Beautiful Weekend In Store!

Friday should be a great start to the weekend, with highs breaking above 50 degrees for the first time since the end of January. You may recall that was right before the big snowstorm in Central Virginia occurred the last two days of January. All that old snow pack, plus more new snow in February, and reinforcing shots of colder air in a deep trough over the region much of this month have kept high temperatures down in the 30's and 40's. Before Thursday, the highest temperature this month was 44 degrees, which only occurred twice (the 1st and the 11th). Enjoy the highs around 50 degrees this weekend, as it does appear our pattern will shift back to cooler weather during next week, with the potential for more winter weather by the end of the week.

Hurricane Scale Tweaked

The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale, which has been a mainstay in hurricane preparedness since being introduced in 1973 to the public, has been tweaked over the past year to account for discrepancies in realized storm surge flooding from hurricanes impacting the coast. The new name is the "Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale," which emphasizes a focus on wind as the categorizing feature instead of also being tied to expected storm surge. However, forecasts issued by the National Hurricane Center for approaching hurricanes will still include mention of expected surges in the affected regions, which vary depending on a combination of factors: "the storm's intensity, size, motion and barometric pressure, as well as the depth of near-shore waters and local topographical features." (NOAA press release Feb 17, 2010). You can read a detailed explanation of the new scale here.

Snow Cover Check

The snow may still be covering much of our state, but its days are numbered. You may have noticed much more grass (okay, so it's in its Winter state, but at least we can see it!) this week as sunny spots get enough sunshine and afternoon warming to melt away the snow. The southeast half of Virginia is experiencing the best snow melt right now, which makes sense considering this is where the snow is thinner.

With no other snowstorms expected in the near future, and the potential for rain late Sunday into Monday, expect that snow cover line to gradually recede to the northwest. You may remember that after our December 18-19, 2009 snowstorm, snow cover remained on the ground in some spots for a month. This time, we've had multiple rounds of snow to contend with, so parts of the state are likely in for another long thawing process.