Extreme Cold/Wind Chill — Botetourt, Virginia

2022-12-23 to 2022-12-24 · Botetourt, Virginia

Event narrative

The combination of very cold temperatures and gusty winds resulted in wind chill values dropping as low as twenty-four degrees below zero at Troutville and fifteen degrees below zero at Buchanan.

Wider weather episode

In advance of the arrival of a strong, cold Arctic high pressure system, northwest winds were strong to damaging across the region with gusts within the 58 to 64 mph range during the morning of the 23rd. As the center of the Arctic high arrived, winds were not quite as strong, but falling temperatures to below zero, combined with the gusty winds produced extremely low wind chills by the morning of the 24th. Across the Virginia Mountains, these wind chills ranged as low as 25 to 41 degrees below zero, with values over portions of the Piedmont dipping 17 to 32 degrees below zero. The impact of the strong to damaging winds were trees and power lines brought down with at least 27,128 power customers without service over parts of Virginia.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1072678. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.