SNOW OBSERVATIONS
 

WEST HENRICO CO. - GLEN ALLEN VA SNOWFALL FOR 2017-2018 WINTER'S TOTAL     16.2 Inches
BACK TO CURRENT SNOW TABLE						SNOWS OF PAST WINTERS
Days	Snow Month	Snow Day	Total Snow Inches	Rating Hourly Chart	Time Lapse Movie	Remarks
Days with any measurable snow during the winter
Rating = Snowstorms must be greater than 1 inch of snow.
1	Dec.	8-9	5.2	Storm 1	Yes	A cold front passed on December 7th and became stationary along the coast. It first looked like it would be just a little snow as weak low waves would move up the front and the precipitation would hardly reach inland to the Glen Allen area. But then a low pressure formed over SE Texas giving SE Texas about 5 inches of snow and tracked NE and produced a good snowstorm for the Glen Allen area. The precipitation started as a mix of rain and snow around 1350 on December 8. The mix changed to all snow at 1440 and snow became heavy at 1530 giving 1.1 inches in one hour. After 1830 the snow rate was about 0.3 of an inch per hour adding up to 3.8 inches by midnight and 0.56 inches of liquid. The snow tapered to very light flurries about 2300. The little snow that fell during the morning hours of the 9th melted as it fell. The temperature was near freezing during the storm but never fell below freezing. During the day of the 9th there was generally about 0. 2 inches of snow per hour with melting giving a total of 1.4 inches by the time it ended at 1900 hours. The models had trouble with this storm first predicting too little snow and by the end predicting too much snow.
2	Dec.	12	0.1	Event1	Yes	A brief snow shower that lasted 34 minutes from 1824 to 1858 and gave 0.1 inches of snow.
3	Jan.	03-04	1.9	Storm 2	Yes	This was a big snow for the east coast with 10 to 12 inches and also very high winds that caused coastal flooding in New England. Glen Allen was near the western edge of the storm and the storm lasted about 9 hours and 45 minutes giving 1.9 inches and the snowfall rate was very slow about 0.2 inches per hour. It was a very cold snow and from the time the precipitation showed up on radar over Glen Allen it took about 4 to 5 hours before the snow made it to the ground because of sublimation. At 1800 the dew point was only 8.3°F. Whiteout conditions temporarily suspended flights at JFK airport, where the wind gusted as high as 55 mph. It was blizzard conditions along the coast with many coastal areas getting 60 mph winds. Central Park reported 7.8 inches of snow at 1 p.m. January 3, it snowed in Tallahassee, Fla. for the first time in nearly three decades on Wednesday morning, the city said, while residents marveled at their frozen pools and snow-dusted lawns. Charleston, SC had 5 inches of snow for the City's third snowiest day. The 12-inch tripping bucket gave a total of 0.21 inches but the heater in the gauge evaporates some of the liquid. The eight-inch gauge gave 0.24 inches and the core sample gave 0.25 inches. With the surface temperature as low as it was it was hard to rationalize a liquid to snow radio of less than 10 to 1. But after all the observations 0.03 inches will be added to the total. One other observation made last night at 2300 was the broken and irregular particles had moderate amount of riming. Thus the snow to liquid equivalent ratio was 8 to 1 !
4	Jan.	17th	2.2	Storm 3	Yes	Glen Allen was near the northeast edge of this storm. The storms greatest snow production was in NC. See the snow map link- Snowmap The maximum snow rate was only 0.6 inches per hour between 0820 and 0920. The temperature was 33.2 when the snow started at 0520 but the temperature dropped all day and was around 25°F when it ended. The melting snow early turned to ice on the streets by the end of the day. Because of the low temperatures overnight a two hour late opening for Henrico wasn't enough time for the sun to melt the ice they changed the late opening to a closure. However, by noon of the 18th most of the ice was melted with very clear day and a high temperature of 43.5°F. The total moisture in the storm was only 0.19 inches and the snow to liquid equivalent ratio was 12 to 1 and with a high of 56.2°F on the 19th most of the snow was gone by the end of the day. In the video the 10 to 20 mph wind removing snow from the camera snowboard only occurred during the afternoon of the 17th. The text should have been removed earlier on the video.
5	Jan.	30th	0.1	Event 2	Yes	This was a very minimal system and the temperature was almost too warm for snow. The snow started with a high dew point and there was little evaporated cooling. The snow was also mixed with rain at times thus 0.06 inches of liquid gave only 0.1 inches of snow. Much of the snow melted as it fell even on the elevated snowboard. The ground and the roads were warm because of above average temperatures a few days before the snow and there was no problems to travel.
6	Mar.	06th	Trace	Event3	No	Mostly a cold rain that started with a little sleet and some spotty PM snowflakes but not with enough ice to make them appear white. The sleet occurred with temperatures around 44°F from altostratus clouds.
7	Mar.	12th	2.3	Storm 4	Yes	The models did a good job most of the winter except for this storm. The GFS was the better of the two as the Euro was basically forecasting no precipitation and the storm going to sea south of VA. The storm forecasted start time was delayed at least 3 times. The snow started as very light flurries at 9:20 AM at 38.1°F and melted as it fell. The snow rapidly increased at 12:50 PM with the temperature of 36.6°F and by 2:30 PM Glen Allen had 0.7 inches. The snow rate was heavy the next hour and by 3:30PM Glen Allen had 1.7 inches of snow. The street was white with snow and it was the worst driving conditions of the storm. The snowfall intensity then decreased and the temperature increased and driving conditions improved. The maximum snow depth of 2.3 inches was around 5PM and by 6:30 was decreasing by melting and by 9PM most of the had melted off or driveway and the street.
8	Mar.	21st	3.9	Storm 5	Yes	The temperature was 32.3 °F when the precipitation started and I was surprised it was grains or frozen drizzle with some sleet. The ice accumulated very slowly from 32 minutes past midnight to 6:15AM only 0.3 inches had accumulated with 0.09 inches liquid precipitation. It was a little past 7 AM that the snow started and by 8AM Glen Allen had 0.7 inches. The heaviest snow rate of 1 inch per hour occurred between 9 AM and 10 AM. Once the snow started around 7 AM it fell as aggregates of many broken crystals for most of the storm. There was little wind so it was easy to measure and the numbers for this storm are very accurate. The maximum snow depth was 3.9 inches at 1 PM and then there was a quick increase in temperature and the total decreased even as the snow continued. Henrico County as well as many of the surrounding schools were canceled. Snow measurements were stopped around 1600 as the snow was melting faster than it was accumulating. Snow flurries continued until 9 PM giving just enough snow to cover the sky mirror but a crescent moon was out by 10 PM.
9	Apr.	07	0.5	Event 4	Yes	This was Glen Allen's first measurable April Snow. The last measurable April snow in Richmond was one inch on April 7, 2007 and before this it was 0.2 inches on April 7, 1990. The latest measurable snowfall for Richmond in the past 121 years was 0.2 inches on April 21, 1953.In the past 121 years in Richmond there has only been 14 Days with a measurable snow day. April 1918 had 2 measurable snows days on April 11th and 12th from one storm. April's greatest snow was 10 inches on April 3, 1915 and all but 1 inch melted by April 4th. It is pretty remarkable that the GFS model predicted this little snow a full week in advance of the actual snow. It was only 0.5 inches and reached this maximum depth at 10:30 PM. Glen Allen had 0.35 inches of rain and only 0.06 inches of liquid in the snow giving a snow to liquid equivalent of 8.3 to 1. It caused no real problems as it melted on all road surfaces. The warm April sun melted all of the snow by noon even though the high for the day was more than 15°F degrees below average.
10	Apr.	09	T	Event 5	NO	The high today was 49.2°F Glen Allen's coldest April maximum temperature. Snow started at 7:05 AM with a temperature of 40.3°F and fell to a low of 35.6°F at 9:24 AM and the snow turned to rain around 10:15 AM. The event gave 0.09 inches liquid but the snow melted as it fell even on the coldest surfaces. The flakes were often large and falling as aggregates of many crystals. Most people are ready for spring now so today's snow was classed as a unwelcome conversational snow!
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