March Rainfall Summary

Central Virginia’s March fit the cliché of “in like a lion and out like a lamb.” A snowstorm with up to a foot of snow in parts of Central Virginia blew through March 1-2, 2009. The final days of March were fairly uneventful, remaining dry and warming into the 60’s and 70’s. However, we made good progress this month on picking up some rainfall, especially toward the end of the month. Here are some of the March rainfall totals from the area:

Richmond Intl Airport: 4.26” in March (that's +0.17” departure from average for the month). However, Richmond is still 4.13” below average year-to-date, with a total 6.49” of liquid precipitation. And, despite the impressive snowstorm the beginning of this month, Richmond is still 5.8” below average for this season’s snowfall. So far this Winter season, we accumulated only 6.6” officially, 6.3” of which fell in March. You can view March daily weather data here.

Norfolk: 5.28” in March (+1.20” depature from average for the month), with 8.36” year-to-date (-2.99” departure from average for the year-to-date)
Petersburg: 4.09” in March, with 10.62” year-to-date
Wakefield: 5.87” in March
Farmville: 1.84” in March
Emporia: 2.11” in March
Danville: 3.37” in March
Williamsburg: 2.00” in March
Fredericksburg: 0.84” in March
Charlottesville: 2.28” in March
Roanoke: 3.47” in March

Weather Watcher Reports:
Reedville: 4.7” rain (also had 3” of snow) in March
Newland: 4.4” rain in March
Coatesville: 3.28" rain in March (with year-to-date total of 5.98")

For the latest information on the Virginia drought situation, click here.

"After Review, We Have a Reversal"

Earlier reports that the cause of Sunday night's light and sound show was due to a Russian rocket booster burning up upon re-entering the earth are now believed to be false. U.S. Strategic Command is reporting that the rocket re-entered the atmosphere over Taiwan nearly two hours later, and that eyewitness reports from the Mid-Atlantic are consistent with exploding meteors called "bolides".

Fireball Update: Russian Rocket Booster

The meteor-like explosion Sunday night was most likely not a meteor, but rather a Russian Soyuz rocket booster re-entering the Earth's atmosphere. For an update on what the mysterious fireball was over the Mid-Atlantic, read our CBS 6 news update here.
--Carrie