Heavy Snow — Buchanan, Virginia

2024-01-15 to 2024-01-16 · Buchanan, Virginia

Wider weather episode

Heavy snow showers encroached the southwestern Virginia coalfields beginning on the morning of January 15th in response to a low pressure system migrating up from the Mississippi Valley. An arctic cold front that pressed through the region the previous day remained in close quarters to the region, yielding waves of energy that rode along the boundary, and provided enough moisture and cold air to stir up heavy snow showers.

A brief reprieve from shower activity took shape during the late morning hours on the 15th, but then a big push of energy brought the heaviest of snow into Virginia later that evening and into the morning of the 16th. Given how cold the ground was at the start of the event, snow was able to easily lay along the roads and cause travel disruptions during the evening commute on the 15th as well as the morning commute the next day. After one final push of snow on the morning of January 16th, precipitation came to an end that afternoon.

Local cooperative observers and trained spotters from Buchanan and Dickenson Counties measured around 2 to 6 inches of snow had fallen from this storm.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1158097. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.