Top 5 Weather Events of 2015

The maximum 5-day rainfall totals ending at 8 AM on the 30th ranged from 10 to 16 inches in parts of Patrick and Floyd Counties, VA. The extremely wet soils set the stage for the severe flash flooding on September 29th.

Local states of emergency were declared in Floyd and Patrick Counties due to widespread flood impacts including swift water rescues, damaged homes, agricultural damage, and dozens of roads damaged or washed away. Total damages were estimated over $9 million.

Strong Arctic high pressure built in across the region in the wake of a cold front, resulting in multiple days of sub-zero wind chills across mainly the higher elevations of the Blue Ridges in Virginia.

The second major Arctic blast to affect the region within the same 7-day period surged through the region on the 18th, sending temperatures to their lowest levels in over a year and by the morning of the 20th setting record low temperatures. Maximum temperatures on the 19th failed to rise above 20F across the Piedmont and failed to even reach 10F across the western mountains. All of the climate stations within the Blacksburg NWS Office County Warning Area (CWA) tied record low maximum temperatures on the 18th and all but Bluefield did the same on the 20th. All of the climate stations set record low temperatures the morning of February 20th, with Lynchburg recording a new all-time record low temperature of -11F early in the morning on the 20th.

The first morning after the Arctic frontal passage brought bitterly cold temperatures and gusty northwest winds leading to dangerously low wind chills. The record cold resulted in at least one instance of frozen water pipes at an office building in Lynchburg which suffered extensive damage as a result. Undoubtedly, there are countless other such events for which documentation was not received. A plethora of record low and record low maximum temperatures were set as a result of this Arctic outbreak.

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 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 in southeast West Virginia approached a foot in several locations, with Princeton in Mercer county reporting 12.0 inches. 

In Virginia, 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. There was 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. In parts of southwest Virginia, there were 53 vehicle accidents and 121 disabled vehicles during the height of the snowstorm.

A total of 3-6 inches fell in north central North Carolina.

An abnormally warm November and December occurred in 2015. This was largely due to strong surface high pressure systems and ridging aloft. Southwesterly flow around these high-pressure systems brought warm and dry air to the southern Appalachians. These winds were also able to mix warmer air aloft to the surface. Low pressure and their associated cold fronts stayed north of the area for the most part. The average temperature in Lynchburg, VA, was about 5F degrees above normal in November.

The warm weather continued into December, with highs generally in the 50s to 70s across the region, and low temperatures well above average. The departure from normal for December in Bluefield, WV, was about 16 degrees above normal. Many record high and low temperatures were broken throughout the month.

Right on the heels of the second surge of bitterly, record cold air to affect the area within the same week and only five days since the previous significant snowstorm, yet another significant winter storm impacted the region. This storm was result of a complex series of low pressure areas tracking along a stalled front across the southeast states and an upper trough embedded within a very deep and persistent long wave trough across the eastern U.S. Snow began to fall during the late morning and early afternoon spreading northward during the late afternoon and evening.

Unlike the President's Day snowstorm, this storm brought significantly greater amounts of snow, including two feet to the northern portions of the forecast area, especially along the Interstate 64 corridor, while markedly less snow fell in the southern parts of the forecast area. The vast majority of winter storm-criteria snowfall (4 inches east to 5 inches west within 12 hours) fell north of U.S. 460 with this event. Very little snowfall fell south of U.S. 460 and especially across the Virginia and North Carolina Piedmont. Snowfall amounts ranged from less than inch across most counties near the North Carolina border and east of Interstate 77 to two feet of snow across northern and western Greenbrier County, West Virginia.