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Virginia’s biggest winter storms are the great “Nor’easters.” High pressure builds over New England. Cold air flows south from the high pressure center.
The colder the air, the denser and heavier it is. The cold, heavy air is unable to ride up and over the Appalachian Mountains and so, it funnels south down valleys and along the coastal plain.
To the east, off the coast, are the warm waters of the Gulf Stream. The contrast of cold air sinking south over Virginia into the Carolinas and the warm air over the Gulf Stream waters creates a breeding ground for storms.
With the right meteorological conditions, storm development off the Carolinas may become “explosive” (sudden, rapid intensification).
In general terms for Virginia snow, the jet stream usually enters the West Coast of the U.S. It splits with the north branch crossing the northern Rockies and Canada and the south branch dipping to the Gulf Coast states. The south branch thens turn northeast crossing Virginia and rejoining the north branch off Newfoundland.
The key is a disturbance on the Gulf Coast carried northeast by the southern jet to the Carolina coast where it intensifies. The storm carries the warm, moist air above the Gulf Stream waters up and over the cold inland air, and snow begins.
The storm’s speed and exact track to the north becomes critical in properly forecasting and warning for heavy snow across Virginia. Heavy snow generally falls in a narrow 50 mile-wide band about 150 miles northwest of the low pressure center.
Closer to the low, the warmer ocean air changes the precipitation over to sleet, freezing rain, and eventually rain.
If the forecasted storm track is off by just a little bit, it may mean the difference between heavy rain, freezing rain or sleet (marked as mixed in diagram to the right), and a foot of snow.
Winds around the storm’s center can become intense, building waves which rack the coastline and sometimes pile water inland causing coastal flooding and severe branch erosion.
During March 5-9, 1962, a storm caused over $200 million (1962 dollars) in property damage and major coastal erosion from North Carolina to Long Island, N.Y.
It hit Virginia during “Spring Tides” (sun and moon phase to produce: higher than normal tides) and water reached the nine feet at Norfolk (flooding begins around five feet). The islands of Chincoteague and Assateague were completely underwater.
Winds up to 70 mph built 40-feet waves at sea.
Heavy snows fell in Virginia. Big Meadows, in the mountains southeast of Luray, recorded Virginia’s greatest 24-hour snowfall with 33 inches and the greatest single storm snowfall with 42 inches.
Two feet of snow fell from Charlottesville (21 inches) to Luray (24 inches) to Winchester (22 inches) setting new records. Hot Springs (in the mountains
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