
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 15, 1995                   TAG: 9511160025
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-4   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

MUCH OF EARLY SNOW ALREADY GONE

Virginia's earliest widespread snowfall since 1987 closed schools and excited skiers Tuesday, but the storm caused no significant power outages and most of the snow melted before plows could hit the road.

However, a winter storm warning issued by the National Weather Service was extended overnight in the western mountains and valleys north of Roanoke, where accumulations of several more inches were anticipated.

During the day, anywhere from a trace to 5 inches of snow fell in Western Virginia. Schools closed in Augusta, Bath, Craig, Floyd, Giles, Highland, Rockbridge and Smyth counties while openings were delayed in Albemarle, Montgomery and Pulaski counties.

Other areas got a mix of melting snow and rain or just rain.

The unseasonable weather is the result of a low pressure system brewing over the Atlantic Ocean that is spreading moisture throughout the mid-Atlantic.

The chances of a snowfall this early are about one in every five years in Western Virginia, said Jerry Stenger, research coordinator for the State Climatology Office in Charlottesville.

- Associated Press

by CNB