Overview
Note: To see the CWA and Virginia total snow/sleet maps, click here.
An Arctic cold front crossed the area during the night of 1/23 into the morning of 1/24 as 1045+ mb high pressure built from the Midwest to Great Lakes. Temperatures plummeted into the teens with dew points between 0 and -15F by the morning of the 24th. Clouds increased during the day as temperatures barely got above 20F and dew points stayed well below zero inland. Meanwhile, the flow aloft was split with a northern stream shortwave exiting New England and a southern stream shortwave ejecting from the Baja California Peninsula toward Mexico and the southern Plains. The flow aloft was WSW-SW from the Southern Plains to Mid-Atlantic. A plume of subtropical moisture became established east of the shortwave and overran the Arctic airmass that was in place all the way from Texas to the Mid-Atlantic. This moisture plume (along with several disturbances ahead of the main southern stream shortwave) allowed for this to be an unusually long duration winter event, with precipitation for 24-30 hours straight. Light to occasionally moderate snow began during the evening of the 24th with temperatures dropping into the upper teens as the snow began. While it was cold at the surface up to 925-950mb, S to SW winds from 850-700mb allowed warmer air aloft to quickly advect over the area, changing the precipitation to sleet during the early morning on the 25th (and rain near the coast where NE winds allowed for a moderated marine airmass to spread slightly inland but not very far). With very cold surface temperatures, the snow and sleet immediately accumulated on area roadways, making for extremely difficult travel conditions by the morning of the 25th. Precipitation continued during the day on the 25th as a classic CAD regime remained established as the Arctic high retreated toward New England and weak low pressure formed off the North Carolina coast and tracked NNE just off the VA coast. 850mb temperatures warmed to around 10C/50F across a decent portion of the area, with the very shallow cold layer remaining in place from the surface to 2500 ft AGL in most areas west of the Chesapeake Bay. In fact, temperatures at Richmond did not get out of the lower 20s for much of the day with upper teens from Louisa to Farmville. Precipitation turned to liquid (rain or freezing rain) across the eastern shore, eastern VA and NE NC, with mainly sleet farther inland despite the very "warm" 850mb temperatures. Even though a lot of the guidance showed a changeover to freezing rain during the morning of the 25th across much of the area, precipitation remained as sleet until the late afternoon when it changed to freezing drizzle or light freezing rain. The one exception to this was a narrow corridor from Bertie/Hertford Counties to Isle of Wight/Sussex to the VA Middle Peninsula where it did turn to freezing rain earlier in the day. We hypothesized that it remained as sleet longer than expected largely due to how cold it was in the lowest 2000 ft. While many areas received 1-3" (locally up to 5") of sleet, this event was thankfully much less severe than anticipated in terms of power outages since ice accretions were generally no higher than 0.10-0.25". Model analysis soundings for LKU (Louisa, VA), RIC (Richmond), SBY (Salisbury, MD), and ORF (Norfolk) are shown in the environment section. Precipitation finally came to an end between 7-11 PM on the 25th.
Snow/Sleet Totals
Photos (Coming Soon)
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Radar
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| 7 PM-1130 PM (1/24) Reflectivity and CC in 30 minute increments | Midnight-930 AM Reflectivity and CC in 30 minute increments | 10 AM-11 PM (1/25) Reflectivity and CC in 30 minute increments |
Storm Reports
Public Information Statement National Weather Service Wakefield VA 959 AM EST Mon Jan 26 2026 ...FREEZING RAIN REPORTS... Location Amount Time/Date Lat/Lon ...Maryland... ...Dorchester County... 1 SW Cambridge 0.25 in 0700 AM 01/26 38.55N/76.09W ...North Carolina... ...Bertie County... 1 NW Windsor 0.15 in 0400 PM 01/25 36.02N/76.96W ...Hertford County... Ahoskie 0.25 in 0400 PM 01/25 36.29N/76.99W ...Virginia... ...City of Chesapeake... Herberts Corner 0.10 in 1200 AM 01/26 36.73N/76.31W ...City of Franklin... 1 SSE Franklin 0.24 in 0330 PM 01/25 36.67N/76.93W ...Gloucester County... 1 SE Wicomico 0.25 in 1057 AM 01/25 37.29N/76.51W Gloucester Point 0.25 in 0800 AM 01/26 37.27N/76.49W 1 S Ware Neck 0.13 in 0800 PM 01/25 37.39N/76.46W 1 S Ware Neck 0.10 in 0942 AM 01/26 37.39N/76.46W ...Henrico County... 3 NNE Short Pump 0.20 in 0800 AM 01/26 37.69N/77.59W 1 NNE Fair Oaks 0.15 in 0833 AM 01/26 37.54N/77.31W 1 N Varina 0.10 in 0939 AM 01/26 37.46N/77.35W ...Isle of Wight County... 1 SSE Smithfield 0.20 in 1200 AM 01/26 36.98N/76.61W ...Lancaster County... Weems 0.10 in 1115 AM 01/25 37.65N/76.45W 1 SSE Mollusk 0.01 in 0800 AM 01/26 37.71N/76.53W ...Sussex County... 1 NW Wakefield 0.25 in 0400 PM 01/25 36.98N/77.00W ...Maritime Stations... 1 WNW Fair Port 0.38 in 0830 PM 01/25 37.84N/76.31W ...SNOWFALL REPORTS... Location Amount Time/Date Lat/Lon ...Maryland... ...Wicomico County... Delmar 3.5 in 0800 AM 01/26 38.45N/75.58W ...Worcester County... 2 SW Ocean City Municipality 3.2 in 0800 AM 01/26 38.29N/75.15W ...Virginia... ...Accomack County... 1 NE Greenbackville 2.0 in 0800 AM 01/26 38.01N/75.41W 4 SE Parksley 1.3 in 0800 AM 01/26 37.75N/75.60W ...Brunswick County... 2 WSW Ordsburg 2.5 in 0800 AM 01/26 36.94N/77.90W ...Caroline County... 1 SSE Dawn 4.0 in 0800 AM 01/26 37.82N/77.36W ...Chesterfield County... Midlothian 5.0 in 0900 PM 01/25 37.50N/77.64W 2 E Midlothian 4.0 in 0900 PM 01/25 37.51N/77.61W Moseley 4.0 in 0900 PM 01/25 37.42N/77.77W 1 NW Chester 3.0 in 0100 PM 01/25 37.36N/77.44W ...City of Hopewell... Hopewell 1 S 2.6 in 0635 PM 01/25 37.30N/77.28W Hopewell 2.6 in 0900 PM 01/25 37.29N/77.30W 1 NE Hopewell 2.6 in 0800 AM 01/26 37.30N/77.28W ...City of Virginia Beach... 1 N Pungo 0.5 in 0800 AM 01/26 36.74N/76.02W ...Cumberland County... Cumberland 4.5 in 0900 PM 01/25 37.50N/78.24W ...Dinwiddie County... 4 W Rocky Run 2.0 in 1123 AM 01/25 37.08N/77.75W ...Essex County... Tappahannock 5.0 in 0900 PM 01/25 37.92N/76.87W ...Fluvanna County... Palmyra 8.0 in 0900 PM 01/25 37.86N/78.26W 1 W Central Plains 4.5 in 0800 AM 01/26 37.80N/78.36W Hardware 3.0 in 0857 AM 01/26 37.74N/78.40W 3 SW Cunningham 2.8 in 1245 PM 01/25 37.85N/78.36W ...Gloucester County... Gloucester Point 1.2 in 0800 AM 01/26 37.27N/76.49W ...Goochland County... Crozier 3.5 in 0900 PM 01/25 37.64N/77.80W Maidens 3.0 in 0800 AM 01/26 37.67N/77.88W ...Greensville County... Purdy 3.0 in 0830 PM 01/25 36.82N/77.59W ...Hanover County... 2 E Montpelier 5.2 in 0800 AM 01/26 37.81N/77.64W 2 WSW Gum Tree 4.6 in 0305 PM 01/25 37.81N/77.51W 0.9 SW Ashland 4.5 in 0600 PM 01/25 37.75N/77.48W 2 NNE Goodall 4.5 in 0700 PM 01/25 37.81N/77.62W 2 S Vontay 4.0 in 0209 PM 01/25 37.73N/77.76W Doswell 4.0 in 0338 PM 01/25 37.86N/77.46W ...Henrico County... 3 N Short Pump 5.5 in 0949 AM 01/26 37.69N/77.60W Tuckahoe 4.5 in 0900 PM 01/25 37.59N/77.59W 3 NNE Short Pump 3.7 in 0800 AM 01/26 37.68N/77.59W ...Louisa County... 2 NNE Wares Crossroads 9.7 in 0853 PM 01/25 38.10N/77.87W 1 NNE Wares Crossroads 9.7 in 0800 AM 01/26 38.10N/77.87W Zion Crossroads 7.5 in 0800 AM 01/26 37.97N/78.22W 2 SE Apple Grove 5.8 in 0150 PM 01/25 37.87N/77.86W 2 NW Louisa 5.0 in 0915 AM 01/26 38.04N/78.02W ...Lunenburg County... 2 N Dundas 2.1 in 0800 AM 01/26 36.95N/78.03W ...New Kent County... Quinton 2.5 in 0900 PM 01/25 37.53N/77.12W ...Nottoway County... 2 WSW Clay Store 2.5 in 0200 PM 01/25 37.19N/78.00W ...Powhatan County... 3 SE Subletts 5.3 in 0351 PM 01/25 37.55N/77.71W Powhatan 4.0 in 0900 PM 01/25 37.54N/77.92W ...Prince Edward County... 1 SSW Farmville 2.5 in 0800 AM 01/26 37.29N/78.40W ...Prince George County... 3 SSE Templeton 2.0 in 0525 PM 01/25 37.04N/77.31W ...York County... 2 S Oaktree 1.5 in 0800 AM 01/26 37.30N/76.70W
Environment
Synoptic summary.
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| Loop of WPC Surface Analysis from 12z/7 AM on 1-24 to 12z/7 AM on 1-26 in 3 hour Increments | 500mb Loop...Coming Soon |
Surface-925-850mb summary from 7 PM on 1-24 to 7 PM on 1-25 in 2 hour increments.
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| 925mb Loop | 850mb Loop | Sfc T/Td/MSLP Loop |
Analysis Sounding Data. Loops are from 7 PM on 1-24 to 7 PM on 1-25 in 6 hour increments.
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| LKU (Louisa, VA) | RIC (Richmond, VA) | SBY (Salisbury, MD) | ORF (Norfolk, VA) |
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