Virginia, 2003

Heavy Snow in Virginia, January 22 to 23, 2003

January 22 to 23, 2003 · NWS RNK · 5 events in 5 counties and zones

Snow late during the night of the 22nd through early morning of the 23rd accumulated 5 to 8 inches in Grayson and Carroll counties, with 4 to 6 inches in Henry, Pittsylvania, and Halifax counties.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 5 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
5

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 late during the night of the 22nd through early morning of the 23rd accumulated 5 to 8 inches in Grayson and Carroll counties, with 4 to 6 inches in Henry, Pittsylvania, and Halifax counties.

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 Jan 22, 8:30 PM EST, 1 hour 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 22, 8:30 PM EST, 1 hour 30 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

5 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Grayson

When
January 22, 10:00 PM EST to January 23, 7:00 AM EST
Where
Grayson forecast zone
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
36.657, -81.225 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Carroll / Galax

When
January 22, 10:00 PM EST to January 23, 7:00 AM EST
Where
Carroll / Galax forecast zone
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
36.697, -80.829 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Halifax

When
January 22, 10:00 PM EST to January 23, 7:00 AM EST
Where
Halifax forecast zone
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
36.767, -78.937 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Henry / Martinsville

When
January 22, 10:00 PM EST to January 23, 7:00 AM EST
Where
Henry / Martinsville forecast zone
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
36.689, -79.926 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Pittsylvania / Danville

When
January 22, 10:00 PM EST to January 23, 7:00 AM EST
Where
Pittsylvania / Danville forecast zone
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
36.704, -79.396 (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

More

Every storm in Virginia in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Virginia, January 2003

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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5339117, 5339118, 5339119, 5339120, 5339121.