Winter Storm — Pittsylvania, Virginia
2015-02-16 to 2015-02-17 · Pittsylvania, Virginia
Event narrative
An observer measured 5.0 inches of snow in Pittsville while a spotter measured 4.5 inches of snow 2SE of Motley. However, across the remainder of the county snowfall amounts were generally 4.0 inches of less, with just 2.0 to 3.0 inches falling in Danville City. The extended period of extreme cold that preceded this winter storm led indirectly to the death of a 51-year old woman in Danville. The woman and her husband were feeding the ducks on a pond in Calland when they attempted to step out on the ice covered pond and fell through. While the man was rescued by Danville emergency response crews, the woman was unresponsive when rescued from the frozen waters of the pond.
Wider weather episode
Immediately on the heels of the intense Arctic outbreak that spread into the region on the 14th and 15th came the most significant snow storm to affect the region since February 12th and 13th of 2014. The snow storm was the result of a strong upper-level disturbance tracking from the central U.S. into the eastern U.S. on top of the bitterly cold Arctic air mass. A surface low pressure area tracked across the southeast states to off the North Carolina coast, a fairly typical scenario for bigger snowfall events in our area. Temperatures had little to no time to recover at all from the bitterly cold temperatures of the 15th. As snow spread into the region during the late morning and early afternoon hours of the 16th, temperatures were only in the upper teens to lower 20s across the region and fell back into the 10 to 20 degree range across much of the region during the heavier snow. Snowfall amounts were significant in many areas, ranging from 3 to 4 inches across the Piedmont, where some sleet mixed in during the later part of the event, to 8 to 11 inches across the New River Valley, Greenbrier Valley, and Tazewell county in far southwest Virginia. In addition to the snow storm, the extended period of extreme cold preceding and following this event caused many ponds to ice over. A 51-year old female died when she fell into an ice covered pond in Pittsylvania County while trying to feed ducks. Her husband was also rescued from the frozen waters, but without injury. In Blacksburg, two children had to be rescued from an ice-covered pond. There were also a vehicle-related death during the snow storm on Interstate 81 in Wythe county where a vehicle ran off the right side of the road into the median and overturned, killing the driver. There were 53 vehicle accidents and 121 disabled vehicles during the height of the snow storm.
Here are the snowfall amounts from the southwest and south central Virginia counties within our forecast area:
Alleghany County - 8.5 inches 4E of Covington to 6.5 inches at Covington,
Amherst County - 7.0 inches 2W of Elon and 3SW of Lowesville,
Appomattox County - 9.0 inches at Stonewall to 7.0 inches 2NW of Oakville,
Bath County - 8.0 inches at Mountain Grove to 5.0 inches at Williamsville,
Bedford County - 9.5 inches at Forest to 7.0 inches just southeast of Big Island,
Bland County - 7.0 inches 3SSE or Suiter and Bland to 5.2 inches 3SW of Long Spur,
Botetourt County - 10.0 inches at Laymantown to 8.0 inches just east-northeast of Cloverdale,
Buckingham County - 8.0 inches of snow at Cumberland,
Campbell County - 9.0 inches 4NNE of Rustburg to 7.2 inches at the Lynchburg Airport,
Carroll County - 6.0 inches at Hillsville to 4.0 inches 2NNE of Galax/Hillsville Airport,
Charlotte County - 6.2 inches at Charlotte Court House to 4.5 inches at Saxe,
Craig County - 7.0 inches of snow in New Castle to 6.0 inches of snow 4W of New Castle,
Floyd County - 6.0 inches 1SE of Simpsons to 3.0 inches 2SE of Willis,
Franklin County - 8.0 inches 4SSW of Moneta to 5.0 inches at Rocky Mount,
Giles County - 9.7 inches 2SE of Mountain Lake (elevation 4000 feet) to 7.5 inches 2E of Pearisburg,
Grayson County - 6.0 inches 5NW of Baywood to 3.0 inches 3W of Baywood,
Halifax County - 5.9 inches at South Boston to 3.0 inches at Clover,
Henry County - 4.0 inches at Mountain Valley,
Montgomery County - 9.5 inches 5NNE of Blacksburg (Brush Mountain) and 1E of Shawsville to 6.0 inches 3E of Pilot,
Patrick County - 5.5 inches 4ESE of Buffalo Ridge,
Pittsylvania County - 5.0 inches at Pittsville to 2.0 inches at Danville,
Pulaski County - 6.0 inches from Draper to Snowville,
Rockbridge County - 6.4 inches 3SW of Rockbridge Baths to 8.0 inches at Buena Vista,
Roanoke County - 9.0 inches 4NW Roanoke Airport and Salem to 7.5 inches 1ESE of Roanoke Airport,
Smyth County - 7.0 inches at Chilhowie to 4.8 inches 1N of Marion,
Tazewell County - 11.0 inches at Burkes Garden and Richlands
Wythe County - 5.2 inches 1WNW Gunton Park to 3.0 inches 2WSW Wytheville.
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 563296. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.