What a roller coaster ride this storm event has been! Only 24 hours ago, most of the local meteorologists were calling for a dusting to an inch of snowfall today. The weather models were consistently pushing the system out to sea with little impact on the commonwealth. Late last night, the models took a dramatic shift by pulling the storm back to the coast, supporting the position of the Euro model only two days ago. This looks like a potentially record setting snow storm for the east coast. As of 10:30 AM, the NWS forecast for Richmond is:
Christmas Day: A chance of snow. Cloudy, with a high near 37. Calm wind. Chance of precipitation is 40%. Little or no snow accumulation expected.
Tonight: Snow likely. Cloudy, with a low around 27. Calm wind becoming north around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.
Sunday: Snow. High near 32. North wind between 8 and 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.
Sunday Night: A chance of snow, mainly before midnight. Cloudy, with a low around 23. North wind around 17 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%.
That’s about 2-6″. Other professional meteorologists have us pegged for 6-12″. There has even been mention of 9-15″ in Metro Richmond. Observations will begin this afternoon with photos and videos going up this evening and into tomorrow.
The current radar:
* Place – Time: Church Hill, 12:00 AM
* Temperature: 30.6
* Dewpoint: 29
* Relative Humidity: 93%
* Pressure: 1013.3 hPa
* Trends: Temp slowly falling.
* Precipitation Description
* Total Precip: 3″ Average (2.0″ – 4.5″)
* Comments: Light to moderate snow most of the afternoon, starting at about 3 PM downtown. Roads covered and slick by 11 PM. Interstates in various shape, from I-95 being mainly wet to Chippenham Parkway being mainly covered.
* Place – Time: Church Hill, 10:00 AM
* Temperature: 29.4
* Dewpoint: 28
* Relative Humidity: 93%
* Pressure: 1006.1 hPa
* Trends: Temp steady. Wind beginning to increase to 5-10 MPH
* Precipitation Description: Light to Moderate snow
* Total Precip: 4.25″ Average (4.0″ – 5.0″)
* Comments: Light to moderate snow this morning picking up in intensity from a lull overnight. Most surfaces completely covered by snow. Wind is starting to knock snow from trees and rooftops. No drifting to report at this hour.
* Place – Time: Church Hill, 2:30 PM
* Temperature: 30.2
* Dewpoint: 28
* Relative Humidity: 89%
* Pressure: 1001.8 hPa
* Trends: Temp slowly dropping. Wind is light and variable, around 5-10 MPH
* Precipitation Description: Light to Moderate snow (mostly light)
* Total Precip: 4.5″ Average (4.0″ – 5.0″)
* Comments: Light snow falling this afternoon. Having a harder time sticking to the sidewalks and roads due to daytime surface temperature increase.
12/26/10 (11:40 PM): Officially going to have to stick to 4.25″ of total snow for this storm (unless we get significant snow tonight).