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Adam Thorburn, 3, tries to sweep with a big broom while his brother Justin, 4, cleans a drain at Lake of the Woods Car Wash yesterday afternoon. The boys went with their mother Jill, who owns the business with her husband, to help tidy up. 'Winter is our busiest season,' she says.
Harold and Elizabeth Ames of King George enjoy yesterday's warm weather and fly their sport kites in Spotsylvania's Loriella Park, which will host a sport-kiting show in March sponsored by Wings Over Washington and the Richmond Air Force. |
It's 60 degrees and Fredericksburg-area residents are playing tennis at Kenmore Park, drinking coffee outside Hyperion, and strolling along the Rappahannock River in T-shirts and shorts.
This is not your typical January day.
Yesterday, the high temperature was 65 degrees and today the highs should be in the 70s.
This time of year, George Ritchie is usually selling sleds and snow shovels at Earl's Hardware in southern Stafford.
"What happens in this business is that people tend to do projects according to the weather, so we haven't sold a whole lot of snow shovels or salt," he said. "But we've still got some people putting down mulch, and fertilizer. People like to work on their homes and yards, and since the weather is so nice, they keep doing it."
The balmy weather has also been good for Carter Cycle, a custom motorcycle shop on Princess Anne Street.
Sarah Perry, an employee at the shop, said she has noticed more people out on their motorcycles then usual, and more people wanting to buy bikes.
"It does seem like spring is coming sooner so I think people are hoping that it'll get warm, so they want to hurry up and get their bikes done," Perry said.
Jerry Stenger, research coordinator at the state climatology department at the University of Virginia, said a reversal of weather patterns brought harsh weather to the normally milder West Coast and milder weather to the East Coast.
"So, for a few days, we got a glimpse of what our counterparts on the West Coast get," Stenger said.
Matt Faulconer, spokesman for Rappahannock Electric Cooperative, says this January has been 17 degrees warmer than last year.
"That means heat hasn't run nearly as much as it would normally run," he said. "On the utility side, this is good for customers."
Faulconer also said that last January, the average temperature was 3 degrees colder than normal, so bills last year were higher than this year.
Bob Innes, director of communications and community relations at Columbia Gas, said the unseasonably warm weather has affected his company, too.
"Usage levels should be down with the warmer weather," Innes said. "Typically, winter months are when most customers use their furnaces, and we see the greatest demand on our services."
The Virginia Department of Transportation has seen a savings of sorts so far this winter, said spokeswoman Tina Bundy.
VDOT earmarks $5.7 million for snow removal for its Fredericksburg District, and so far has spent just $1 million.
"Historically, February and March are the months when the biggest snowstorms occur, so we're not out of the woods yet," Bundy said. "By mid-March, we'll breathe easy. February is a month we watch closely."
According to Bundy, if there are no more snowstorms, the leftover money will be used for other road maintenance.
John Howe, a Virginia Cooperative Extension agent in Spotsylvania County, said warm winter weather has its adverse effects.
For instance, cold weather helps suppress some diseases and funguses that attack plants. Also, warm weather creates more mud--no friend to farmers.
It also keeps animals around the trash cans.
"It does affect the need to forage," Howe said. "The lack of snow or ice cover makes it easier for animals to find food."
Stenger hopes people won't get used to this weather.
"I just hope that not too many folks decided their winter clothes could go back in storage," he said. "There's plenty of winter to come and we may get the latter part of January to be cold enough to average it all out to normal." Stenger said.
He said the strange weather pattern is shifting back.
By tomorrow, colder, wetter weather will arrive in the area, the National Weather Service predicts.
The overnight low tomorrow night will be in the 20s with a high of about 40 on Saturday. Sunday will be even colder, with a high in the 30s, the Weather Service said.
Stenger said the coming cold weather will continue at least through the end of next week.
"There are signs of some chance of some snowfall later next week, but that certainly remains to be seen," he said.
To reach NIKI LARSON: 540/374-5000, ext. 5710
