-Feb 1, 1948...10.1"

Snow Slowly Tapering - 7:55 PM

A few flurries and isolated snow bursts still linger in the area. A dusting to an inch will be possible, especially east of I-95. I'm going for a low of 22, but when you factor in winds at 5 to 15 mph, it will feel like the teens. Tomorrow will be a cold and breezy day with winds 10 to 20 mph in the afternoon. Although we will see some peeks of sunshine, we will not warm up considering all the snow on the ground. In fact, communities to the northwest (with almost two feet of snowpack) will struggle to get to the upper 20s for highs!

-Aaron-

Weather Update - 4:15 PM

The backside of this storm system is about to move past our area. A few snow bands have already developed in the Blue Ridge and are moving to the east towards central Virginia. Isolated bursts of snow will be possible through at least 8 PM, then we will dry out tonight. An additional dusting to 2" of snow will still be possible for metro Richmond/Petersburg and areas farther south. If you live in north central Virginia, snow will be likely for the next few hours and could be heavy at times - an additional 2 to 4" will be possible.

Snow Depth Report

A lot of the snow was packed down by rain and sleet earlier this morning - keep this is mind when looking at these numbers. As of 3:30 PM, here are the actual measurements of what is currently on the ground.

STAUNTON 22"

CHARLOTTESVILLE 20"
BARBOURSVILLE 15.6"
BEAVERDAM 13"
LYNCHBURG 12.5"
LOUISA 12.3"
COATESVILLE 12"
POWHATAN 11"
MANAKIN-SABOT 11"
RUTHER GLEN 10.5"
WARSAW 10"
SHORT PUMP 9.8"
RICHMOND 8"
MIDLOTHIAN 7"
CHESTERFIELD 6"
NEW KENT 5.5"
CHESTER 5"
PETERSBURG 4"
VICTORIA 4"

Updated Potential Snow Totals

Based on overnight precipitation, plus anticipated additional snowfall during the day Saturday, I have upped our expected snowfall totals for the northwest half of Virginia. The southeast remains unchanged because it has rained overnight, and snow will not occur there until late morning.

Here is a movie of the Nor'easter's expected track:

The snow in Richmond Friday night broke the record for that date:

Updated Warning Map


A Blizzard Warning has been issued for parts of Maryland, and I expect strong gusty winds in Central Virginia as well, especially Saturday while the low intensifies and tracks along our coastline. Winds will gust to 35-40 mph at times in Central Virginia, which will reduce visibilities in blowing snow.