Heavy Snow in Virginia, March 5 to 6, 2001

Name: Heavy Snow in Virginia, March 5 to 6, 2001
Start: 2001-03-05T01:00
End: 2001-03-06T20:00
Location: Virginia

March 5 to 6, 2001 · NWS RLX · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Rains on Sunday the 4th changed to snow overnight. Snow showers increased by Monday evening the 5th, as a cold pocket of air aloft moved into central Appalachians from the eastern Great Lakes.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 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: 2

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 RLX wrote it up.

Rains on Sunday the 4th changed to snow overnight. Snow showers increased by Monday evening the 5th, as a cold pocket of air aloft moved into central Appalachians from the eastern Great Lakes. No snow was on the ground prior to the storm. Total snow depths ranged from 2 inches in the deep river valleys around Grundy, to 8 inches across the ridges. The Virginia Department of Transportation reported 4 to 8 inches in Buchanan Country. Clintwood had a snow depth of 5 inches at the end of the storm, with drifts to about a foot.

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 Charleston, WV wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 4, 4:15 PM EST, 8 hours 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 4, 4:15 PM EST, 8 hours 45 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
415 PM EST SUN MAR 4 2001

CENTER OF SURFACE LOW PRESSURE TO CROSS OVER CENTRAL APPALACHIANS
THIS EVENING. BEHIND THE SURFACE LOW COLDER AIR WILL FILTER
IN...ALLOWING PRECIPITATION TO CHANGE OVER FROM RAIN TO SNOW AS THE
NIGHT PROGRESSES. IN THE LOWLANDS AND MOUNTAINS UPSLOPE SNOW SHOWERS
EXPECTED TO LINGER AFTER THIS FIRST PRECIP SHIELD MOVES EAST. BUT
EVEN IN FAR WESTERN ZONES...AN INCH OR SO OF SNOWFALL POSSIBLE
TONIGHT.

FOR MONDAY STRONG VORT MAX DIVES DOWN INTO OUR AREA...WHILE UPSLOPE
FLOW CONTINUES. 24 HOUR ACCUMULATION SHOULD BE ENOUGH TO MEET
ADVISORY CRITERIA IN WESTERN AND CENTRAL ZONES.

IN NORTHERN TO CENTRAL WV MOUNTAINS UPSLOPE FLOW EXPECTED TO PRODUCE
HIGHER SNOWFALL TOTALS...SO WILL GO WITH A WINTER STORM WARNING
STARTING TONIGHT...THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT AS VORT MAX CONTINUES TO
CROSS THROUGH.

.RLX...
WV...WINTER STORM WARNING TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT
     FOR ZONES WVZ035>040...WVZ046>047.
     WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY MIDNIGHT TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY
     NIGHT WVZ005>011-013>020-024>034.
VA...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY MIDNIGHT TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY
     VAZ003-004.
KY...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY MIDNIGHT TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY
     KYZ101>103-105.
OH...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY MIDNIGHT TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY
     OHZ066-067-075-076-083>087..

.END/NMB

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Buchanan

When: March 5, 1:00 AM EST to March 6, 8:00 PM EST
Where: Buchanan forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 37.267, -82.036 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Dickenson

When: March 5, 1:00 AM EST to March 6, 8:00 PM EST
Where: Dickenson forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 37.126, -82.350 (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: 5230315, 5230316.