With chilly March over, spring is on the way
1. 41-vehicle wreck ties up traffic Sunday on I-81 in Rockbridge County
2. Virginia Tech football roster has holes on picture day
3. Arrest made in case of missing Nelson County teen
4. WOYM: Fewer stinkbugs? You may have wasps to thank
5. Medicare penalties hit hospitals in Roanoke, New River Valleys
6. McFarling: 2 little numbers are a big hurdle for Virginia Tech football
7. Microfestivus beer event gets downtown Roanoke hopping
8. DAN CASEY: Copter cost still stirring up dust
9. CB Manning opts to transfer from Virginia Tech
10. Virginia attorney general's office grows under Ken Cuccinelli
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
March is in the books — a very different volume than the one a year ago.
Roanoke and Blacksburg haven't seen such a wide disparity in average temperatures from one March to the next since 1960 and 1961.
Roanoke's average March temperature was more than 15 degrees lower this March compared with a year ago; it was almost 16 degrees lower at Blacksburg.
For Blacksburg, the average temperature of 35.8 degrees made it the fourth-coldest March in the past six decades of official records.
A couple of mild days at the end were enough to barely bump Roanoke out of the 10 coldest March average temperatures in the past century.
March 2012 was the warmest on record at both sites.
The accompanying graphs tell the story of the contrasting statistics produced by the Jekyll-and-Hyde March weather patterns we've experienced the past two years.
Interestingly, one area in which the two months were very similar was total rainfall, which was close to normal for March in both years at Roanoke and Blacksburg. Much more of that was melted snow this March, however.
The March weather pattern of lower than normal temperatures is hanging in for a few more days in April.
But major changes are afoot that will finally bring warm weather to Southwest Virginia next week.
With so much moisture in the soil — and more arriving this Thursday and Friday — expect a burst of blooms and buds and greenery.
Weather Journal runs on Wednesdays.
1. 41-vehicle wreck ties up traffic Sunday on I-81 in Rockbridge County
2. Virginia Tech football roster has holes on picture day
3. Arrest made in case of missing Nelson County teen
4. WOYM: Fewer stinkbugs? You may have wasps to thank
5. Medicare penalties hit hospitals in Roanoke, New River Valleys
6. McFarling: 2 little numbers are a big hurdle for Virginia Tech football
7. Microfestivus beer event gets downtown Roanoke hopping
8. DAN CASEY: Copter cost still stirring up dust
9. CB Manning opts to transfer from Virginia Tech
10. Virginia attorney general's office grows under Ken Cuccinelli
THE ROANOKE TIMES
