Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, December 22, 1993 TAG: 9312220180
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
What happened?
And where'd it come from, anyhow?
First, we get forecasts - printed boldly right there in the newspaper - of a dreary, kind of warm Dec. 25. No white Christmas.
Next thing you know, it's five days 'til Christmas and we've got a minor blizzard on our hands, complete with weather advisories, fender-benders and overworked road crews.
Briefly put, a low-pressure front zigged when all the computer models said it was going to zag, taking the Roanoke Valley by surprise.
Too early for the Big Day, maybe. But the snow fell just in time for the winter solstice, the first official day of winter.
Mike Gillen, with the National Weather Service office in Roanoke, has the climatological details:
Low-pressure systems are swirling masses of air that generally carry warm air in front and cold air behind. On Monday, one of these babies was cruising across northern Georgia, heading our way.
It was supposed to hit the Danville/Lynchburg area around 7 a.m. Tuesday, which meant the Roanoke Valley would get warmer air - and rain.
Instead, the system headed east, and at 7 a.m. was sitting somewhere between Hatteras and Norfolk. Which means the Roanoke Valley stayed cold, and got snow.
Five inches at the airport. Between 4 and 6 in Roanoke, Botetourt and Bedford counties. Up to 8 inches in Franklin County.
Folks in the New River Valley got a lot of snow, too, but they were ready for it, Gillen explained. They're about 1,000 feet higher in elevation, and the mountains generally block weather systems that hit Roanoke. So they never expected to get warmer air Monday.
Pulaski County got 7 inches of snow, according to the Department of Transportation office in Dublin.
Pulaski County schools will be closed today, which would have been the last day of school before the winter break. Montgomery County students got a one-day jump on their winter break when their schools closed Tuesday.
While the kids were playing, the police were busy. State police were dispatched to 28 wrecks in Montgomery County from 4 p.m. Monday to noon Tuesday, Sgt. F.W. Duffy said. Christiansburg police responded to about a dozen wrecks, none causing serious injury, said Lt. James Epperly.
State police reported hazardous driving conditions along Virginia 8 near Riner, which was completely blocked by drifts and whiteouts.
By midday Tuesday, only Highland County remained under the National Weather Service's winter weather advisory.
And now, for the Yuletide forecast:
The next weather front moving in is now over the Northern plains, bringing frigid cold air. It should be here by Christmas Eve, Gillen said.
The official forecast, as of 4 p.m. Tuesday, called for a chance of light snow Friday night, with temperatures ranging from the low teens to near 30.
On Christmas Day, look for more light snow, with even colder temperatures.
State climatologist Patrick J. Michaels said an inch or two of snow could top off the 4 to 8 inches that fell Monday. Warmer temperatures were melting much of that snow Tuesday, although Michaels said the higher elevations would remain snow-covered.
He added that there could be snow all across Virginia by Thursday. "It looks like, if the computer is correct, it will spread from west to east across the state," he said.
Remember: Computers aren't always correct.
The Associated Press and staff writers Kathy Loan, Paul Dellinger and Stephen Foster contributed information to this story.
by CNB