ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, November 10, 1996 TAG: 9611110057
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JON CAWLEY
A dip in the jet stream brought the region's first taste of winter weather to come, dropping as much as an inch of snow in some areas Saturday.
The jet stream dropped across the Southeast, as far south as Alabama and Georgia, and will linger as a stationary front for the next few days, said Jan Jackson, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Blacksburg. Weak disturbances along the edge of the jet stream brought snow showers through the region beginning about 9a.m.
Some snow fell in heavy squalls for up to 15 minutes at a time, lowering visibility to zero, Jackson said, "enough to put down an inch [of snow on the ground in some areas]."
State police in Wytheville reported about a half-inch of snow on the ground at 7 p.m. Saturday, with some freezing precipitation on bridges and roadways.
Along with the early snow, the plunging jet stream deposited cold Canadian air, lowering average temperatures into the upper 30s in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Thirty degrees was the low Saturday in Blacksburg, "the coldest so far this year," Jackson said.
The National Weather Service expects more snow showers this morning into the early afternoon and again Monday that could stretch as far east as Lynchburg, "much like Saturday but colder," Jackson said.
Temperatures are not likely to reach above the high 20s to low 30s in the mountains today.
Law enforcement in the Wytheville area reported several minor accidents, none of which resulted in injuries, that could be attributed to the weather. VDOT personnel spread chemicals on roadways Saturday evening as a precaution, dispatchers said.
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