Winter Storm — Eastern Hanover, Virginia

2021-02-18 to 2021-02-19 · Eastern Hanover, Virginia

Event narrative

Ice accretions between 0.20 inch and 0.30 inch, along with sleet accumulations between 0.5 inch and 1.0 inch were reported. Several trees and power lines were downed, with numerous power outages reported.

Wider weather episode

Strong surface high pressure centered from the Midwest into New England helped to supply low level cold air into the area, as a prolonged Classic Cold Air Damming regime was in place throughout the duration of the event. With warmer air present aloft, precipitation fell in the form of freezing rain and sleet across central and south central Virginia, and the Virginia Northern Neck, as a couple of weak low pressure areas tracked northeast along and off the Southeast and Mid Atlantic Coasts. There were two distinct waves of precipitation that moved across the area. One that occurred during the early morning-midday on the 18th, and a second wave of light to moderate precipitation that moved across the region during the early to mid morning on the 19th. This resulted in significant ice accretion between 0.20 inch and 0.40 inch, along with sleet accumulations between 0.5 inch and 1.5 inches. Several trees and power lines were downed, with numerous power outages reported.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 943718. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.