Warm weather through Tuesday will restart snowmelt throughout the
James River basin this week before it once again gets tempered by
cooler temperatures on Wednesday and Thursday. A gradual warm-up
late in the week will continue to favor a gentle melt. Overall, what
was a fairly formidable snowpack in early February has been
diminished considerably by very favorable melt conditions and dry
air. Satellite imagery and webcams suggest recent weather patterns
have already removed a fair amount of the water equivalent via
evaporation and sublimation. So while the potential for significant
runoff remains, the threat of damaging high water this week along
either the James River or Pipestem Creek has lessened even though
substantial rises in the areas streams are likely late this week and
into early April.