At a Glance
- Another winter storm brought snow, ice from the South into the Northeast
- Snow from this storm set records in Arkansas and Texas.
- Ice damaged trees and power lines in Virginia.
Winter Storm Viola brought snow and ice from the South to the Northeast, setting two records in the South, and its ice damaged trees and knocked out power.
Viola impacted the South late Tuesday through Wednesday night.
Oklahoma City picked up about 4 inches of snow, Tulsa measured 5 inches and Dallas-Ft. Worth picked up 1 inch of snow.
Parts of Texas and Louisiana picked up one-quarter to one-half inch of ice accumulation.
This ice accumulation on top of snow and ice from Winter Storm Uri earlier this week lead to a number of structure collapses from Texas to Mississippi, including carports, barns, even the roof of some homes, according to the National Weather Service.
One tenth to one quarter inch of ice accumulation was also observed on the north side of the Houston metro and also in San Antonio. Light freezing rain was reported as far south as Laredo, Kingsville and Corpus Christi, Texas.
Meanwhile, parts of Oklahoma, northern Texas and Arkansas picked up over 6 more inches of snow from Viola Wednesday.
One location near the Red River in southern Oklahoma Wednesday reported 16 to 18 inches of snow on the ground from both winter storms, with snow "covering bumpers", according to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office.
The storm brought portions of southern Arkansas 10 to 14 inches of snowfall.
Little Rock picked up another 11.8 inches of snow from Viola on Wednesday. This is the city's second-heaviest calendar day snowfall on record, only topped by a storm that produced 12 inches in one day on March 6, 1875.
It was also the second time in three days Little Rock picked up at least 6 inches of snow in a day. In records dating to 1875, they never previously had two such heavy snow days in the same winter, much less within 3 days.
This pushed Little Rock to tie its all-time deepest snow cover, 15 inches, Thursday.
Memphis, Tennessee, saw 7.2 inches of snow from Viola on Wednesday.
Viola produced a thin band of heavy snow Thursday across northern Maryland, southeast Pennsylvania and central New Jersey, including the northern suburbs of Philadelphia. Up to 10 inches of snow was reported in Norristown, Pennsylvania, and near Prospect Park, New Jersey.
Oddly enough, an upper-level system on the southward end of Winter Storm Viola produced a heavy band of snow over parts of central Texas and the Rio Grande Valley Thursday.
This intense band dumped over 9 inches of snow in Del Rio, Texas, smashing the city's all-time daily and 24-hour snowfall records, which had stood since January 1985. Del Rio averages only 1.2 inches of snow each year.
More snow fell in the Northeast from Viola on Friday. More than 6 inches of snow fell in parts of southeastern Massachusetts, including up to 7.5 inches in Dartmouth.
New York City's Central Park picked up 4.4 inches Thursday into Friday. That brings the February total in New York City up to 25.6 inches, making it the eighth snowiest Feburary on record there since 1869.
Ice accumulations from one-tenth to one-third of an inch occurred in a number of locations from Maryland, central and western Virginia into northern and western North Carolina. Trees and tree limbs were downed and power was knocked out in these areas, some of which were still recovering from last weekend's ice storm.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
