STORM REPORT: 01/02-03/02 - Portsmouth, VA

Storm Report:
January 2-3, 2002 Snowstorm

Summary of Weather Data for
Portsmouth, VA
[ 36.81 N / 76.33 W ]
Wednesday through Thursday,
January 2-3, 2002 EST
midnight-to-midnight

Snowfall - January 2-3, 2002 Pic 1 Pic 2 Pic 3

Snow fell from WED evening 1/2/02 - heavy at times in the wee morning hours of the 3rd - through 1/3/02 in the evening and accumulated to 9.0" by midnight on the 3rd as the fall tapered to flurries. 1" fell WED evening with 8" on THU. A period of ice pellets was noted in late morning on the 3rd before precip went back to all snow. Some fog developed and continued late morning through evening on the 3rd.

The storm total snowfall was 9.0 inches, a NEW STATION JANUARY SNOWFALL TOTAL. (database to 1976-2002). The previous record was 8.9" in 1980. Also, a NEW STATION DAILY MIN MAX TEMP RECORD was set when the temp only rose to 33.1°, with the previous record 36° set just one year earlier.

The storm snow to water equivalency was 9" of snow to 0.97", just below the normal 1" water to 10" snow, mostly due to powdery quality of snow for most of the storm.

Low pressure moved to off Cape Hatteras during the morning of the 3rd with a secondary upper low digging across NC. The latter low did not swing up the coastal plain and failed to deliver the additional 4" of snow expected late afternoon and evening. It is estimated that 1.5" of snow from the upper low did fall in late afternoon and very early evening from that feature. Winds were guite gusty to 28 mph producing wind chills to near 0°.

Temps averaged 11° below normal. High pressure to the north continued to feed the storm a cold flow of air.

Temperature High/Departure	Temperature Low/Departure	Temperature Mean	Cooling Degree Days	Heating Degree Days	Precipitation Day/Month Year
33.1°/11:04 AM -17°	29.2°/ 4:35 AM -5°	31.0° -11°	34.0	0.0	0.87" 0.97" 0.97" (8" Snow: Monthly 9")

Relative Humidity Max	Relative Humidity Min	Barometer Max	Barometer Min	Wind Dominant Direction/Average	Wind Gust Max	Remarks
99%	94%	30.179"	29.806"	N 10.5 MPH	N 28 MPH	Cloudy Heavy SNOW Blowing Snow Ice Pellets Snow shower (EVE) BR

Click this link for a map of snowfall amounts.

Computer Generated Hourly Observations

Note: File extends beyond right margin on smaller screens.
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                       TH       Temp    Wind    Hi      Low     Hum     Dew     Wind                                    Temp    Hum     Arc
Date            Time   Index    Out     Chill   Temp    Temp    Out     Pt.     Speed   Hi      Dir        Rain    Bar  In      In      Per
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 1/02/02	12:00a	29.5	29.5	29.5	29.6	29.4	52	14.1	5.0	15.0	N	   0.00	30.317	76.6	26	60
 1/02/02	 1:00a	29.4	29.4	29.4	29.6	29.1	55	15.2	5.0	14.0	N	   0.00	30.326	75.8	26	60
 1/02/02	 2:00a	29.0	29.0	29.0	29.1	28.9	58	16.1	5.0	18.0	N	   0.00	30.341	75.6	26	60
 1/02/02	 3:00a	28.7	28.7	28.7	29.0	28.4	61	17.0	4.0	11.0	N	   0.00	30.345	75.4	26	60
 1/02/02	 4:00a	28.4	28.4	28.4	28.6	28.3	66	18.5	4.0	13.0	N	   0.00	30.335	75.5	26	60
 1/02/02	 5:00a	28.9	28.9	28.9	29.0	28.6	68	19.7	5.0	14.0	N	   0.00	30.355	75.4	26	60
 1/02/02	 6:00a	28.5	28.5	--	28.9	28.3	67	19.0	4.0	11.0	N	   0.00	30.361	75.8	26	60
 1/02/02	 7:00a	28.3	28.3	28.3	28.3	28.2	68	19.1	4.0	11.0	N	   0.00	30.386	78.1	26	60
 1/02/02	 8:00a	28.2	28.2	28.2	28.3	28.1	69	19.4	0.0	7.0	NNW	   0.00	30.389	76.9	26	60
 1/02/02	 9:00a	28.9	28.9	28.9	29.9	28.2	69	20.0	4.0	12.0	N	   0.00	30.422	75.5	26	60
 1/02/02	10:00a	30.9	30.9	30.9	31.8	29.9	68	21.6	5.0	15.0	N	   0.00	30.426	75.5	26	60
 1/02/02	11:00a	32.9	32.9	32.9	34.0	31.8	67	23.2	5.0	16.0	N	   0.00	30.404	75.5	26	60
 1/02/02	12:00p	35.1	35.1	35.1	35.6	34.1	67	25.3	6.0	16.0	N	   0.00	30.364	75.5	26	60
 1/02/02	 1:00p	36.2	36.2	36.2	36.4	35.6	65	25.6	6.0	16.0	N	   0.00	30.329	75.9	26	60
 1/02/02	 2:00p	35.7	35.7	35.7	36.0	35.5	65	25.1	5.0	14.0	N	   0.00	30.314	75.8	26	60
 1/02/02	 3:00p	35.4	35.4	35.4	35.7	35.2	64	24.4	5.0	12.0	N	   0.00	30.314	75.8	26	60
 1/02/02	 4:00p	35.2	35.2	35.2	35.4	34.9	61	23.1	0.0	10.0	N	   0.00	30.322	75.5	26	60
 1/02/02	 5:00p	34.6	34.6	34.6	35.0	34.3	63	23.3	0.0	6.0	WSW	   0.00	30.302	75.9	26	60
 1/02/02	 6:00p	34.0	34.0	34.0	34.3	33.8	61	22.0	0.0	10.0	N	   0.00	30.302	78.0	26	60
 1/02/02	 7:00p	33.6	33.6	33.6	33.8	33.5	61	21.6	0.0	6.0	N	   0.00	30.270	79.0	26	60
 1/02/02	 8:00p	33.5	33.5	33.5	33.9	33.3	59	20.7	0.0	10.0	N	   0.00	30.259	80.1	26	60
 1/02/02	 9:00p	34.0	34.0	34.0	34.1	33.9	59	21.2	4.0	11.0	NNE	   0.00	30.264	80.8	27	60
 1/02/02	10:00p	34.1	34.1	34.1	34.3	34.1	67	24.3	4.0	11.0	N	   0.02	30.251	81.3	27	60
 1/02/02	11:00p	31.7	31.7	31.7	34.1	30.5	92	29.6	4.0	12.0	N	   0.04	30.222	81.3	26	60

 1/03/02	12:00a	30.6	30.6	30.6	30.7	30.5	94	29.1	4.0	12.0	N	   0.04	30.179	80.0	27	60
 1/03/02	 1:00a	30.4	30.4	30.4	30.6	30.0	95	29.1	5.0	13.0	N	   0.15	30.139	77.2	27	60
 1/03/02	 2:00a	29.9	29.9	29.9	30.1	29.8	96	28.9	6.0	15.0	N	   0.15	30.092	76.2	27	60
 1/03/02	 3:00a	29.9	29.9	--	30.1	29.8	95	28.6	7.0	18.0	NNE	   0.15	30.059	75.7	27	60
 1/03/02	 4:00a	29.6	29.6	26.2	29.8	29.4	96	28.6	10.0	20.0	NNE	   0.12	30.043	77.7	26	60
 1/03/02	 5:00a	29.3	29.3	23.6	29.6	29.2	96	28.3	11.0	18.0	NNE	   0.11	30.015	78.1	26	60
 1/03/02	 6:00a	29.6	29.6	29.6	30.2	29.2	96	28.6	7.0	17.0	N	   0.00	30.004	76.7	26	60
 1/03/02	 7:00a	30.6	30.6	27.3	30.9	30.2	96	29.6	10.0	21.0	N	   0.01	29.979	75.7	26	60
 1/03/02	 8:00a	31.4	31.4	25.9	32.0	30.9	97	30.6	11.0	22.0	N	   0.01	29.973	76.1	26	60
 1/03/02	 9:00a	32.2	32.2	26.8	32.3	31.9	97	31.4	11.0	24.0	N	   0.01	29.969	76.1	26	60
 1/03/02	10:00a	32.4	32.4	27.0	32.7	32.3	98	31.9	11.0	23.0	N	   0.02	29.949	77.4	26	60
 1/03/02	11:00a	32.9	32.9	25.4	33.0	32.7	98	32.4	12.0	21.0	N	   0.00	29.913	79.2	26	60
 1/03/02	12:00p	32.7	32.7	25.1	33.1	32.3	98	32.2	12.0	25.0	N	   0.00	29.862	79.4	26	60
 1/03/02	 1:00p	32.2	32.2	22.4	32.3	32.1	98	31.7	13.0	27.0	N	   0.00	29.838	79.1	26	60
 1/03/02	 2:00p	32.3	32.3	24.7	32.5	32.1	98	31.8	12.0	28.0	N	   0.01	29.821	76.8	26	60
 1/03/02	 3:00p	32.5	32.5	24.9	32.6	32.3	98	32.0	12.0	24.0	N	   0.01	29.821	76.6	26	60
 1/03/02	 4:00p	32.2	32.2	26.8	32.3	32.1	99	32.0	11.0	22.0	N	   0.01	29.817	76.3	26	60
 1/03/02	 5:00p	32.2	32.2	24.6	32.2	32.1	99	32.0	12.0	26.0	N	   0.01	29.839	77.1	26	60
 1/03/02	 6:00p	31.6	31.6	21.7	32.1	31.0	99	31.4	13.0	27.0	N	   0.05	29.863	78.3	27	60
 1/03/02	 7:00p	30.2	30.2	22.3	31.0	29.4	98	29.7	12.0	24.0	N	   0.05	29.861	78.4	26	60
 1/03/02	 8:00p	29.4	29.4	21.4	29.6	29.2	99	29.2	12.0	27.0	N	   0.00	29.873	77.7	26	60
 1/03/02	 9:00p	30.2	30.2	22.3	30.5	29.6	99	30.0	12.0	23.0	N	   0.00	29.877	77.8	27	60
 1/03/02	10:00p	30.5	30.5	22.6	30.8	30.1	97	29.8	12.0	23.0	N	   0.00	29.853	76.5	26	60
 1/03/02	11:00p	30.4	30.4	27.1	30.7	30.2	95	29.1	10.0	18.0	N	   0.00	29.860	76.3	26	60
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                       TH       Temp    Wind    Hi      Low     Hum     Dew     Wind                                    Temp    Hum     Arc
Date            Time   Index    Out     Chill   Temp    Temp    Out     Pt.     Speed   Hi      Dir        Rain    Bar  In      In      Per
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