THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, March 1, 1996 TAG: 9603010446
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 49 lines
Another weekend. Another dose of winter.
But, hey, the daffodils are in bloom. Lawns are turning green. Spring is in the air. It can't be!
Sorry.
Hampton Roads should wake to subfreezing temperatures this morning. And by the afternoon rush hour, snow could be mixing with rain.
The good news, however, is that this storm is expected to pass quickly and temperatures should rise tonight, meaning that Hampton Roads would see mostly rain. Inland, up to 4 inches of snow is possible from Richmond through Washington.
There was no doubt that plenty of cold air was in place for the return to winter.
The mercury plunged from a high of 73 at the National Weather Service office at Norfolk International Airport on Wednesday to a low of 34 Thursday - a drop of 39 degrees. And it didn't warm up much. Thursday's high reached just 49.
A winter storm watch is in effect tonight and Saturday morning for central portions of Maryland and Virginia, including the Washington and Baltimore metropolitan areas.
A weak area of low pressure over the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday was expected to steer east and emerge off the mid-Atlantic coast today.
``The track of this low is uncertain,'' however, said Kermit Keeter, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Raleigh. ``But indications are it will move along the coast lines of the Carolinas,'' bringing moisture to North Carolina and Virginia tonight and Saturday.
Here is the Hampton Roads forecast from the weather service:
Today - Mostly cloudy with a 50 percent chance of mixed snow and rain late in the day. The high will be around 40, with southeast winds at 10 mph.
Tonight - Mixed snow and rain changing to rain. The low will be in the low to mid-30s. It will become breezy with southeast winds of 10 mph becoming northeasterly at 15 to 20 mph. The chance of precipitation is near 100 percent.
Saturday - Morning rain, then becoming partly sunny and breezy with a high in the mid-40s. The chance of rain is 80 percent.
Sunday - Mostly sunny with a low near 30 and a high near 40. by CNB