"Blizzard Warning" - Expect A Hampton Roads Freak Out

Those from Upstate New York where I was born will no doubt find amusement in this forecast which would at best draw a yawn, but the Hampton Roads area of Virginia does NOT deal well with snow. Between a lack of snow removal equipment and drivers that are lacking even in good road conditions, it is a recipe for craziness.  Here's what WVEC-TV is forecasting:

The National Weather Service has issued a Blizzard Warningfor parts of Hampton Roads and the Outer Banks, beginning tonight at 7 p.m. and lasting until 1 p.m. Thursday.Blizzard conditions expected. Travel will be very dangerous to impossible, including during the morning commute on Thursday. Total snow accumulations of 5 to 8 inches are expected with locally higher amounts up to 12 inches.

The Blizzard Warning is in place for Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, Hampton, and Northampton in Virginia, and Camden and Currituck counties in North Carolina.

Winter Storm Watch - Not a Nice Return from Florida!

It is hard enough being back in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia without being greeted by the above forecast.  Needless to say, I hope the forecast proves wrong.   More posts on the Fort Lauderdale trip this evening. 

I HATE Winter!

Compared to areas to the north and west of Hampton Roads, the coming storm should be relatively mild.  Nonetheless, we can expect a local freak out and the poor driving skills of local drivers being made painfully obvious.  Here's the forecast via the Virginian Pilot:

It’ll be a wet and windy weekend in Hampton Roads.

The National Weather Service has a high-wind watch in effect for tonight through early Sunday. Parts of the region could see gusts up to 55 mph.

Officials warn drivers of hazardous conditions, especially for vehicles with a high center of gravity.
In addition, a significant winter storm is expected to bring snow in the late morning, turning into rain this afternoon. An accumulation of less than an inch of snow is possible.

The service has a coastal flood watch in effect from 4 a.m. to noon Saturday. Snow or sleet is possible late in the day.

It should start to clear by Sunday, with a chance for showers earlier, turning to a mostly sunny and breezy day in the upper 30s.

I wish I was in Key West right now!!  And I wish I didn't have to drive to Virginia Beach oceanfront to meet with a client today. :(

Juno Has Little Effect on Hampton Roads

While the local weather forecasters hyped up the situation to no end, winter storm Juno was mostly a bust in Hampton Roads as the photo above of our home reflects.  The result?  People will be unlikely to pay attention when a major storm is actually coming.

I'm Ready for Summer!!

Usually by March residents of Hampton Roads sigh with relief and view winter as pretty much over.  This year?  Not so much despite the fact that it was 70 degrees yesterday and I was able to work in the yard wearing a tee-shirt.  Here's today's forecast for Norfolk:

Details for Monday, March 03
Rain and freezing rain...mixing with snow and sleet in the afternoon. Windy at times. Morning high of 39F with temps falling to near 25F. Winds N at 20 to 30 mph. Snow accumulating 1 to 2 inches.
Evening: Scattered snow flurries and snow showers possible this evening. Becoming mostly clear later. Cold. Low 21F. Winds NNE at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of snow 30%.

I am over winter!   Thankfully, in two weeks we will be in Key West for a long weekend and much needed escape to warm weather!

Hampton Roads Snow Day!

Hampton - Chesapeake Avenue covered in ice

Those in other parts of the country with colder climates may laugh at Hampton Roads today which is largely shut down due to on average 4 inches or so of snow.  The real problem is not the amount of snow but instead (i) a near total lack of highway equipment to deal with snow and ice and (ii) the way the temperature dropped rapidly and allowed a layer of ice to form on all the roadways under the layer of snow.  Other than the Interstates and a few main highways, the snow and ice will remain until melting once the weather warms.  With temperatures in the teens and a wind chill of zero, that will not happen today.  The photos give a feel for the winter views.  I will be working from home and logging into the office remotely (I gave my daughter/paralegal the day off).  With so many local drivers being military and from Florida, Southern California and other parts of the South, kamikaze like drivers pose a huge risk even when one knows how to drive in the snow and ice.

Backyard view of Robinson Creek (which has not frozen due to the wind stirring up the water)

Norfolk - Ocean View looking towards Chesapeake Bay

Norfolk - Ocean View tidal flooding - a common occurrence - last night from near gale force winds

Hampton Roads Sees its Biggest Snowfall in 21 Years

This region is truly NOT equipped to deal with snow and as the snow continues to come down at a heavy rate, the Virginian Pilot reports that we've received the most snow in 21 years. Friends with homes fronting on Chesapeake Bay are experiencing 40 mph winds and we can hear the wind blowing across the harbor on the other side of our neighbors' home across the street. Here are some story highlights:
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The worst snowstorm to hit Hampton Roads in more than two decades likely will leave more than a foot of snow, and has closed businesses and shopping malls and left some roads impassable, including the Downtown Tunnel.
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Blizzard-like conditions transformed traveling on the snow-laden highways into a slow and dangerous proposition. As of about 1 p.m., police reported close to 250 automobile accidents – none fatal in South Hampton Roads. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel reduced speed limits to 25 mph and fleets of snow plows tried to keep main roads clear as inches of snow continued dumping on the region. Norfolk International Airport remained open, but many airlines cancelled or delayed flights.
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About nine inches had fallen as of 1:30 p.m., he said. The region should see at least three more inches today. Lawson said as much as 14 inches could fall in Norfolk and a foot and a half in central Virginia Beach and Chesapeake.
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The Downtown Tunnel was closed today shortly after noon by state officials who pleaded with drivers to stay off the roads. Nora Chivers, a VDOT spokesperson, said heavy hands of snow created “near white-out conditions” at the tunnel.

The tunnel likely will remain closed until this evening, she said. Traffic is being diverted at Effingham Street in Portsmouth and at City Hall Avenue or Waterside Drive in downtown Norfolk. The Midtown Tunnel remains open, Chivers said. Many secondary roads in Hampton Roads could become impassable.

Storm Clean Up Update

The battered front yard

The sun is finally out today and boyfriend and I have been working largely non stop the last two days on clean up from the flooding of the first floor of the house. All the ruined carpet has been removed from the great room, all of the tile floors throughout most of the rest of the first floor have been mopped and the grout scrubbed with a soap and Clorox mix to remove the layer of silt left behind by the water, and a contractor has been by to estimate damage. We also went and bought and brought home a new refrigerator to replace the one flooded out in the garage (lifting it onto and off of the truck was great fun! - Not). Once we get the interior clean up, we have to work on the front yard which looks like a disaster area all by it self given all the debris scattered all over the yard, not to mention the boyfriend's beloved rose bushes that are leaning at a 45 degree angle.

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Last evening for a break we went to see out friends who had the 57 foot motor yacht end up in their yard and then out to get something to eat. The mess is unbelievable in that the boat broke in half, with part wedging under the pier and boat in the lift while the rest disintegrated from the pounding waves. They have furniture, engines, ruptured fuel tanks and bits and pieces of the boat all over the place and the smell of diesel fuel lingers in the air. Sadly, the Coast Guard was warned repeatedly that the boat had broken anchor and was adrift and did nothing about it.

Utter Exhaustion - Many Have Suffered Damage

Dinner was a nice diversion and a much need break from clean up detail that went on from early this morning today. On the way over we spoke by phone with a couple who are some of the boyfriend's clients and with whom we socialize regularly to see how they had fared at their gorgeous home on a point in York County jutting out into Chesapeake Bay. Not only had they lost shingles on their home which allowed water to collapse their dining room ceiling, but they also had all kinds of trash and other objects (a sofa, oil drums, fuel tanks and other toxic mess) wash up in their yard. Worse yet, they also had a 52 foot yacht that had broken lose crash into their pier, damaging the pier, and also wedging itself under a neighbor's boat on a lift in their boathouse causing the neighbor's boat to be forced up through the boathouse roof. Needless to say, they have had extensive damage as a result of it all. It all makes the boyfriend and I realize that MANY have suffered damage from this freak storm and that we have been relatively lucky. I'm going to bed - I am totally exhausted and feel like I've been whipped and beaten. I will post more tomorrow.

Snow? Region could wake up Sunday to as much as 4 inches of white stuff

Readers in colder, snowier climates will no doubt laugh that such an event would merit a headline in the local newspaper. However, southeastern Virginia rarely gets snow and when it does, you would think that we had been hit by a blizzard. People do NOT know how to drive in snow and the local cities only have equipment to tend to the main roads and highways. Thus, back in subdivisions, neighborhoods, and rural areas, the stuff stays on the streets until it melts away naturally, often turning to glare ice before going away. Hence, driving a Jeep with 4 wheel drive has value besides being able to drive on the beach in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Here's a bit of our forecast:

As much as 4 inches of snow could be on the ground by Sunday in metropolitan areas, with even more in interior sections of Hampton Roads and northeastern North Carolina. “This certainly is the best shot at snowfall of this magnitude in some time,” said Bill Sammler, the warning coordination specialist at the National Weather Service office in Wakefield.

“I would say the chances are close to 50/50 and they may actually be higher than that,” he said Friday. The Weather Service has issued a winter storm watch for southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina beginning this afternoon.

Overnight, snow should cover the region down to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. “The Norfolk area – in fact, most of Hampton Roads going into interior northeast North Carolina – is going to be in the area that gets the heaviest total precipitation,” Sammler said. The last time the region received 4 inches or more of snow was on the day after Christmas in 2004. Isle of Wight and Southampton counties got as much as a foot.