Comparing weather patterns this week like comparing snowflakes

  Comparing recent weather patterns is a little like comparing snowflakes.

  Three days after seeing lows in the teens, Lynchburg set a record low Tuesday morning of 5 degrees, we could see highs in the 70s this weekend.

  “Generally in the winter it’s a roller coaster ride,“ explained StormTeam 10 meteorologist Jeff Haniewich.

  “That’s what we’ve had so far.  Some days warm.  Some days we’re really cold,“ he said.

  The eight to ten inches of snow that fell last Sunday night and into Monday morning did not put a dent into the moderate drought some of us have been seeing, Haniewich said.

  “Ten inches of snow is equal to one inch of rain,“ he explained.

  With the temperatures barely above freezing for a couple of days after the winter storm, the slow snow melt was more beneficial than say a quick burst of rain.

  “Snow hits the ground.  Sits on the ground.  Then absorbs into the ground,“ Haniewich said.

  The slower absorbtion is better for the ground than trying to catch run-off from a heavy rain, he said.

  Haniewich said it has been about an average winter as far as precipitation and temperature.