Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 12, 1992 TAG: 9203120327
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MICHELLE RILEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Most people slept through the warmest part of the day; the high of 42 degrees came just after the day began, at midnight, said Kane Galleo, a National Weather Service specialist at Roanoke Regional Airport. Then winds that gusted up to 49 mph sent the temperature dropping to a low of 27 degrees.
But for most of the day, it felt a lot colder than that. The wind chill got down to 6 degrees below zero at 8 a.m., and it was in single figures the rest of the day.
Roanoke was balmy compared to Hot Springs, where winds up to 54 mph brought the wind chill to 36 degrees below zero.
About 2,000 people from Vinton to Smith Mountain Lake were affected by the winds, when two trees caused a circuit outage for about an hour, Apco spokesman Charles Echols said.
Other outages around the region affected about 235 other people; by late afternoon, only 10 were still without power, Echols said.
The wind uprooted some trees and the cold killed flowers that had bloomed, but no major damage was expected for peach and apple trees.
"The wind keeps the cold air moving and keeps it from settling and doing damage," said Roanoke County extension horticulture technician Jacqui Brown.
But the same couldn't be said for those who went to hair salons only to see their new styles get the natural, wind-blown look.
"There's not much you can do about it," said Lisa Preston, manager of BLJ Hair Design on Melrose Avenue. "We just give them some hair spray."
One woman did try to beat Mother Nature with a hairnet, though, wearing it to and from the salon, Preston said.
There will be some relief from the bitter temperatures as the winds die down today through Sunday. But it is still expected to stay cold, with highs in the 40s and lows in the 20s.
by CNB