THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 15, 1995 TAG: 9511150199
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE AND DEBBIE MESSINA, STAFF WRITERS
LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
Hampton Roads and the Outer Banks escaped the worst Tuesday as the first major winter storm of the season came together just offshore and chugged up the Delmarva Peninsula.
Seas were rough, but the surf held back. And skiers celebrated as heavy snow fell from West Virginia through New York, giving resorts a big early-season boost.
There is a chance that cold air rushing in behind the northeaster could squeeze a few snow flurries out of the storm as is departs this morning. Otherwise, skies should begin to clear, and it will be cold with a high near 43 and a low around 30 tonight.
The storm formed later and farther north than expected - a blessing for Virginia and North Carolina, but bad up north where high seas pounded the New Jersey, New York and New England coasts.
``Instead of coming together over the Carolina coast, it came together off Virginia, and that really shoved the worst weather northward,'' said Bill Sammler, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Wakefield. As it was, the storm's passage made for a wet, blustery day locally, more appropriate to January than November.
Residents of Sandbridge spent the day on high-tide alert as bulldozers shoved sand in front of homes. Some owners fled; others were more optimistic.
``There's a lot of people with little faith,'' said Ron DeAngelis of Fairfax as he installed a new heating and air conditioning system in his home. Outside, frothing waves crashed against a bulkhead, sending sprays of white foam and water over the top of his house.
U.T. Brown of Virginia Beach also was at work, renovating one of his Oceanfront homes. ``I'm really not worried, we've had a lot worse than this,'' he said.
The storm did deliver as promised in West Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York, dumping upwards of a foot of snow.
``We're loving it up here. This is our kind of weather,'' said Rick Dunlap of the Snowshoe/Silver Creek ski resort in West Virginia. ``It's been snowing for two days and more is on the way.''
Already enjoying the third-earliest opening of its slopes ever, the resort - which has 2 to 3 feet of natural and manmade snow - had 8 of 52 trails open Tuesday with more to open this weekend.
Sugar Mountain Resort in Banner Elk, N.C., also is open, as are many resorts in Northern New England and New York.
Most of the Northeast resorts won't benefit much from this storm, however, because it is steering warmer air over most of New England.
``The bulk of the snow is going to fall west of the major ski areas,'' Sammler said. ``It's not going to be quite the boon for the resorts up in New England as it would be if we had a true northeaster that remained offshore.''
Still, the storm is expected to intensify as it moves north into Ottawa by tonight. Anyone planning to travel in the affected areas today should use caution and expect delays.
KEYWORDS: WEATHER by CNB