See links for the first and second batches.

Fall Color in the Snow

Fall Trees in the Snow

Also known as OctSNOWber, the snow of October 29th was a significant snowfall. Here are a couple more pics from during the event (first batch here):

Fall Trees in the Snow

The Weight of the Snow Caused Many Branches to Fall

October snow is expected again this Saturday for the mountains of Virginia. See: WxRisk forecast

Also, the CapitalWeatherGang says:

Accumulation is likely to be highly elevation dependent, with no accumulation inside the beltway and perhaps a coating on grassy areas in outlying north and west suburbs especially as you get into Frederick and Loudoun counties.

More substantial accumulation may well occur above 1,000 feet in the mountains. Locations along and near the I-81 corridor like Harrisonburg (Va.), Martinsburg (Wv.), and Hagerstown (Md.) may also see some accumulating snow.

Flashback: 2009 October Snow pics/video here and here.

The recent rainy weather has brought some challenges to Virginia vineyards.

Mizuho Nita’s Virginia Grape Disease Updates blog explains:

…As you can imagine, this type of weather will increase risks of having late season rots…

…Since temperature during these rain events were low and we have not have many days with sunlight, you may want to keep your clusters hanging little longer…

We’ll have to wait and see what the 2011 vintage is like, but in the meantime, Fredricksburg.com’s Cathy Jett recommends enjoying a bottle from 2007 or 2010:

Buy a bottle of Virginia wine this year, and chances are you’ll get some of the best vintages the state’s wineries have produced.

The dry, sunny summers of 2007 and 2010 produced smaller fruit with a high sugar content, so the resulting wines have bold, complex flavors, said Bill Tonkins, president of the Virginia Vineyards Association.

Today was a gorgeous day in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. Here at Old Dominion Wildlife HQ, the low temp was 57F this morning with a high of 77F this afternoon.

This afternoon featured something I’d never experienced before… an earthquake! The whole house shook for nearly a minute. No damage or injuries here, but the ceiling fans were swaying and a picture frame fell over on a table. Reports from friends and family indicate the quake was felt in Fairfax, Brentsville, as well as the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. In Brentsville, some damage to the historical jail was reported.

More details about the earthquake can be found in this Roanoke.com article:

The strongest East Coast earthquake in a century struck from central Virginia today, vibrating the state from one end to the other, evacuating schools, flooding 911 call centers and sending office workers fleeing swaying Manhattan and Philadelphia skyscrapers.

The quake, measuring 5.8, was centered five miles from Mineral, about 150 miles northeast of Roanoke, according to the U.S. Geological Survey…

Trailcam Picture of April Snow in Virginia

With meteorological summer well underway and astronomical summer about to start, here are the spring snow statistics from Old Dominion Wildlife Headquarters:

2011 Spring Snow

See Also: No Joke: April 1st Snow in Virginia