December 18th-19th, 2009 Category 3 Snowstorm Summary
A classic scenario for a major snow storm over the Mid-Atlantic states (including Southwest VA, Northwest NC, and Southeast WV) came together for one of the biggest snow storms in our region in the last 10 to 20 years. In fact, when you consider the entire region covered by the Blacksburg NWS office, this was the most significant snow storm since January 6-7, 1996 (almost 14 years ago!). It was also the most significant snowfall ever for many locations during the month of December, and coming one week before Christmas will likely result in a "white Christmas" for many folks.
This is a brief review of the evolution of the storm as it tracked through the Mid-Atlantic region, the snowfall totals over our area, and how this event ranks with some of the other big snow storms to have hit the region over the last couple of decades. Near the bottom of this page is a map of the final snowfall totals and a listing of many of the individual reports, but first, here is a quick summary of how this storm compares with past big snow events:
Roanoke - 17.8": The highest snow event total for the month of December, and is the 4th highest all time. The last time this much snow fell in one storm was 25", January 6-7, 1996 (the record).
Blacksburg - 14.4": Also the highest snow event for the month of December, and the 5th highest snow event total. The most since 21.4" fell January 28-29, 1998. Over 33" fell during the January 1996 event.
Lynchburg: 12.5" is the 6th highest snow event total, and the most since 21.5" fell during the January 1996 event.
Bluefield: 15" is the highest snow event since 17" fell on January 28-29, 1998.
Some local areas may actually have come close to their totals from the enormous January 1996 storm. A snowfall map from that event is also shown at the bottom of this page. Other historic major winter storms to have hit the area include March 10-13, 1993; February 10-12, 1983; and December 25-27, 1969.
This snowstorm ranks as a Category 3 on the Northeast Snowfall Impact Scale (NESIS.
Meteorology Overview
The December 2009 storm system first developed in the Gulf of Mexico and tracked northeastward right up the southeast U.S. coastline to Cape Hatteras, and then eventually just to the east of Long Island and Cape Cod, where the storm brought blizzard conditions some of the major Northeast U.S. cities. The loop below shows the track of the low pressure center and the radar composite from the morning of Dec 17 through the morning of Dec 20. This is a "textbook" scenario for heavy snow for our area, with a deepening low passing to our southeast drawing in both Gulf and Atlantic moisture, with fairly deep, cold air in place from an arctic high pressure centered over New England and the Mid-Atlantic area. This is considered a "Miller A" coastal cyclogenesis storm, and is far and away the most common pattern for bringing our region significant snowfall. (More information about these kinds of winter storms)
A loop of the storm's evolution as seen in infra-red satellite imagery is shown below. The "comma head" region, usually where the most significant precipitation occurs, can be seen tracking across western NC, western VA, and most of WV, and then into northern VA, eastern PA and across the New York City and Boston areas.
Forecasts for the storm several days in advance were tricky as computer model guidance showed a significant spread in solutions, with many of them forecasting the storm to pass well to the south of the area. About 48 hours in advance, they started coming together with the heart of the heavy precipitation expected to aim right up the Blue Ridge. A Winter Storm Watch was issued for our entire area by early Thursday morning Dec Dece 17, followed by a Winter Storm Warning that same afternoon, which was 18 to 26 hours before the snow began, depending on your location.
Despite the fact that some of the most significant upward lift and heavy bands of snow actually ended up west of our area in central West Virginia, our forecasts of 12 to 21 inches worked out quite well for most locations. One exception was Southside VA and north-central NC where this slightly more westerly track brought in warmer air and resulted in a longer period of sleet, resulting in final snow/sleet totals a little under what was forecast.
Nevertheless, the impact from this major winter storm was significant, with stranded motorists on Interstates and Highways, pockets of power outages where the snow was a little heavier and wetter and brought trees down on power lines, thousands of traffic accidents, and some drifts of snow as deep as 4 feet or more in parts of West Virginia.
The image below, and the list of snow reports beneath it, shows the final snowfall totals from this event across the 40-county region covered by the Blacksburg/Roanoke NWS.
Storm Totals Text
THE FOLLOWING ARE A MIX OF OFFICIAL AND UNOFFICIAL SNOW TOTAL
OBSERVATIONS TAKEN BETWEEN LATE FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY AFTERNOON
FOR THE MAJOR WINTER STORM THAT HAS BEEN AFFECTING OUR REGION.
ADDITIONAL SNOW HAS FALLEN IN PARTS OF WEST VIRGINIA FROM NORTHWEST
FLOW...WHICH HAS NOT BEEN INCLUDED IN THIS REPORT. APPRECIATION IS
EXTENDED TO HIGHWAY DEPARTMENTS...COOPERATIVE OBSERVERS...SKYWARN
SPOTTERS...THE GENERAL PUBLIC AND MEDIA FOR THESE REPORTS. THIS
SUMMARY IS ALSO AVAILABLE ON OUR HOME PAGE AT WEATHER.GOV/BLACKSBURG
********************STORM TOTAL SNOWFALL********************
LOCATION STORM TOTAL TIME/DATE COMMENTS
SNOWFALL OF
(INCHES) MEASUREMENT
NORTH CAROLINA
...ALLEGHANY COUNTY...
SPARTA 14.2 744 AM 12/19 3.5 SSW
ENNICE 12.0 1045 PM 12/18
...ASHE COUNTY...
WARRENSVILLE 17.0 755 AM 12/19
BINA 16.0 739 AM 12/19
TODD 15.0 952 PM 12/18
TODD 15.0 700 AM 12/19
FLEETWOOD 14.0 800 PM 12/18
CRUMPLER 13.5 1000 PM 12/18
GLENDALE SPRINGS 13.5 1000 PM 12/18
BALDWIN 13.0 926 AM 12/19
WEST JEFFERSON 13.0 1000 AM 12/19
LANSING 12.0 1000 PM 12/18
...CASWELL COUNTY...
YANCEYVILLE 5.0 815 AM 12/19 SIMILAR ACROSS COUNTY
...ROCKINGHAM COUNTY...
MAYODAN 7.0 942 PM 12/18
REIDSVILLE 7.0 1006 PM 12/18
BETHANY 4.8 1011 PM 12/18 5 S
...STOKES COUNTY...
KING 6.5 815 AM 12/19
PINE HALL 6.0 931 PM 12/18
...SURRY COUNTY...
STATE ROAD 14.0 1025 AM 12/19
DOBSON 11.0 1214 PM 12/19 LIGHT GLAZE ON TOP
...WATAUGA COUNTY...
BOONE 16.0 912 PM 12/18
RUTHERWOOD 16.0 600 AM 12/19 DEEP GAP
HOWARDS KNOB 15.0 1251 PM 12/19
VILAS 11.5 1115 PM 12/18
...WILKES COUNTY...
WILBAR 15.0 715 AM 12/19 5 NE ALONG PARKWAY
WILKESBORO 14.5 1016 AM 12/19 6 MI NW
FERGUSON 13.0 730 AM 12/19
HAYS 12.5 900 AM 12/19
...YADKIN COUNTY...
JONESVILLE 9.5 812 AM 12/19
VIRGINIA
...ALLEGHANY COUNTY...
CLIFTON FORGE 20.0 809 AM 12/19
POTTS CREEK 14.2 410 AM 12/19
...AMHERST COUNTY...
AMHERST 18.0 548 PM 12/19 3.5 MI WEST OF AMHERST
SWEET BRIAR STATION 18.0 400 PM 12/19
AMHERST 17.0 430 PM 12/19
MONROE 14.2 400 PM 12/19
PEDLAR MILLS 14.2 444 PM 12/19
...APPOMATTOX COUNTY...
STONEWALL 12.8 708 AM 12/19
...BATH COUNTY...
HOT SPRINGS 27.0 400 PM 12/19
MILLBORO 22.0 100 PM 12/19
...BEDFORD COUNTY...
FOREST 18.5 615 PM 12/19
THAXTON 15.0 1100 AM 12/19
BIG ISLAND 13.0 630 AM 12/19
...BOTETOURT COUNTY...
BUCHANAN 15.5 933 AM 12/19
FINCASTLE 15.0 415 PM 12/19
TROUTVILLE 14.5 800 AM 12/19 READ MTN ELEM SCHOOL
...BUCKINGHAM COUNTY...
MOUNT RUSH 14.0 552 AM 12/19
GOLD HILL 12.5 1052 AM 12/19
...CAMPBELL COUNTY...
ALTAVISTA 10.5 206 PM 12/19
...CARROLL COUNTY...
HILLSVILLE 11.5 1015 AM 12/19
...CHARLOTTE COUNTY...
CHARLOTTE COURTHOUSE 7.0 500 PM 12/19 6 TO 8 ACROSS COUNTY
KEYSVILLE 4.0 1057 AM 12/19
...CITY OF BEDFORD...
BEDFORD 14.0 1110 AM 12/19
...CITY OF COVINGTON...
COVINGTON 22.6 217 PM 12/19
...CITY OF DANVILLE...
DANVILLE 7.5 850 AM 12/19
...CITY OF GALAX...
GALAX 13.0 630 AM 12/19 CEDAR POINT AREA
...CITY OF LEXINGTON...
LEXINGTON 22.0 1241 PM 12/19 2.5 MI SW
...CITY OF LYNCHBURG...
LYNCHBURG 12.5 220 PM 12/19 WSET OFFICIAL TOTAL
...CITY OF MARTINSVILLE...
MARTINSVILLE 8.0 930 AM 12/19
...CITY OF RADFORD...
RADFORD 15.0 805 AM 12/19
...CITY OF ROANOKE...
ROANOKE 17.8 500 PM 12/19 WDBJ OFFICIAL TOTAL
...CRAIG COUNTY...
NEW CASTLE 17.0 845 AM 12/19
...FLOYD COUNTY...
ALUM RIDGE 26.0 105 PM 12/19
FLOYD 18.5 921 AM 12/19
COPPER HILL 14.5 704 AM 12/19 MP 148 BLUE RIDGE PKWY
WILLIS 13.0 630 AM 12/19
UNION 11.9 250 PM 12/19 COCORAHS
...FRANKLIN COUNTY...
WIRTZ 14.0 102 PM 12/19
CALLAWAY 13.0 1100 AM 12/19
...GILES COUNTY...
PEARISBURG 12.0 803 AM 12/19
EGGLESTON 11.0 400 AM 12/19 4S
...GRAYSON COUNTY...
BAYWOOD 11.0 847 PM 12/18
FRIES 11.0 1030 PM 12/18 5 W
...HENRY COUNTY...
STONES STORE 10.0 1249 AM 12/19 NEAR BULL MOUNTAIN
...MONTGOMERY COUNTY...
ELLISTON 25.0 333 PM 12/19
SHAWSVILLE 24.0 900 AM 12/19 LIGHTNING OVERNIGHT
LAUREL RIDGE 16.5 925 AM 12/19
PILOT 16.5 132 PM 12/19
CHRISTIANSBURG 16.3 800 AM 12/19
BLACKSBURG 14.4 1000 AM 12/19 NWS OFFICIAL TOTAL
PILOT 12.5 1247 AM 12/19
...PATRICK COUNTY...
ARARAT 9.0 107 PM 12/19
...PITTSYLVANIA COUNTY...
HURT 10.0 930 AM 12/19
CALLANDS 9.0 215 PM 12/19
...PULASKI COUNTY...
FAIRLAWN 14.5 921 AM 12/19
...ROANOKE COUNTY...
CAVE SPRING 20.0 705 AM 12/19
BENT MOUNTAIN 16.8 830 AM 12/19 2 MI NE
...ROCKBRIDGE COUNTY...
BROWNSBURG 28.0 1050 AM 12/19
EAST LEXINGTON 21.0 513 PM 12/19 1 SW LEXINGTON
ROCKBRIDGE BATHS 18.0 1122 AM 12/19
...SMYTH COUNTY...
MARION 12.0 1200 PM 12/19
SALTVILLE 10.0 700 AM 12/19
...TAZEWELL COUNTY...
BLUEFIELD 13.0 905 PM 12/18
TAZEWELL 12.0 540 AM 12/19
...WYTHE COUNTY...
MAX MEADOWS 16.0 650 AM 12/19
WYTHEVILLE 12.0 730 AM 12/19
WEST VIRGINIA
...GREENBRIER COUNTY...
QUINWOOD 31.0 500 PM 12/19 DEPT OF HWYS
RAINELLE 26.0 510 PM 12/19
FRIARS HILL 25.0 845 AM 12/19
CRAWLEY 22.0 415 PM 12/19
WILLIAMSBURG 22.0 800 AM 12/19
FRANKFORD 18.5 600 AM 12/19
LEWISBURG 18.0 140 PM 12/19 0.5" NEW IN LAST 2 HRS
...MERCER COUNTY...
PRINCETON 25.5 315 PM 12/19
ROCK 24.0 103 PM 12/19
GLENWOOD 17.0 203 PM 12/19
MATOAKA 17.0 608 AM 12/19
PRINCETON 17.0 1100 AM 12/19
ATHENS 16.0 850 AM 12/19
KEGLEY 15.0 546 PM 12/19
SPANISHBURG 14.0 520 AM 12/19 REPORT FROM CAMP CREEK
WOLFE 12.0 1120 AM 12/19
...MONROE COUNTY...
UNION 12.5 600 AM 12/19
...SUMMERS COUNTY...
JUMPING BRANCH 24.0 100 PM 12/19 NEAR NIMITZ
SANDSTONE 20.0 913 AM 12/19 NEAR KEENY MTN
HINTON 17.0 620 AM 12/19
$$
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For comparison with the last major snow storm to blast the region, here is the snowfall map from the January 6-7, 1996 event, which was also a "Miller A" coastal cyclogenesis storm:
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