March 2, 2010 Snow Event

Below are a couple of photos from the snow event last night in Church Hill. Since there was some light accumulation on the cars and grassy surfaces, I'm tallying 0.1" towards the season's total snowfall. The snow accumulation melted around midnight when the temperature bounced well above 32 degrees.

February 2010: North Church Hill Weather Summary

Attached is the North Church Hill weather summary for February 2010. Below are few selected observations for the month:

• The mean temperature reading for the month was 36.7. This was colder than the January 2010 reading of 37.3.
• The maximum recorded high temperature for the month was 64.5. The minimum temperature for the month was 16.5.
  
• Precipitation was slightly below average, recording 2.90" of liquid precipitation (about -0.26" below average).
  

March 2-3, 2010 Storm Prediction

The radar this evening for the impending storm is look quite impressive and strong along the gulf coast. I have a feeling that tomorrow morning we will have a better handle on this system in terms of its intensity and whether rain will be mixing in (or even be the predominate rain type). With the data I've seen so far, I feel confident will see some snow tomorrow night into Wednesday, possibly enough to warrant a Winter Weather Advisory for Metro Richmond. I expect Winter Storm Warnings to go up for southeast Virginia tonight or into tomorrow morning. I'm definitely more bullish on southeast Virginia getting hammered on this storm system.

Richmond: 3-4"

Alexandria: T-1"
Blacksburg: 1-2"
Charlottesville: T-1"
Franklin: 7-8"
Norfolk: 4-5"
Roanoke:1-2"
Suffolk: 7-8"
Virginia Beach: 3-4"

Forecast for March 2nd-3rd Storm (Russ' Take)

With some models predicting 18-24 for Hampton Roads...I dunno...I say .25" of rain, then 2-5" of slushy snow for Metro RIC, more snow west of downtown (like me in Woodlake :-D)...JD seems to think temps will not fall below 32*. If that's true, then 1-3" total. If temps fall faster and get to around 28-30, then 3-5" for us. I don't think Eastern VA will see any accumulating snow, just rain, with wet snow mixed in at times... maybe a slushy .25". So, my official forecast as of NOW is light rain by 2-4pm Tuesday, then mix by 6-8pm, then snow by 8-11pm. Temps will fall from 41 to 36ish by precip onset, then slowly fall to 32 and hover at 32 all night. I could be wrong and hope I am, but it doesn't look good for big snow...

Ryan? Your forecast?

Russ' Weather Station Has Relocated

I have moved from Brandermill to Woodlake in Western Chesterfield County, VA. The new location is depicted on my Weather Underground Station Page

The physical location of the station peripherals (main station with rain gauge, and temp/humidity sensors, and the anemometer and wind vane) have been placed in better locations as well. The main station is about 4 feet off the ground on a platform in an open area. The anemometer is attached to the eave of the roof. This will hopefully give more precise readings.


Please bookmark the new station site at Weather Underground KVAMIDLO11
And don't forget to bookmark the Davis Weatherlink Site for my station

Thanks,
ru55

February Snow Events

February turned out to be great month for accumulating snow storms in Virginia. Even Richmond got in on the action.

Below are links to some photographs I took of the February 6th and February 9th, 2010 snow events.

• February 6th, 2010 (Total of 7.5")
  
• February 9th, 2010 (Total of 3.75")

It's also interesting to note that the quick burst of wrap around snow we received on February 9th was also responsible for reports of snow-thunder in the Richmond Metro area. I personally did not hear any thunder, but the rapid rate of snow fall from this event was amazing (nearly 4" in about 3-3.5 hours time).

January 2010: New Records

For the month of January, three records were established for the North Church Hill observation point.

• New Lowest Recorded Temperature: 12.8 on January 31st (The morning after the snow storm that occurred on January 30th)
• New Highest Recorded Wind Gust: 29 MPH on January 28th
• First day to record a high below 32 degrees
  

While I'll be the first to admit that the new record wind gust is not substantial, it's important to note that the wind field around my weather station is far from ideal. Located in the center of an urban block, it lacks substantial clearance around the anemometer. Consequently, a recorded gust higher that 20 MPH signifies a strong wind event occurred on the 28th.