Okay, sorry that was a poorly placed pun…with far too much alliteration just now. (Clears throat)…Herm, anyway, our weather pattern is fairly quiet through the weekend. Winds have become light and variable overnight, which when combined with clear skies and dew points dropping into the single digits and low teens, makes for a cold morning with lows in the teens in much of Central Virginia Friday. However, sunny skies and a return to Southerly winds today will aid our warm-up into the weekend, which will be one of the nicest all Winter.
With the quiet weather, I’m concerned about a snooze-fest, so let’s have a flashback to liven things up! On February 6, 1980, Southeast Virginia received one of its most significant snowfalls on record. Virginia Beach received 20” of snow, Norfolk packed in a foot, and Williamsburg totaled 6”. Richmond received snowfall as well, which put the snow depth at one inch. This further illustrates Zach’s point in his blog Thursday evening, that February is a mixed bag of weather for Virginia!
On a somber note, this is also a time of year when severe weather begins to rear its head, usually through the South. Today marks the one-year anniversary of the Super Tuesday Tornado Outbreak that occurred February 5-6, 2008 through Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Indiana. The severe weather (84 confirmed tornadoes) killed 59 people with more than 200 injuries. It is the deadliest tornado outbreak in the United States since May 31, 1985. Many of the tornadoes occurred at night, when spotting them is difficult and most people are asleep. Tornadoes (five of which were rated EF-4 with estimated wind speeds 166-200 mph) were not the only threats from this system, though, as the storms also caused tremendous straight-line wind damage, flooding, and up to softball-sized hail.
The outbreak is dubbed the “Super Tuesday” event because February 5, 2008 was the primary voting day for political parties selecting their presidential candidates for the ballot. For more information on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, click here. For a list of severe weather reports, click here and search for events occurring Feb 5-6, 2008 in "All" states.
--Carrie--
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