Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, January 17, 1992 TAG: 9201170547
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: From staff and wire reports
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
COLD WEATHER SAILS ON CANADA CLIPPER
An air current from Canada nicknamed "the Alberta Clipper" rammed into Virginia early Thursday and unloaded the coldest temperatures yet of winter.In Roanoke, the high reached 32. But that came shortly after midnight. The daytime high Thursday topped out at 24. And strong winds made it feel below zero much of the day.
The cold was particularly rough on the homeless.
Omar Rabb, manager of the RAM House day shelter in Roanoke, said the number of people coming for the midday meal has increased.
Doug, a RAM House regular who didn't want his last name disclosed, said he was sleeping in the woods when a blast of cold air sometime after midnight woke him up - and kept him up.
As he walked to the Salvation Army at 5 a.m. for shelter, "I thought I wasn't going to make it, the wind was so cold. And I wasn't the only one out there."
Early Thursday, as the Alberta Clipper moved across Virginia, winds in Roanoke were at 25 mph, gusting to 41 mph. With temperatures falling into the teens at the same time, the Weather Service said that by 6 a.m., the wind chill factor was 20 below zero.
The warmest it felt on Thursday came around 4 p.m., when the temperature reached 24 and winds diminished to 11 mph, making it feel like it was 7.
Today, it is expected to be partly cloudy with highs in the low 40s. Another cold front should move through Virginia tonight, taking temperatures down into the 20s. Highs Saturday should hang in the mid-30s. There is a chance of snow flurries through the weekend, mainly in the mountains.
Snow fell Thursday in portions of northwest Virginia, with Winchester reporting a quarter inch, its first accumulation this season.