Grim. No real significant storm threats loom on the horizon for Metro Richmond over the next week. A storm near Christmas may drop some precipitation, but it looks likely that tempratures will be too warm to support wintry precipitation. Bummer.
In the hopes of seeing some more chances of snow emerge in the next few weeks, I’ll post this handy summary guide that tallies the snow totals for the Richmond Airport since 1898. Enjoy!
This storm rapidly moved through the area the day of December 8th. No winter precipitation fell in Richmond from this storm event. However, a 50+ MPH gust accompanied the squall line that marched through with the main batch of precipitation.
The first substantial chance of winter weather might be heading our way tomorrow night. The various models seem to point to an accumulating snow event along the Appalachian mountains. In Richmond, the NWS still has the metro area in 100% rain. Areas like Short Pump and Powhatan have a slight chance of the precipitation changing to snow.
The chance of accumulating snow for Richmond remains very low. However, we could see a rain to snow changeover on the tail end of the precipitation shield. This scenario will likely preclude any meaningful accumulation. It will be worth watching to see how the event pans out for Metro Richmond.
18Z NAM
12/7/2011 Forecast per TWC
Some dark and scary Stratus clouds looming over Chesterfield. They are also ushering in a cold front that will drop temps and bring some gusty winds this evening.
Today through Wednesday night should be cloudy with patchy drizzle. More significant rain will come Tuesday night and into Wednesday. A thunderstorm is possible on Wednesday as well with the passing of a cold front.
The cold front will bring more seasonal temps from Thursday through next week, with highs in the upper 50’s to mid 60’s and lows in the upper 30’s to mid 40’s.
The long range models are hinting at a chilly start to December. More to come on that later…
This am it got down to 26.1*. Good to see lows starting to dip into the mid 20’s. RIC reached 29*, the first sub-30* of the season.
http://WWW.wunderground.com/weatherstation/WXDailyHistory.asp?ID=KVACHEST23/
So far, November has been quiet on the wx front. It’s been a bit chiily with lows in the 30’s and a few days a showers.
Longer trends keep the cool air dominant in Central VA, with highs mainly in the 60’s and lows in the mid-upper 30’s.
Meteorological winter starts December 1st, and early forecasts shows normal temps and precip for Central VA and the Mid-Atlantic.
I’ll go ahead and make my guess for RVA’s first inch of snow…..January 3rd. My guess for Winter 11-12 snow total….16.5″ of the precious white stuff.
More updates as winter inches closer…Expect more posts about potential winter storms, winter storm obervations, and pictures, data, and other goodies. Bookmark this blog!
Late October is usually a transition period climatically for Central Virginia. The leaves are near peak foliage and the first frost usually occurs by the end of the month. Just in time for Halloween, the first frost and even the first appearance of wintry precipitation have appeared! On Friday, a major east coast storm system (nor’easter) charged up the coast giving Church Hill approximately 1.10″ of rain. Prior to the bulk of the moisture arriving, some light sleet pellets were observed in downtown Richmond on my way home from work. The pellets only lasted for a few minutes, but it was an interesting event given that it is still October and the air temperature at the surface was 44 degrees!
Winter 2011-2012 Statistics for Church Hill:
First Wintry Precipitation for 2011-2012 Winter Season in Church Hill: October 28, 2011.
First Frost for 2011-2012 Winter Season in Church Hill: October 30, 2011 (31.9 Degrees).
Morning Lows from October 31, 2011:
With near the intensity of Hurrican Isabel in 2003, Hurricane Irene pummelled central Virginia on August 27, 2011 with high winds and heavy rainfall. Power outages were extensive in Central Virginia. It was common for Dominion Power customers to be out of power between 2-8 days after the storm ended. In Church Hill, I was fortunate enough not to loose electrivity during the event.
I have a series of photos and videos from the event. I hope to add them to this post in the coming weeks to document this weather event.
In the meantime, a video that I took from Church Hill is posted below from the event:
Our last chance for snow from this dynamic storm system is getting closer to reaching metro Richmond this afternoon and evening. Will we see heavy wet snow as forecasted by NWS? The radar looks promising as we recieve some thunderstorms first, followed by snow this evening!