Winter Storm — Halifax, Virginia

2014-02-12 to 2014-02-13 · Halifax, Virginia

Event narrative

Snowfall amounts ranged from 8 inches across the eastern part of the county to 11 inches in the west. Some light sleet also occurred with amounts around one tenth of an inch. Freezing rain accretion produced one to two tenths of an inch across western and eastern part of the county. Central areas received a little over one-quarter of an inch of ice. Two vehicles were involved in a head-on collision on snow covered roads resulting in indirect damage to the two vehicles and one indirect fatality of the 55 year old male driver of one of the vehicles.

Wider weather episode

Cold high pressure was in place across the region on Tuesday, February 11, 2014. An area of low pressure progressed northward from the Gulf of Mexico the 11th into the 12th of February and transported a generous amount of moisture into and across the cold air over the area allowing the precipitation to fall as moderate to heavy snow. During Tuesday night into Wednesday the low passed over the region and brought some air just slightly above freezing into the lower portions of the atmosphere. This allowed for the snow to transition into a period of freezing rain and/or sleet over parts of the western Virginia piedmont. However, during the day on Thursday, February 13, 2014, the low pressure progressed northeast of the region, and sub-freezing air in the lower parts of the atmosphere returned and allowed for snow to be falling across the area until it ended in the mid to late afternoon. Before its conclusion, there was a time where a clearly defined band of snow stalled, and pivoted around a central location in southwest Virginia. This allowed for the axis of heaviest snowfall to be centered along parts of the New River and upper Roanoke valleys.

Snowfall totals averaged 6 to 10 inches along and east of a Martinsville to Lynchburg line, 10 to 14 inches across the Mountain Empire part of southwest Virginia, 12 to 16 inches just east of the crest of the Blue Ridge and north into the southern Shenandoah valley, with 16 to 26 inches in an area between Covington Virginia south into the Blacksburg to Roanoke region and farther south to near Galax. The highest end of this range was centered over Floyd County.

Sleet amounts were generally less than an inch between Martinsville and Danville. Freezing rain occurred mainly along and east of a line from Martinsville to Buckingham. Amounts ranged from around one tenth of an inch to one quarter of an inch.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 501354. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.