THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 13, 1997 TAG: 9702130308
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 53 lines
Bring an umbrella, a scraper and a shovel to work today. You'll probably end up needing at least one of them by tonight, especially if you're traveling inland.
A developing storm system over the Gulf states is expected to spread a mix of nasty weather into North Carolina and Virginia today. And, once again, folks along the coast will just have to wait and see what they get.
``Wintry precipitation is a strong possibility Thursday night into Friday'' for the mid-Atlantic states, said R.D. Hitchens, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service forecast office in Washington.
The Weather Service is calling for a mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain tonight in Hampton Roads, with a low near 30. Mixed precipitation should change over to rain early Friday, but it's unclear just what commuters might face.
It's just the latest instance of the region being left to sway on the cutting edge between liquid or frozen precipitation. But unlike earlier this month when a predicted snowfall fizzled for lack of moisture, meteorologists say this storm packs plenty of liquid.
The question now is, how much cold air will a high pressure system over New England push south?
Best bets were that coastal residents would be spared significant snowfall or icing.
Just inland, however, it could be much different.
Overnight, a high pressure system was expected to build into New England.
Northeast winds around it would then funnel cold Arctic air into the mid-Atlantic region.
``The cold air will drain down like water running down a hill,'' said Matt Crowther, a senior meteorologist at The Weather Channel in Atlanta.
Meanwhile, an area of low pressure developing in the Gulf of Mexico is forecast to bring precipitation to central North Carolina by this afternoon and Virginia by tonight.
Computer models have been differing almost hourly on the course of the storm, and its exact track could make a big difference in setting the dividing line between rain and snow - with a wedge of icing in between.
As of Wednesday night, it appeared the storm would track northeast along the Appalachian Mountains, reaching the Ohio Valley by Friday morning.
``The most likely area to receive an accumulation of snow or ice appears to be from Roanoke Rapids, N.C., to Richmond and Fredericksburg, westward to the mountains,'' said Hugh Cobb, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Wakefield.
Crowther said heavy icing could be a problem from Roanoke to Washington.
The Weather Service has issued a winter storm watch for today through Friday for Southwest Virginia - including Lynchburg, South Boston, Martinsville, Danville, Roanoke and Lexington - and much of the western half of North Carolina.