More than 100,000 Virginia utility customers were in the dark at mid-evening Monday, according to online utility aggregator poweroutage.us, as gusty winds related to a strong cold front blew across the state.
The dynamic storm system did not manifest in as many tornadoes or severe thunderstorms as had been expected during the day Monday, as atmospheric instability was limited. On the flip side, the system provided surprisingly heavy snowfall in much of Southwest Virginia with some locations getting around 6 inches.
Strong winds with a thin squall line that formed just ahead of the cold front resulted in a spate of power outages in Southside and Central Virginia on Monday evening, with more than 10,000 customers losing power in Halifax County.
Outage numbers in the several hundreds to low thousands were common in counties as far north as Albermarle County and as far east as the Richmond metro area around 9 p.m. Monday. More than 13,000 customers were without power in Chesterfield County.
Farther west, power outages peaked at over 3,000 in Botetourt County and about 1,000 in Roanoke County, as gusty west and northwest winds behind a strong cold front brought a 30-degree drop in temperatures in only three or four hours.
That drop in temperatures caused rain to change to snow in much of Southwest Virginia, as far east as the Blue Ridge, with many locations seeing a quick inch or two, and some west of Interstate 77 to the southwest corner of the state getting 3-6 inches.
Monday’s snow followed a very similar episode on Thursday when many locations in Virginia saw accumulating snow a day after high temperatures soared into the 80s.
The gusty winds and snow followed a day in which much of Virginia was placed in a rare “moderate risk” for severe storms — level 4 out of 5 — by NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center, but an earlier arrival of storm bands and temperatures that remained too cool with cloudy skies and showers resulted in a weaker severe weather outbreak than had been anticipated.
Still, several tornado warnings were issued, including in a stretch from Patrick County though Henry County and Martinsville into Pittsylvania County where there were many reports of minor damage. It is not clear yet if all of this damage was from straight-line winds or if there might have been a weak tornado involved.
Gusty winds will continue to bring Arctic air overnight with periods of snow showers in the mountains. Once skies clear Tuesday night, Virginia is likely to experience its coldest morning on Wednesday since February, with many teens and lower 20s lows.
Temperatures gradually warm by late week, with 70s highs and sunshine expected again by the weekend.