Winchester (nw) VA
Sorry for my delayed posting on this, but have been busy the last few
days.
On Wed 1-09, a very surprise dose of light freezing rain coated a 30-45
mile wide swath between Loudoun Co in VA to Howard Co in Md. Unless you
actually saw the messages sent by the NWS
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/VA_StormNet/message/13134 after the precip
began (6am west, 7am east), one had no idea what was happening.
This image ( used w/ permission and © http://www.weathertap.com )
shows the general area where the worst problems occurred. It is showing
precip totals thru 10:30am on Wed.
http://attach6.groups.yahoo.com/v1/kIo_PAoN8GQ0BHgbNrYZaL9E95PLSzSRuyMwW9mJlrDlF8mkMQhuqUVwyzlY_-SNqvsKgWd6uTkpkOxFVqwvAsM5nns86HVGfXrkVQ/snapshot.jpg
When i got up Wed am, i found one Wash DC station (WJLA) and the Big 3
network stations had continuing "blanket" coverage. Most of the coverage
was weathermen rehashing the same radar images and traffic reports as
video from traffic cams were shown.
However, WJZ, ch 13 in Baltimore had it's helicopter in the air, and had
far superior coverage.
Not long after i turned that station on, there was a live image of a
black SUV sliding into a transit bus. There were many vehicles on the
side of the road.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/templates/misc/printstory.jsp?slug=bal%2Dte%2Emd%2Eice10jan10
The conditions were so bad that Baltimore, Howard, & Montgomery counties
in MD told school buses, some filled with elementary students, to remain
stationary in a safe location until roads improved. Some were on the
side of the road several hours!
Montgomery County high students were already at school when the ice hit.
But the middle & elementary students were either enroute or waiting for
a bus. School officials delayed their start by 2 hours, then at 10am,
facing massive gridlock & confusion, cancelled their classes.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A22471-2002Jan9?language=printer
vidcap: This wreck on Baltimore's I-795, near Owings Mill, involved at
least 2 cars and a light poll. © WJZ Baltimore MD
http://attach2.groups.yahoo.com/v1/kIo_PBjIg9k0BHgb1Hk5f7ORwLM2rqYHB-AwPD3dZtapIjFX5fyJzYwQcSWMNKEADs8XK-349r-W_QHqUJIX9tNOeC106Yv_8qNDnw/snapshot.jpg
That wreck had stopped traffic on I-795, resulting in this many mile
backup, even after had been reopened at 10am.
http://attach5.groups.yahoo.com/v1/kIo_PCrqJ6Q0BHgbgYEHY1Cq7n_pUdT-CzQXlgvkzboz6l5DVVx3pTXJeR6OldBzPG7KCjJmwCOvf_AZ0VFc6KV-74gY2hkm0U7Rfw/snapshot.jpg
Baltimore Co reported >700 wrecks, >200 were reported by Montgomery Co
MD police, and there were 156 reported in Fairfax Co VA.
School districts reported that 41 buses were in accidents in Montgomery
Co MD, and 11 in Fairfax Co.
While most of the wrecks were slip and slid type, a few involved serious
injuries. Two involved fatalities.
In the Baltimore area, a Good Samaritan was killed, trying warn others
of the ice & wreck just ahead.
http://www.sunspot.net/templates/misc/printstory.jsp?slug=bal%2Dte%2Eca%2Ehaines10jan10
In the Washington area, a student was struck & killed crossing a 45 mph
divided highway. The ice will likely not be listed as a contributing
factor, since she was jaywalking. A plastic snow fence was been placed
today on school grounds, to force student to use the intended crosswalk.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28846-2002Jan10.html
Some area hospitals had to divert non urgent patients. One told a
Baltimore station they expected it would take almost 24 hours to catch
up.
No gridlock story would be complete w/o a "ready to give birth at
anytime" story:
http://www.sunspot.net/templates/misc/printstory.jsp?slug=bal%2Dmd%2Emother11jan11
This vidcap shows the result of a 16 car pileup in on I-66 in western
Fairfax Co. Traffic backed up 15 miles Wed am. © WUSA tv Washington DC
http://attach5.groups.yahoo.com/v1/kIo_PPeSl7o0BHgb5HVsDG7O5mV3hMnYz7YyKDrBntyKEP0xTkRgmxt5qQb-UIGIf6iAQrkpkthic1nCyO89NQMpaOrF305q12AlOQ/snapshot.jpg
And the amount of freezing rain... just a few hundredths of an inch. It
warmed above freezing by noon in all areas.
====
Thur 1-09-02
Our snow pack gradually shrunk from 4" Sunday evening to about an inch
Wednesday evening. Fuelled by overnight temps in the low 50's early
Thursday, the snow had finished melting by dawn. At midday, there was
only a few patches left (on north facing hills).
http://attach6.groups.yahoo.com/v1/kIo_PFL-DXA0BHgbTm76KJxCqgBEBSnPA6PXYDVbdJnZQADYog-5xUjzcICjmKjnU16fOsdLGqyZw8ghErc38NbWTGSikC5vrlxICw/snapshot.jpg
I never got around for filing final snowfall report for VA. These are
the final totals of the Jan 6th (and in few areas, Jan 7th) storm:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/VA_StormNet/message/13135
It was the latest trace of snow at Washington National (previous record
was on 12-25-1894). The latest measurable snowfall was .1" on 2-23-73.
With the absence of snow cover and a brisk west wind, we warmed to
within 4º of the daily record Thursday.
The low was 47.5º at 8:15am, the high was 64.1º at 2:51pm. Peak Wind
Gust was 22mph at 2:24pm. No rain fell.
=====
Fri Jan 11
A sharp cold front brought an end the unseasonably warm weather. After a
very light rainfall (.07"), skies cleared partially for a time.
http://attach4.groups.yahoo.com/v1/kIo_PHzrd5w0BHgbYCvITL1CvIdAPaUHzR7BL9QDn2rykAREpFRhT8aThJ5q5RRnBr29nF9IFm0k69EgZv4lNPeQ0knldzZ7tpJeeA/snapshot.jpg
The skies clouded over by early PM, as the wave pattern setup over and
to the east of the mountains.
We had a high of 50.2º at 12:23am and a low of 39.6º at 6:58am.
Daytime temps were in the mid 40s. Winds gusted to 44mph at the airport,
and to 34mph at my station, at 11:20am this am. The day's low wind chill
so far has been 24º at 9:16am.
Steve Minghini
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