Cold in Virginia, February 3 to 6, 1996

Name: Cold in Virginia, February 3 to 6, 1996
Start: 1996-02-03T08:00
End: 1996-02-06T12:00
Location: Virginia

February 3 to 6, 1996 · NWS RNK · 27 events in 27 counties and zones

Bitterly cold air overspread southwest,west-central and south-central Virginia on the 3rd and continued until the 6th. Several daily low temperature records were established.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 27 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 1
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 27

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS RNK wrote it up.

Bitterly cold air overspread southwest,west-central and south-central Virginia on the 3rd and continued until the 6th. Several daily low temperature records were established. At Lynchburg Regional Airport, the low on the morning of the 5th was 10 degrees below zero; tying the all-time record low. A Giles County man died of exposure and was found during the afternoon hours on the 3rd in the front yard of his Wolf Creek home. At Burkes Garden in Bland County, the low temperature on the 5th was 22 degrees below zero. There was an unofficial report of a morning low on the 5th of 20 degrees below zero in Pond Lick Hollow in Pulaski County. Most locations had morning lows on the 5th from zero to 12 degrees below zero. In south-central Virginia, several homes that did not have power restored after the ice storm were damaged when water pipes froze and ruptured.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

27 cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.

Cold/Wind Chill, Tazewell

When: February 3, 8:00 AM EST to February 6, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Tazewell forecast zone
Coordinates: 37.125, -81.561 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Smyth

When: February 3, 8:00 AM EST to February 6, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Smyth forecast zone
Coordinates: 36.844, -81.537 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Bland

When: February 3, 8:00 AM EST to February 6, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Bland forecast zone
Coordinates: 37.134, -81.130 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Giles

When: February 3, 8:00 AM EST to February 6, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Giles forecast zone
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Coordinates: 37.314, -80.704 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Wythe

When: February 3, 8:00 AM EST to February 6, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Wythe forecast zone
Coordinates: 36.917, -81.079 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Pulaski

When: February 3, 8:00 AM EST to February 6, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Pulaski forecast zone
Coordinates: 37.098, -80.645 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Montgomery

When: February 3, 8:00 AM EST to February 6, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Montgomery forecast zone
Coordinates: 37.174, -80.387 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Grayson

When: February 3, 8:00 AM EST to February 6, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Grayson forecast zone
Coordinates: 36.657, -81.225 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Carroll

When: February 3, 8:00 AM EST to February 6, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Carroll forecast zone
Coordinates: 36.697, -80.829 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Floyd

When: February 3, 8:00 AM EST to February 6, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Floyd forecast zone
Coordinates: 36.932, -80.362 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Craig

When: February 3, 8:00 AM EST to February 6, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Craig forecast zone
Coordinates: 37.481, -80.212 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Alleghany

When: February 3, 8:00 AM EST to February 6, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Alleghany forecast zone
Coordinates: 37.791, -80.000 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Bath

When: February 3, 8:00 AM EST to February 6, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Bath forecast zone
Coordinates: 38.059, -79.741 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Roanoke

When: February 3, 8:00 AM EST to February 6, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Roanoke forecast zone
Coordinates: 37.258, -80.016 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Botetourt

When: February 3, 8:00 AM EST to February 6, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Botetourt forecast zone
Coordinates: 37.557, -79.812 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Rockbridge

When: February 3, 8:00 AM EST to February 6, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Rockbridge forecast zone
Coordinates: 37.774, -79.418 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Patrick

When: February 3, 8:00 AM EST to February 6, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Patrick forecast zone
Coordinates: 36.678, -80.284 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Franklin

When: February 3, 8:00 AM EST to February 6, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Franklin forecast zone
Coordinates: 36.992, -79.881 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Bedford

When: February 3, 8:00 AM EST to February 6, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Bedford forecast zone
Coordinates: 37.315, -79.524 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Amherst

When: February 3, 8:00 AM EST to February 6, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Amherst forecast zone
Coordinates: 37.605, -79.145 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Henry

When: February 3, 8:00 AM EST to February 6, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Henry forecast zone
Coordinates: 36.689, -79.926 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Pittsylvania

When: February 3, 8:00 AM EST to February 6, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Pittsylvania forecast zone
Coordinates: 36.704, -79.396 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Campbell

When: February 3, 8:00 AM EST to February 6, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Campbell forecast zone
Coordinates: 37.310, -79.119 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Appomattox

When: February 3, 8:00 AM EST to February 6, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Appomattox forecast zone
Coordinates: 37.372, -78.812 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Buckingham

When: February 3, 8:00 AM EST to February 6, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Buckingham forecast zone
Coordinates: 37.572, -78.529 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Halifax

When: February 3, 8:00 AM EST to February 6, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Halifax forecast zone
Coordinates: 36.767, -78.937 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Charlotte

When: February 3, 8:00 AM EST to February 6, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Charlotte forecast zone
Coordinates: 37.012, -78.662 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Cold/Wind Chill, Giles	1996-02-03	42	Male	Outside/Open Areas	Direct

What these are

Cold/Wind Chill: Cold or wind chill below warning criteria that caused deaths, injuries or damage.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Virginia in 1996 Every state in 1996 This day in weather history Warnings in Virginia, February 1996

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5539667, 5539668, 5539669, 5539670, 5539671, 5539672, 5539673, 5539674, 5539675, 5539676, 5539677, 5539678, 5539679, 5539680, 5539681, 5539682, 5539683, 5539684, 5539685, 5539686, 5539687, 5539688, 5539689, 5539690, 5539691, 5539692, 5539693.