Enough already.
The Southwest and Southside Virginia coverage region of Cardinal News, stretching from the southwest tip of the state to near Kerr Reservoir/Buggs Island Lake and north to roughly Interstate 64, has been through the weather wringer lately.
Ice, snow, flooding, wind. Inundated homes, power outages, broken trees, often affecting the same areas of our state and region that were affected similarly by the inland effects of Hurricane Helene in September.
Even some of the most ardent fans of wintry weather would agree that it’s time for a break.
It appears that such a calmer and eventually milder period is ahead, after one more round of wintry inclemency.
A middling snow event is playing out this Wednesday and into early Thursday. Two regions of fast upper-level winds did not come together as quickly or as efficiently as they would have needed to for the monster foot-plus snowstorm that our region hasn’t had on a widespread basis since December 2018. Many snow fans long for another “big ’un,” but maybe this isn’t the best time.
One wave was set to pass across the region with light to moderate snow during the day Wednesday, triggering a coastal low that could keep snow lingering into the night across parts of Southside. The second piece may drop in for a little more snow early Thursday. For most of us, it should be no more than a couple or three inches, give or take a little, maybe some half-foot amounts the closer you get to Interstate 85. Farther east toward Richmond and Hampton Roads, it may be a legitimate snowstorm of 6-10 inches.
You can look out your window to see how it’s playing out where you live, so far.
But this time around there is no ice, and this is the caboose on the train of recent precipitation-bearing systems that have given us almost two weeks of meteorological mayhem.
No additional precipitation beyond some stray mountain snow showers is expected for at least a week, and most days will have sunshine.
The next few mornings will be quite cold, with many teen lows. Arctic air has won its recent battle against the mild Atlantic high-pressure ridge and gets the spoils of making us shiver a little more. But we start seeing some 50s in the afternoon toward early next week, which is actually near or only slightly above late February normal temperatures.
Don’t expect a full-blast arrival of spring anytime soon. There are more cold fronts coming, each with a renewed blast of chilly northwest winds and mountain snow showers, and looking ahead through at least the first week of March, there may yet be wintry precipitation flirtations.
There are some signals the pattern of Arctic resurgences could relent around the second week of March, and perhaps a more steady climb into spring can commence.
But March can be a fickle month, capable of imitating all four seasons in short order, and as we know, peering out at the weather beyond a few days is rife with peril.
So let’s don’t count our daffodils before they bloom, but some brighter, milder and blessedly calmer days appear to be ahead.
Journalist Kevin Myatt has been writing about weather for 20 years. His weekly column, appearing on Wednesdays, is sponsored by Oakey’s, a family-run, locally-owned funeral home with locations throughout the Roanoke Valley. Sign up for his weekly newsletter:
