Thursday, February 24, 2005
Current status
Steve Scolnik @ 5:30 PM
5:30pm
As light snow continues to fall in many locations, snow amounts vary widely across the region. I have 3" on top of my picnic table in west-central Montgomery County, but the concrete patio has less than an inch because of the melting from retained heat. Measurements on grass are much less reliable because there is no solid base, but I estimate 3-3.5". Late morning/mid-afternoon reports in Maryland were:
In Virginia:
The 4:00 surface weather map showed the low east of the Virginia/North Carolina border deepening slightly as it continued to move away from the coast. As the snow tapers down and an upper-air disturbance moves through tonight, some places in our area may get 1 or 2" additional snow, with a bit more to the northeast.
4:30pm
No reporting stations in the metro area have anything more than light snow at 4pm. The southern edge of precipitation on radar has moved north of the "95" sign on the Weather Channel regional map. (Don't know my Virginia county names, or I would be more specific; it's the one south of Fairfax.) Hatteras is now reporting steady pressure and northwest wind. At Currituck, on the mainland near the VA border, it's north 15 gusting to 23, and Norfolk is gusting to 31 from the east.
3:45pm
Leesburg was the only station in the metro area reporting moderate snow at 3pm. The others either had light snow or cloudy skies. Snow will become lighter and more intermittent over the next several hours from south to north. Hatteras has a light west wind, and the pressure has slowed its drop, as the low moves more offshore. There is a chance an upper-air disturbance moving over the area tonight could give some more snow, but those amounts are likely to be light.
2:30pm
Snow continues mostly light across the area; moderate at Ft. Belvoir. Radar shows the trailing edge of steady precipitation moving mostly northward along I-81 and I-95. Although Charlottesville continued to report light snow at 2pm, echoes are quite scattered in that area. Snow is falling a bit more heavily here in weather central, but driveway and sidewalk are still not completely covered; almost totally bare on the south-facing side of the street.
Hatteras watch (sky, temp, dewpoint, relative humidity, wind, pressure):
CLOUDY 54 54 100 CALM 29.77F
The 1pm surface weather map shows the low just off the NC coast moving northeastward, but deepening by 1 mb/hr over the last 3 hours to 1008 mb.
1:30pm
During the past hour, radar echoes have filled in somewhat through northwestern VA and eastern WV. The western edge of the precipitation is about on a NW to SE line passing through Charlottesville, which is reporting light snow at 1pm. All metro area stations reporting snow have the light variety, except Leesburg, which is moderate in 1/4 mile visibility. Manassas has . . . partly sunny! Is this some quirk of an auto-magic reporting system? :) Perhaps someone in the vicinity can confirm. Here in Greater Potomac weather central, snowfall is quite light. There are some snow patches on shady sidewalks and driveways. The quasi-official picnic table has about 2" on the eyeball scale. If I remember my standards, however, measurements are actually supposed to be made ON the ground. We'll take what we can get, however. For the Hatteras-watchers, barometer is still falling at 29.81"
12:30pm
At noon, National had moderate snow, but most other metro reporting locations had light snow. Fredericksburg, Culpeper, Manassas, and Winchester reported cloudy skies. Charlottesville still had light snow, but Richmond and Petersburg had light rain, and Hanover had freezing rain. To the east, Salisbury had heavy snow, and it was moderate at Ocean City. Snow was heavy at Baltimore and moderate at Annapolis. Further south, NE winds were gusting as high as 33 mph on the N. Carolina outer banks with heavy rain at Manteo. Lowest barometric pressure was 29.84" at Cape Hatteras and falling.
11:30am
Some good news and bad news for snow-lovers:
Good news
We have had reports in the comments that there is 3-4" of snow near Woodbridge and 4-5" in Fredericksburg. At 11am, Ft. Belvoir was reporting 3/16 mile visibility in heavy snow. Moderate snow was falling at National, visibility 1/2 mile.
Bad news
Elsewhere around the area, especially north and west of the District, snow was mostly light. Here, some blades of grass are still visible on lawns, about 1-1.5" on the picnic table. Radar is showing the back edge of the steady snow has moved east of I-81 in Virginia everywhere south of I-66. The 10:00 surface map shows that the low pressure area to the south is still very weak. Although there are signs that a secondary low is forming near Hatteras, pressure there has fallen only 1 mb in 3 hours. The upper-level support for deepening is going to arrive after the low has moved too far east to affect our area. Some areas, particularly south and east of the District, could see more moderate to heavy snow, but the steady precipitation will be ending by mid-afternoon.
10:30am
At mid-morning, light to moderate snow is falling across the DC metro area. Radar indicates snow from south of Charlottesville and eastward across most of the Delmarva peninsula. The rain/snow line appears to be near Richmond, which was reporting light sleet and 34 degrees at 10am. The area of snow extends northward to central Maryland and across Delaware and southern New Jersey. Here in west-central Montgomery County, the warm ground is keeping paved areas, even driveways and sidewalks wet, despite a temperature of 29.5. There is now about 1/2" accumulation on elevated surfaces, like a picnic table and parked car. Keep us posted in the comments with conditions in your area.
As light snow continues to fall in many locations, snow amounts vary widely across the region. I have 3" on top of my picnic table in west-central Montgomery County, but the concrete patio has less than an inch because of the melting from retained heat. Measurements on grass are much less reliable because there is no solid base, but I estimate 3-3.5". Late morning/mid-afternoon reports in Maryland were:
- Annapolis 4"
- Hunt Valley 1.3"
- Chesapeake Beach 5.5"
- La Plata 6"
- Columbia 2.5"
- Montgomery Village 1.8"
- Camp Springs 4"
In Virginia:
- Charlottesville 4-4.5"
- Fort Hunt 4.5"
- Herndon 2.1"
- Leesburg 1.3"
The 4:00 surface weather map showed the low east of the Virginia/North Carolina border deepening slightly as it continued to move away from the coast. As the snow tapers down and an upper-air disturbance moves through tonight, some places in our area may get 1 or 2" additional snow, with a bit more to the northeast.
4:30pm
No reporting stations in the metro area have anything more than light snow at 4pm. The southern edge of precipitation on radar has moved north of the "95" sign on the Weather Channel regional map. (Don't know my Virginia county names, or I would be more specific; it's the one south of Fairfax.) Hatteras is now reporting steady pressure and northwest wind. At Currituck, on the mainland near the VA border, it's north 15 gusting to 23, and Norfolk is gusting to 31 from the east.
3:45pm
Leesburg was the only station in the metro area reporting moderate snow at 3pm. The others either had light snow or cloudy skies. Snow will become lighter and more intermittent over the next several hours from south to north. Hatteras has a light west wind, and the pressure has slowed its drop, as the low moves more offshore. There is a chance an upper-air disturbance moving over the area tonight could give some more snow, but those amounts are likely to be light.
2:30pm
Snow continues mostly light across the area; moderate at Ft. Belvoir. Radar shows the trailing edge of steady precipitation moving mostly northward along I-81 and I-95. Although Charlottesville continued to report light snow at 2pm, echoes are quite scattered in that area. Snow is falling a bit more heavily here in weather central, but driveway and sidewalk are still not completely covered; almost totally bare on the south-facing side of the street.
Hatteras watch (sky, temp, dewpoint, relative humidity, wind, pressure):
CLOUDY 54 54 100 CALM 29.77F
The 1pm surface weather map shows the low just off the NC coast moving northeastward, but deepening by 1 mb/hr over the last 3 hours to 1008 mb.
1:30pm
During the past hour, radar echoes have filled in somewhat through northwestern VA and eastern WV. The western edge of the precipitation is about on a NW to SE line passing through Charlottesville, which is reporting light snow at 1pm. All metro area stations reporting snow have the light variety, except Leesburg, which is moderate in 1/4 mile visibility. Manassas has . . . partly sunny! Is this some quirk of an auto-magic reporting system? :) Perhaps someone in the vicinity can confirm. Here in Greater Potomac weather central, snowfall is quite light. There are some snow patches on shady sidewalks and driveways. The quasi-official picnic table has about 2" on the eyeball scale. If I remember my standards, however, measurements are actually supposed to be made ON the ground. We'll take what we can get, however. For the Hatteras-watchers, barometer is still falling at 29.81"
12:30pm
At noon, National had moderate snow, but most other metro reporting locations had light snow. Fredericksburg, Culpeper, Manassas, and Winchester reported cloudy skies. Charlottesville still had light snow, but Richmond and Petersburg had light rain, and Hanover had freezing rain. To the east, Salisbury had heavy snow, and it was moderate at Ocean City. Snow was heavy at Baltimore and moderate at Annapolis. Further south, NE winds were gusting as high as 33 mph on the N. Carolina outer banks with heavy rain at Manteo. Lowest barometric pressure was 29.84" at Cape Hatteras and falling.
11:30am
Some good news and bad news for snow-lovers:
Good news
We have had reports in the comments that there is 3-4" of snow near Woodbridge and 4-5" in Fredericksburg. At 11am, Ft. Belvoir was reporting 3/16 mile visibility in heavy snow. Moderate snow was falling at National, visibility 1/2 mile.
Bad news
Elsewhere around the area, especially north and west of the District, snow was mostly light. Here, some blades of grass are still visible on lawns, about 1-1.5" on the picnic table. Radar is showing the back edge of the steady snow has moved east of I-81 in Virginia everywhere south of I-66. The 10:00 surface map shows that the low pressure area to the south is still very weak. Although there are signs that a secondary low is forming near Hatteras, pressure there has fallen only 1 mb in 3 hours. The upper-level support for deepening is going to arrive after the low has moved too far east to affect our area. Some areas, particularly south and east of the District, could see more moderate to heavy snow, but the steady precipitation will be ending by mid-afternoon.
10:30am
At mid-morning, light to moderate snow is falling across the DC metro area. Radar indicates snow from south of Charlottesville and eastward across most of the Delmarva peninsula. The rain/snow line appears to be near Richmond, which was reporting light sleet and 34 degrees at 10am. The area of snow extends northward to central Maryland and across Delaware and southern New Jersey. Here in west-central Montgomery County, the warm ground is keeping paved areas, even driveways and sidewalks wet, despite a temperature of 29.5. There is now about 1/2" accumulation on elevated surfaces, like a picnic table and parked car. Keep us posted in the comments with conditions in your area.
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