As I’ve mentioned before I go bicycling at least 2 times a week. This is mostly because I’m too busy to have a gym membership and I’d rather be outside anyways. During the colder months I just ride around the neighborhood, but when it gets warmer I often head down to one of Roanoke’s greenways.

This past Sunday, the first Sunday of Spring, turned out to be a very beautiful day. Not too cool and not too hot. If there ever was a difference between a “Mostly Sunny” and “Partly Cloudy” weather forecast this was it. This day had to qualify as “Mostly Sunny”. Maybe even just regular “Sunny”.

Well, I didn’t have time to actually venture down to the Roanoke River Greenway. But, I did ride down from my house to the Wasena Bridge and wasn’t surprised to see that a few other citizens too had the idea of visiting the greenway and nearby park.

Here are some photos from my bicycle ride this past Sunday:

Looking over the edge of the Wasena Bridge at the Roanoke River Greenway (paved pathway). The Roanoke River is just to the right out of the view of the photograph.

An (old) white house along 13th Street SW.

Grape hyacinth manages to grow among some left over Fall leaves. This was taken along the roadside in the Virginia Heights area.

Well, the rain seems to have ended around Roanoke.

Finally.

And the sunshine has returned.

For now.

Here’s a little proof:

6 o'clock sharp says the street clock downtown yesterday evening. Blue skies and sunshine make for a better background than rain and fog.

Cars seem to fill every available spot downtown near the Market. The economy is not so good so I hear, but what is good is to see that residents are still out and about in downtown Roanoke.

Well, I leave the blog for a few days and the next thing I know is that all the snow pictures I posted last week now look very much out of place. All signs of snowy weather around town are long gone by now.

Early last week a rather heavy winter jacket was mandatory, and by this past weekend shorts and short sleeves were more the norm around Roanoke. And I think I may have heard a lawnmower running in my neighborhood, but I can’t confirm nor deny such claim.

The heat of Saturday and Sunday really caught me off guard. I had seen the forecasts of temperatures near 80 but it didn’t really register in my mind. That is, until it actually reached 80. Then, I thought, this is hot!

Because of the unexpected rapid change in temperature over the past few days, I nearly broke down and turned on the A/C. But, by after dark in the evenings it started to cool off a bit.

I’m not a huge fan of the bitter cold, and likewise not of the heat, so hopefully we will have a good several weeks of the middle ground. We all know the middle ground, something like highs in the 60s and lows in the 40s. The kind of weather when I wear a light jacket to work in the morning, but by the afternoon I find myself carrying it instead.

And I actually don’t mind having to carry it in that instance.

In the meantime I’m still thinking about the crazy change in weather. That’s just the month of the March I suppose.

And that’s just Roanoke.

I think it has been at least a couple years since real, legitimate, school-closing-snow has occurred in Roanoke. I know schools can close for a dusting nowadays, but this time the winter weather actually warranted a close. And it seems to me that it may be considerably longer since I remember there being a snowfall with amounts exceeding 3-4 inches.

I like the snow. I don’t have 4-wheel drive but (with the awesomeness of manual transmission) I’m completely comfortable driving in these conditions. The worst part of the entire storm is the aftermath of clearing the snow off of the car, which took a good 20 minutes this time around.

Anyways, on to some photos:

Unofficial snow total on top of my car. I believe much more snow and ice fell, but this is the amount that stuck.

A different scene at Norwich Park than the previous post. Snow covers the entire park.

Memorial Bridge with some slush left after the snow.

Memorial Bridge the morning after the snow.

Snow on the railroad tracks in downtown Roanoke.

Looking down Jefferson Street in downtown Roanoke the morning after the snow.

Snow on the Martin Luther King, Jr Memorial Bridge in the late afternoon after the snow.

By late afternoon after the storm Mill Mountain only shows some faint signs of the snow remaining.

During the early evening commute home yesterday the roads were pretty clear, but the median still covered in snow.

UPDATED - See bottom of post for more recent pictures and snow accumulation total.

It’s snowing in Roanoke!

With only about 3 weeks left of winter, Roanoke is finally getting some snow. Some measurable snow that is.

It all started last night. I woke up today and noticed there was a very light dusting outside in certain areas. The snow was only sticking on about half of my yard, and the roads were pretty clear.

Here are some pictures of spots with the heaviest snow in my yard from earlier this morning.

Snow dusting in my yard earlier this morning.

For the rest of the late morning and early afternoon it was quiet outside. Then, around 2PM this afternoon the snow started back up, and it has been putting it down pretty good since then

Here are some pictures from other areas in my neighborhood around the time the snow really started to fall.

Snow Falling at Norwich Park in Roanoke a little earlier today.

Snow falling on the Memorial Bridge in Roanoke.

Snow falling in Roanoke while looking over the side of the Memorial Bridge.

It’s getting a little slushy on the roads and it’s starting to accumulate on the grassy areas.

So, another otherwise lazy Sunday afternoon is now just a little more exciting.

Still snowing very hard and it’s a thick, wet snow. Starting to accumulate quickly. At my house there is about 1 1/2 inches now.

Snow accumulation in my yard.