Heavy Snow in Virginia, March 20 to 21, 2001

Name: Heavy Snow in Virginia, March 20 to 21, 2001
Start: 2001-03-20T16:00
End: 2001-03-21T04:00
Location: Virginia

March 20 to 21, 2001 · NWS RNK · 7 events in 7 counties and zones

The combination of heavy wet snow and strong winds resulted in power lines being downed and scattered power outages.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 7 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: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 7

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.

Snow during the afternoon of the 20th through the early morning of the 21st accumulated from 4 to 10 inches.The combination of heavy wet snow and strong winds resulted in power lines being downed and scattered power outages.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Blacksburg, VA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 20, 3:22 PM EST, 38 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 20, 3:22 PM EST, 38 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...AMENDED TO TAKE OUT WIND ADVISORY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG, VA
322 PM EST TUE MAR 20 2001

WILL BE UPGRADING WHAT IS LEFT OF THE WATCH TO A WINTER STORM
WARNING BECAUSE OF SLOW MOVEMENT OF SYSTEM AND POSITION OF FORECAST
LOW. MODEL SOUNDINGS ALSO SHOW SNOW ABOVE 2000 FEET AND RAIN BELOW.
18Z SOUNDING IS STILL EXTREMELY DRY, WITH WET BULB PROFILE ALL BELOW
ZERO.  IF HEAVY PRECIP CAN START, AND IT SHOULD BASED ON SYSTEM
DYNAMICS AND PLENTY OF MOISTURE, QUICK BURSTS OF SNOW SHOULD
ACCUMULATE TO WARNING LEVELS, AT LEAST IN THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS.
PRECIPITATION WILL BE HIGHLY BANDED.

EAST OF THE BLUE RIDGE, A FOOTHILLS MIX OF RAIN AND SNOW IS EXPECTED
WITH ONLY SMALL ACCUMULATION OF SLUSH WITH TEMPERATURES IN THE MID
30S OVERNIGHT.  BORDERING WAKEFIELDS AREA, ONLY RAIN IS EXPECTED.

ONLY MINOR UPSLOPE SNOW SHOWERS ARE EXPECTED BEHIND THE STORM SYSTEM
ON THURSDAY WITH WIND TRAJECTORIES MORE NORTH-NORTHEAST.  THIS WILL
KILL OF PRECIP IN SOUTH-SOUTHEAST FACING SLOPES

IN EXTENDED...A WEAK FRONT IS PROGGED TO MOVE THROUGH ON FRIDAY.
SO, WILL KEEP EXTENDED AS IS.

PRELIM NUMBERS ONLY.
FCSTID = 13
ROA   36  43  34  55 /  100  70  30  00
LYH   36  43  34  54 /   90  70  30  00
DAN   36  43  34  58 /  100  70  30  00
BLF   31  35  30  50 /  100  70  40  00
LWB   31  35  30  48 /   80  70  40  00
BCB   30  35  29  52 /  100  70  40  00
TNB   30  34  29  50 /  100  70  40  00

.RNK...
NC...WINTER STORM WARNING TONIGHT THRU WED NCZ001>002-018>019.
VA...WINTER STORM WARNING TONIGHT THRU WED
     VAZ007-009>020-022>024-032.
WV...WINTER STORM WARNING TONIGHT THRU WED WVZ042>045.

HH

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

7 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Montgomery

When: March 20, 4:00 PM EST to March 21, 1:00 AM EST
Where: Montgomery forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.174, -80.387 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Craig

When: March 20, 4:00 PM EST to March 21, 1:00 AM EST
Where: Craig forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.481, -80.212 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Floyd

When: March 20, 4:00 PM EST to March 21, 1:00 AM EST
Where: Floyd forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 36.932, -80.362 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Patrick

When: March 20, 4:00 PM EST to March 21, 1:00 AM EST
Where: Patrick forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 36.678, -80.284 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Roanoke

When: March 20, 4:00 PM EST to March 21, 4:00 AM EST
Where: Roanoke forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.258, -80.016 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Rockbridge

When: March 20, 4:00 PM EST to March 21, 1:00 AM EST
Where: Rockbridge forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.774, -79.418 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Bath

When: March 20, 4:00 PM EST to March 21, 1:00 AM EST
Where: Bath forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 38.059, -79.741 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Virginia in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Virginia, March 2001

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: 5235467, 5235468, 5235469, 5235470, 5235471, 5235472, 5235473.