THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, February 11, 1997 TAG: 9702110286
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 26 lines
Light snow dusted grassy areas in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake and especially northeastern North Carolina early Monday night as the third storm in the last month just missed hitting Hampton Roads with a major blast of winter.
Forecaster Dave Tolleris of the National Weather Service in Wakefield said the snow was heaviest between Elizabeth City and Manteo. Tolleris said no accumulation was expected Monday night.
Snow fell over Virginia Beach and Chesapeake, Tolleris said, as the winter storm producing the precipitation slid off the coast and out over the Atlantic Ocean near the North Carolina/South Carolina state line. Heavier precipitation was reported around Morehead City, N.C.
At least two other storms have taken a similar path since mid-January, Tolleris said, and another is expected to threaten Hampton Roads with winter weather Thursday, he said. Last winter several storms hit the region with snow and ice. Tolleris said Monday night that it was too early to tell whether Thursday's storm will follow this winter's pattern or last winter's.
``Right now,'' he said, ``we don't know how far north it is going to move.''