The National Weather Service in Blacksburg is again requesting your help keeping up with a major winter storm arriving tonight by sending us your snow, sleet and ice thickness reports.
As you’re likely aware, we have another round of snow, sleet and freezing rain entering our area shortly after midnight tonight, which will quickly overspread the lower mid-Atlantic by sunrise Thursday morning. Those living west of the Blue Ridge will likely begin the storm with a combination of snow and sleet that will eventually change to freezing rain. Those east of the Blue Ridge can expect mainly freezing rain with some sleet. Specific amounts of each precipitation type for your area can be found on our winter weather page: https://www.weather.gov/rnk/winter
Please understand that, for some areas, this is a particularly hazardous situation. Your safety is our highest priority as the ice and snow will certainly make for slick spots outdoors. If you feel it is too slick, cold or otherwise dangerous to go outside to perform a measurement, please stay inside.
If you are willing to take measurements, then could you please take depth measurements of any snow/sleet, as well as ice thickness measurements:
– when you wake up Thursday morning
– around 1 pm Thursday afternoon
– around 7 pm Thursday evening
– just before you go to bed Thursday night
We are especially interested in knowing if & when you reach:
– one quarter inch of ice accumulation from freezing rain
– 2 inches of sleet
– 5 inches of snow accumulation
While the times listed above would be most helpful, they are only suggested, and we are not asking you to interrupt your daily schedule. We’re grateful to receive whatever reports you are willing to provide, whenever you can provide them.
***** Special Request *****
For many people, this storm may bring the thickest ice accumulations seen in several years, perhaps even more ice than what occurred last week. Could you please submit any photos you take of the maximum ice accumulation you find in your area to our email: rnk.skywarn@noaa.gov? If you are willing, could you please include the exact location and the time the photo was taken, and hold a ruler up to the ice accumulation for reference. These photos will be used for training, research and documentation of what could be a historical winter storm. If we would like to use your photo in some form of publication, we will first ask your permission and, if granted, make sure to credit the photo to you.
Attached you will find simple measuring guides: one for measuring ice thickness and the other for measuring sleet/snow depth.
During freezing rain, ice accumulates differently on round objects such as railings, tree branches, etc., than it does on flat surfaces, such as a snow board or a patio table. When sending us your ice thickness reports, it is very important that you tell us what object the ice thickness was measured from.
The best location to measure the depth of snow and/or sleet is from a flat wooden board, preferably one that is painted white. This will help ensure a more-accurate measurement.
The best method to send us your reports is through our storm report form: https://inws.ncep.noaa.gov/report/index.html . These reports reach our forecasters immediately after they’re submitted, helping them keep the forecasts and warnings current and up-to-date.
If you experience difficulty using this form, please email us your report at rnk.skywarn@noaa.gov.
When reporting, please be sure to include your name and specific location, and identify yourself as one of our Trained spotters. As always, no information that is identifiable to you will be released outside of our office.
