Final copy: December 14, 1995: MONTHLY SUMMARY: NOVEMBER 1995 Greetings from Southeastern Virginia! I hope each of you and yours is enjoy- ing the holiday season! Winter weather has started with a bang, hasn't it?! Was planning to have this to you last week; however, a couple of reports were late or not received. As I've noted, we're posting now on the Internet; so, I update daily as your reports come in. Thus, could you please try to get reports in by the 8th (which most of you are doing!)? That way I can get this report into the mail by the 15th! Bill ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTES FROM "AROUND THE LEAGUE"- Arlington - NWS DCA noted that November started winter off early as temps averaged more than six degrees below normal. Almost half the days of the month (12) were between 1 and 15 degrees below normal. The month was the second coldest since the weather station moved to National Airport in 1941. The month was the 14th coldest in the 123 year records of Washington. On the 11th, the Veteran's Day cold front produced gusts measure between 40 and 80 miles an hour across the region. Damage from the frontal passage winds was widespread. The first snow of the season was measured that night. Downtown received 2/10ths inch of snow while the northwestern suburbs recorded 1 to 2 inches. Three days later, an early season coastal storm formed off the Carolina coast developing rapidly as it moved up the Eastern Seaboard on the 14th and 15th and leaving 1.37" of rain- mixed with sleet and snow at times- in its wake. As for the future...a study of the 20 coldest Novembers of all time in DC shows that only four were followed by warmer than normal winters. Bridgewater - According to Clayton Towers, the first snowfall of the winter occurred on the 14th. High winds on the 11th caused damage in some areas. Also, this is the first year in Clayton's 31 years of keeping records on snows that Bridgewater has had two significant snowfalls in the month of November. There were two other Novembers with two measurable snows but a couple of the snows were minor ones. Both of our snows came with the temperature hovering around the freezing mark or a little above. Snow measurements varied greatly throughout Rockingham County. Some places received over a foot while other places got only two or three inches. Elevation played a big part in this. Bridgewater is in a low spot, and the snow melted quite a bit before it started sticking to the ground. Harrisonburg is higher and received quite a bit more snow. Hills just outside of Bridgewater got more snow. Charlottesville - According to John Stewart, this November was the coolest (41.0F) since 1976. The month was rather wet with nearly 50% above normal rain and snow; no extremes were noted but temperature average was 6.6 degrees below normal, actually much below normal. Chester Gap - "A November like this one is worth waiting for!" (I believe Dave Lesher refers to his unbelievable snow total for the month - 23.3"!!!) Falls Church - Coldest and wettest November! A strong cold front on the 3rd produced a 26 degree temperature drop in 2 hours!! The mean temperature was 6.7 degrees below normal. There were 32 days with temps <=32 degrees!!! First November snow since 1989 and first time with 3 snowfalls in November. The average ground temperature at 1 foot was 42.77 degrees, a new record low for November. Thanks for the interesting notes, Lowell! Also, will try to get-out your nice November temp and barometer traces!! Fredericksburg - "November averaged significantly colder than normal. 23 daily highs and 21 daily lows were below normal," reports Ken McKneely. He adds that, "the daily lows averaged only 1.7 degrees below normal, but the daily highs were a whopping 6.4: below normal. One 7-day period- the 12th through the 18th, averaged 36.6 degrees, almost mid-winter levels." Fredericksburg - Matt Michaelson notes: "November 11, 1995. During the A.M. hours, it was cloudy and windy with gusts as high as 32 mph. The high temper- ature of 68 occurred at 1206 EST and fell quickly thereafter. A high wind warning was posted for the P.M. hours as sustained winds were expected to be 25-40 mph with gusts as high as 50-60 mph as a major cold front approached. During the afternoon, light rain developed. Severe thunderstorms rolled through during the evening hours which prompted the issuance of a severe thun- derstorm watch. The storms produced a wind gust as high as 63 mph and dumped 1.48 inches of rainfall. By sundown, residual rain changed to light sleet which shortly yielded to brief light snow. The snow did not accumulate and only measured a trace in the rain gauge. Around midnight, the temperature had dropped into the lower-30's with the wind chill at 17. Hampton - Dave Kessel reported his first frost on the 5th. A strong cold front produced damage near his station on the 11th. Large trees branches and some power lines were down. Max gust was 54 mph on that day. The November overall was cooler and slightly wetter than normal. Mechanicsville - Glen Martin notes that on the 11th, his site had strong winds and downpours move across the area around 7:40 PM as a strong cold front moved moved through. Had small tree branches broken off- Woodstock - Lauck Walton reports that November '95 was the coldest November in 10 years of record keeping; 3.5 degrees colder that 1986 which was the previous coldest. New Market - Joyce Winfree noted the coldest November since her records began in 1982. Portsmouth - The month was rather cool, some 5.2 degrees below the norm!!! Rainfall totaled 97% of the normal. Winds during the month ran higher...but remember I've placed my main anemometers at 67 feet, so don't know how much significance I can put on the 5 new daily wind speed station records established during the month. I do know the month was windier than normal, however. Roanoke - Wendell Prillaman reports that his average temp of 43.2 was 4.2 degrees below the norm. This was his site's second coldest November on record with the coldest being November 1976 at 41.2 degrees. Rainfall at 3.62" was 0.55" below normal. The snowfall total of 0.10" was 0.50" below the norm. (Of course the 10" snowfall of December [so far] has more than made up for his seasonal departure!!!) Wakefield - Received memo from Fay Crossley of NWS Wakefield including the following: (after noting installation of new MMTS [max-min temperature sensoring system]) "Additionally, starting with January 96 data, we will be providing our own data to a private data collection group called ACON. Mr. Bill Trotter heads up this group. He has been after us to help him out since we opened the office. This will require no additional work on the shifts' parts. Either myself or Mr. Foster will tabulate the data and get the information to Mr. Trotter by mail, as soon after the first of each month as possible." Welcome AKQ! Henderson - According to George Stevenson, temperatures for the month were well below normal with rainfall above the norm. He still hasn't seen the first flake of snow as of December 5th which he notes "sure 'ain't' unusual!" Jacksonville - On November 11th, a friend from Tallahassee and I traveled from the rainy FSU/UNC football game to Jacksonville (Camp Lejeune) for dinner. As we left the restaurant around 9:00 PM, a strong straightline front moved through with what I estimated 80 mph gusts. Some rain just after front passed but nothing in the downpour category. Afterwards, a drive indicated considerable tree damage throughout the area with some power outages. Raleigh - Bob Woodson noted a very cool month, especially during the first half. Precipitation for the year is 11.85" above normal for this location. Raleigh - NWS RDU reported that this November tied as the 4th coldest ever. Roxboro - November was colder and wetter than normal, and a bit breezy. With the exception of a few mild days, the month was all but normal. (from Merriell Jay) Wilmington - November 1995 was the fifth coldest in history with the mean temp some 5.6 degrees below normal. The Port City measured precip (1.56") one-half its usual amount. Greenville-Spartanburg - A winter preview occured upstate SC on the 5th with a wintry mix. A tornado touched-down on the 7th with some structural damage across extreme southern Greenwood County. On the llth, a strong cold front passed with wind gusts downing trees in several locations. Ruby - Franklin Hancock reports that he's had surgery which led to his late reporting of November weather. We hope you'll be back to your norm soon, Franklin! We'll look for your speedy early month reporting to return soon!! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- UPDATED MEMBERS' E-MAIL ADDRESSES: (posted by permission) BRE Bob Keehn r.keehn3@genie.com POR Bill Trotter wtrotter@pen.k12.va.us wtrotter@delphi.com wtrotter@whro.org 71470.1535@compuserve.com FRD Matthew Michaelson mmichael@s850.mwc.edu RAL Bob Woodson bwoodson@interserv.com -----------------------------------------------------------------------------