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Richmond International Airport Richmond, VA, United States	About this Station Data Inventories DATA Station History State Climatologist Regional Climate Center Information at Other Sites National Weather Service - Eastern Region Headquarters - Regional Forecast Office - Current Weather Conditions - Current Weather Forecast Current Radar Current Satellite Sunrise/Sunset
ASOS Photographs Other Stations in Richmond List Stations in Division VA-02 List Stations in Henrico County List Stations within 5, 10, 25, or 50 miles Type* : LAND SURFACE COOP AB ASOS ASOS-NWS Call Sign/ICS* : RIC / KRIC WBAN* : 13740 COOP ID* : 447201 Climate Division* : VA-02 - Eastern Piedmont WMO ID* : 72401 In Service* : 01 Aug 1928 to Present Elevation* : 50.0m (164') above s/l Lat/Lon* : 37°30'N / 77°19'W County* : Henrico

Other Stations in Richmond

About this Station

Richmond is located in east-central Virginia at the head of navigation on the James River and along a line separating the Coastal Plains (Tidewater Virginia) from the Piedmont. The Blue Ridge Mountains lie about 90 miles to the west and the Chesapeake Bay 60 miles to the east. Elevations range from a few feet above sea level along the river to a little over 300 feet in parts of the western section of the city.

The climate might be classified as modified continental. Summers are warm and humid and winters generally mild. The mountains to the west act as a partial barrier to outbreaks of cold, continental air in winter. The cold winter air is delayed long enough to be modified, then further warmed as it subsides in its approach to Richmond. The open waters of the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean contribute to the humid summers and mild winters. The coldest weather normally occurs in late December and January, when low temperatures usually average in the upper 20s, and the high temperatures in the upper 40s. Temperatures seldom lower to zero, but there have been several occurrences of below zero temperatures. Summertime high temperatures above 100 degrees are not uncommon, but do not occur every year.

Precipitation is rather uniformly distributed throughout the year. However, dry periods lasting several weeks do occur, especially in autumn when long periods of pleasant, mild weather are most common. There is considerable variability in total monthly amounts from year to year. Snow usually remains on the ground only one or two days at a time. Ice storms (freezing rain or glaze) are not uncommon, but they are seldom severe enough to do any considerable damage. A notable exception was the spectacular glaze storm of January 27-28, 1943, when nearly 1 inch of ice accumulation caused heavy damage to trees and overhead transmission lines. The James River reaches tidewater at Richmond where flooding may occur in every month of the year, most frequently in March and least in July. Hurricanes and tropical storms have been responsible for most of the flooding during the summer and early fall months. Hurricanes passing near Richmond have produced record rainfalls. In 1955, three hurricanes brought record rainfall to Richmond within a six-week period. The most noteworthy of these were Hurricanes Connie and Diane that brought heavy rains five days apart.

Damaging storms occur mainly from snow and freezing rain in winter and from hurricanes, tornadoes, and severe thunderstorms in other seasons. Damage may be from wind, flooding, or rain, or from any combination of these. Tornadoes are infrequent but some notable occurrences have been observed within the Richmond area.

Based on the 1951-1980 period, the average first occurrence of 32 degrees Fahrenheit in the fall is October 26 and the average last occurrence in the spring is April 10.

Data Inventories

Please note that additional data (digital and non-digital) may be available for this station. Contact NCDC if additional details are needed.


Click on the following where available:


• DAT to obtain digital ascii data (charges may apply),
  Please do not order these data if you do not know what a Digital ASCII File is.
  
• INV to view inventory, or
  
• DOC to view documentation

Surface
DAT INV DOC 3200 -Cooperative Summary Of The Day
DAT INV DOC 3210 -Summary Of The Day - First Order
DAT INV DOC SOD -Daily Surface Data (TD3200/3210 combined)
DAT INV DOC 3220 -Summary Of The Month (SOM) Cooperative
DAT INV DOC 3240 -Hourly Precipitation Data
DAT INV DOC 3280 -Surface Airways Hourly And Airways Solar Radiation
DAT INV DOC 3290 -Summary Observation
DAT INV DOC 3292 -Weather Duration
DAT INV DOC 9950 -DATSAV 2 Surface (see Global Surface Station Information).


Upper Air
DAT INV DOC 6302 -

DATA

Additional data products may be available for this station. If you can't find what you are looking for here, please try our Most Popular Products page.

Forms, Publications, and Web Pages
Graphs and Other Images
CD-ROMs
Digital ASCII Files


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Forms, Publications, and Web Pages

Most of these products are publications that have been converted to on-line access. As such, these documents have column headings and are displayed in an easy-to-read format.

For additional information and product samples, click on the icon next to the desired product.

Hourly Precipitation Data for Virginia
Hourly/Daily Data, Local Climatological Data (Unedited)
Hourly/Daily Data, Local Climatological Data (Edited)
Daily/Monthly/Annual Virginia Climatological Data
Record of Climatological Observations
Annual Climatological Summary
Storm Data Publication


Miscellaneous Storm Events in Henrico County
    *All Drought Dust Storm Flood Fog Hail Hurricane & Tropical Storm Lightning Tornado Wild/Forest Fire Ocean/lake Surf Precipitation Snow & Ice Temperature Extremes Thunderstorm & High Wind

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Graphs and Other Images

Includes contour maps, time series, NEXRAD radar mosaics, and satellite images.

For additional information and product samples, click on the icon next to the desired product.

National Mosaic Reflectivity Images
Miscellaneous Satellite Images


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CD-ROMs

The following are some of the more popular CD-ROMs that contain data for this station. Others are available that may contain summarized data for this station. A complete list of CD-ROMs is available in the OnLine Store.

For additional information, click on the icon next to the desired product.

Hourly U.S. Weather Observations, 1990-1995
NCDC Cooperative Station Data
Solar and Meteorological Surface Observational Network
U.S. Hourly Precipitation Data


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Digital ASCII Files

These files may or may not contain column headers. In order to use these files, you will need to import them into a spreadsheet or database package for presentation. Please do not order these data if you do not know what a Digital ASCII File is. A sample Digital ASCII File is available for viewing but content varies a great deal depending on your request. Other digital files are available Offline that may contain data for this station.

For additional information and product samples, click on the icon next to the desired product.

SOD -Daily Surface Data (TD3200/3210 combined)
3220 -Summary Of The Month (SOM) Cooperative
3240 -Hourly Precipitation Data

Station History

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