Blizzard and Ice Storm in Virginia, March 4 to 5, 2015

Name: Blizzard and Ice Storm in Virginia, March 4 to 5, 2015
Start: 2015-03-04T21:00
End: 2015-03-05T13:00
Location: Virginia

March 4 to 5, 2015 · NWS MRX · 3 events in 2 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 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: 3

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 MRX wrote it up.

A deep moist southerly flow aloft continued for an extended period across the Southern Appalachian region March 4th and 5th. Problems ensued as this warm and humid air mass was undercut by an arctic intrusion throughout the day on March 5th. Lift was enhanced by a wave of low pressure riding northeast from the Deep South across the Southern Atlantic Coastal Plain. Considerable melting in the warm layer lead to a lengthy period of sleet and freezing rain until later in the day when the cold air was deep enough for the precipitation to fall entirely in the form of snow. Ice accumulation was greatest across the Cumberland Plateau and Southwest Virginia. Several inches of snow fell in the higher terrain across Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee following the ice storm.

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 Morristown, TN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 4, 7:14 PM EST, 1 hour 46 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 4, 7:14 PM EST, 1 hour 46 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
714 PM EST WED MAR 4 2015

.DISCUSSION...A QUICK UPDATE TO DROP THE WIND ADVISORY. OTHERWISE
STEADY LIGHT TO MODERATE RAINS CONTINUE TO MOVE NE ACROSS AREAS
MAINLY NORTH OF I-40 AND I-81. SPOTTY HEAVIER SHOWERS MOVING FROM
NE AL INTO SE TN AT THIS TIME.

VERY MILD TEMPS AHEAD OF THE ARCTIC AIR MASS...AND HOURLY TEMPS AND
DEW POINT TEMPS WERE ADJUSTED UPWARDS...BY SEVERAL DEGREES BASED
ON 7PM EST VALUES.

PLAN TO UPDATE AGAIN TOWARD 1030 OR 11 PM EST.

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
CHATTANOOGA AIRPORT, TN             34  37  21  42 /  90 100  10  10
KNOXVILLE MCGHEE TYSON AIRPORT, TN  32  35  16  38 /  90 100  10  10
OAK RIDGE, TN                       30  33  16  38 /  90 100  10  10
TRI CITIES AIRPORT, TN              32  35  12  34 /  90 100  10  10

&&

.MRX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NC...NONE.
TN...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 4 AM TO 4 PM EST THURSDAY FOR
     ANDERSON-BLOUNT SMOKY MOUNTAINS-BRADLEY-COCKE SMOKY
     MOUNTAINS-GRAINGER-HAMBLEN-HAMILTON-HAWKINS-JEFFERSON-
     JOHNSON-KNOX-LOUDON-MCMINN-MEIGS-NW BLOUNT-NORTH SEVIER-
     NORTHWEST CARTER-NORTHWEST COCKE-NORTHWEST GREENE-NORTHWEST
     MONROE-SEVIER SMOKY MOUNTAINS-SOUTHEAST CARTER-SOUTHEAST
     GREENE-SULLIVAN-UNICOI-UNION-WASHINGTON TN-WEST POLK.

     FLOOD WATCH THROUGH THURSDAY EVENING FOR CAMPBELL-CLAIBORNE-
     HANCOCK-MORGAN-SCOTT TN.

     WINTER STORM WARNING FROM 1 AM TO 4 PM EST THURSDAY FOR CAMPBELL-
     CLAIBORNE-HANCOCK-MORGAN-SCOTT TN.

     WINTER STORM WARNING FROM 4 AM EST /3 AM CST/ TO 4 PM EST /3 PM
     CST/ THURSDAY FOR BLEDSOE-MARION-RHEA-ROANE-SEQUATCHIE.

VA...FLOOD WATCH THROUGH THURSDAY EVENING FOR LEE-RUSSELL-SCOTT-
     WASHINGTON-WISE.

     WINTER STORM WARNING FROM 1 AM TO 4 PM EST THURSDAY FOR LEE-
     RUSSELL-SCOTT-WASHINGTON-WISE.

&&

TG

Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 4, 1:10 PM EST, 7 hours 50 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
110 PM EST WED MAR 4 2015

NCZ060-061-TNZ012>018-035>047-067>074-081>087-098>102-VAZ001-002-
005-006-008-051815-
CHEROKEE-CLAY-SCOTT TN-CAMPBELL-CLAIBORNE-HANCOCK-HAWKINS-
SULLIVAN-JOHNSON-MORGAN-ANDERSON-UNION-GRAINGER-HAMBLEN-
NORTHWEST COCKE-COCKE SMOKY MOUNTAINS-NORTHWEST GREENE-
SOUTHEAST GREENE-WASHINGTON TN-UNICOI-NORTHWEST CARTER-
SOUTHEAST CARTER-ROANE-LOUDON-KNOX-JEFFERSON-NW BLOUNT-
BLOUNT SMOKY MOUNTAINS-NORTH SEVIER-SEVIER SMOKY MOUNTAINS-
SEQUATCHIE-BLEDSOE-RHEA-MEIGS-MCMINN-NORTHWEST MONROE-
SOUTHEAST MONROE-MARION-HAMILTON-BRADLEY-WEST POLK-EAST POLK-LEE-
WISE-SCOTT-RUSSELL-WASHINGTON-
110 PM EST WED MAR 4 2015

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST NORTH
CAROLINA...EAST TENNESSEE AND SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT...

STRONG SOUTHERLY WINDS WILL DEVELOP LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING AHEAD
OF AN APPROACHING COLD FRONT ACROSS MUCH OF THE REGION. ALSO THERE
WILL BE THE POTENTIAL OF RIVER FLOODING DUE TO PERIODS OF MODERATE
TO POSSIBLY HEAVY RAINFALL COMBINED WITH A SATURATED SOIL FROM
RECENT SNOW MELT ACROSS SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY...

LATE TONIGHT INTO THURSDAY THE COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH.
ACCUMULATING ICE AND SNOW WILL BE POSSIBLE...ESPECIALLY ALONG THE
NORTHERN CUMBERLAND PLATEAU...SOUTHWEST VA AND THE EAST TN
MOUNTAINS. ICE ACCUMULATIONS OF A TENTH TO A QUARTER OF AN INCH AND
SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 1 TO 2 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE. PLEASE SEE
THE WINTER STORM WATCH...AND WARNING PRODUCTS FOR MORE DETAILS.
BEHIND THE SYSTEM...ANOTHER SURGE OF COLD ARCTIC AIR WILL MOVE INTO
THE EASTERN TENNESSEE VALLEY AND SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED...BUT ANY REPORTS OF FLOODING
OR SNOW AND ICE ACCUMULATIONS TONIGHT AND THURSDAY WILL BE VERY
HELPFUL.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 blizzard, 1 ice storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Blizzard, Wise

When: March 4, 9:00 PM EST to March 5, 1:00 PM EST
Where: Wise forecast zone
Reported by: Emergency Manager
Coordinates: 36.954, -82.625 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Three inches of snow was reported in Wise.

Blizzard, Lee

When: March 4, 9:00 PM EST to March 5, 1:00 PM EST
Where: Lee forecast zone
Reported by: Emergency Manager
Coordinates: 36.705, -83.128 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Three inches of snow was reported in Jonesville.

Ice Storm, Wise

When: March 4, 9:00 PM EST to March 5, 10:00 AM EST
Where: Wise forecast zone
Reported by: Emergency Manager
Coordinates: 36.954, -82.625 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Two tenths of an inch of ice accumulation from freezing rain brought down five power poles in Big Stone Gap.

What these are

Blizzard: Sustained winds or frequent gusts of 35 mph or more with falling or blowing snow that cuts visibility below a quarter mile for three hours or longer.
Ice Storm: Freezing rain accumulating a quarter inch or more of ice, or less where it caused significant damage.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Virginia in 2015 Every state in 2015 This day in weather history Warnings in Virginia, March 2015

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: 554895, 554896, 554897.