Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, August 4, 1995 TAG: 9508040042
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
Demand reached 14,003 megawatts between 4 and 5 p.m. Wednesday, the company reported. Summer peak records had been set on July 15, 17 and 24.
One megawatt of power is enough to supply 250 homes. Virginia Power's all-time peak was Jan. 19, 1994, when demand reached 14,877 megawatts.
On Thursday, Richmond and Norfolk stretched their records for days with temperatures of 90 degrees or higher: Richmond has basted in the 90s for 24 straight days; Norfolk has broiled for 23.
Crops across the state are thirsty, but not nearly as parched as in the summer of 1993, agriculture officials report. Hot, dry conditions that year caused millions of dollars of losses in Virginia.
``We've seen far worse - drier, earlier,'' said Bob Pitman, extension agent for Northumberland and Lancaster counties on the Northern Neck.
Topsoil moisture was rated as adequate in just over half of the state as of Sunday. Moisture was very short in 10 percent of the state, short in 25 percent and surplus in 9 percent, according to the Virginia Agricultural Statistics Service.
``If we could get a real good soaking rain by the end of the week, we could hold what we have,'' said John H. Stephenson III, whose family raises peanuts, cotton, wheat and soybeans in Wakefield.
``Farmers are considered eternal optimists,'' Stephenson said. ``You just have to keep hoping and praying.''
The National Weather Service predicted highs in the 90s for most of Virginia through Sunday. Temperatures were expected to dip into the mid- to upper 80s Monday and Tuesday.
by CNB