Via NWS: Click on image above to get latest updates.
Flood Watch / Flood Statement
Statement as of 10:38 PM EDT on July 22, 2013
…Flash Flood Watch is cancelled…
The Flash Flood Watch for portions of western Maryland…Virginia
and northeast West Virginia has been cancelled.
The heavy rain that prompted the watch has moved out of the area.
Another batch of light rain will move across the region overnight
but additional flooding concerns are unlikely
FLOOD WATCH
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC
1001 AM EDT MON JUL 22 2013
MDZ501-502-VAZ025>027-029-030-036>040-503-504-WVZ050-055-501>506-
222215-
/O.NEW.KLWX.FF.A.0009.130722T1600Z-130723T0400Z/
/00000.0.ER.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.OO/
EXTREME WESTERN ALLEGANY-CENTRAL AND EASTERN ALLEGANY-AUGUSTA-
ROCKINGHAM-SHENANDOAH-PAGE-WARREN-NELSON-ALBEMARLE-GREENE-MADISON-
RAPPAHANNOCK-WESTERN HIGHLAND-EASTERN HIGHLAND-HAMPSHIRE-HARDY-
WESTERN GRANT-EASTERN GRANT-WESTERN MINERAL-EASTERN MINERAL-
WESTERN PENDLETON-EASTERN PENDLETON-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF…FROSTBURG…CUMBERLAND…STAUNTON…
WAYNESBORO…HARRISONBURG…FRONT ROYAL…CHARLOTTESVILLE…
WASHINGTON…HIGHTOWN…MONTEREY…MOOREFIELD…BAYARD…
MOUNT STORM…PETERSBURG…ELK GARDEN…KEYSER…FORT ASHBY…
CIRCLEVILLE…FRANKLIN
1001 AM EDT MON JUL 22 2013
…FLASH FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS EVENING…
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STERLING VIRGINIA HAS ISSUED A
* FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF WESTERN MARYLAND…VIRGINIA
AND NORTHEAST WEST VIRGINIA…INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING AREAS…
IN WESTERN MARYLAND…CENTRAL AND EASTERN ALLEGANY AND EXTREME
WESTERN ALLEGANY. IN VIRGINIA…ALBEMARLE…AUGUSTA…EASTERN
HIGHLAND…GREENE…MADISON…NELSON…PAGE…RAPPAHANNOCK…
ROCKINGHAM…SHENANDOAH…WARREN AND WESTERN HIGHLAND. IN
NORTHEAST WEST VIRGINIA…EASTERN GRANT…EASTERN MINERAL…
EASTERN PENDLETON…HAMPSHIRE…HARDY…WESTERN GRANT…
WESTERN MINERAL AND WESTERN PENDLETON.
* NOON UNTIL MIDNIGHT…
* WIDESPREAD SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS…SOME HEAVY…WILL OCCUR
OVER ALREADY SATURATED SOIL AND TERRAIN OVER THE POTOMAC
HIGHLANDS…CENTRAL SHENANDOAH VALLEY…AND CENTRAL VIRGINIA
BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS. 2 TO 3 INCHES OF RAIN IS
POSSIBLE FROM THE HEAVIEST ACTIVITY. THIS WOULD EXCEED THE 3
HOUR FLASH FLOOD GUIDANCE FOR THE WATCH AREA.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
A FLASH FLOOD WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS MAY DEVELOP THAT LEAD
TO FLASH FLOODING. FLASH FLOODING IS A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION.
YOU SHOULD MONITOR LATER FORECASTS AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE ACTION
SHOULD FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS BE ISSUED.
Roseland
Nelson County, VA
After the thunderstorms moved out the runners moved in for the Summer Runnin’ Night Run held this past Saturday night at Devils Playground in Roseland, VA. Blue Ridge Life Magazine was a sponsor of the kids run event along with many others that take place there almost every month. 90 runners participated in the unique nighttime foot race.
Before the adult night run, there was a kids fun run. Above some youngsters cross the finish line in the race held about an hour before dark.Every youngster that participated in the kids fun run got one of our new really cool rust colored Blue Ridge Life Magazine hats!Whatever was left, Marcie handed out to the big kids!Runners prepare for the Summer Runnin’ NIght Run this past Saturday – July 20, 2013 at Devils Playground.No flash, this is what runners really saw when heading out on the course Saturday night.See all of the photos in our BLRM Facebook album by clicking on the image above.
Moore, Oklahoma Story By Jon Goff – Nelson County, VA
Editors Note: Jon Goff, a teacher at North Branch School and resident of Faber, VA recently helped with cleanup efforts in Moore, Oklahoma where a devastating tornado hit back in May. Jon worked with a Virginia Beach division of Operation Blessing. Upon arrival he was sent to an organization that needed additional help. Below in his own words, Jon’s story of time spent in Moore.
Christopher Legg, a nine year old at Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, Oklahoma, heard a friend crying as a massive tornado tore through town on May 20. He died heroically going to help. His parents, Ross and Danni Legg, lost not only their son, but their home and everything they owned.
For many in Moore, OK their entire lives were reduced to nothing more than piles of rubble like this.
The Legg family is not alone. Seven children were killed at Plaza Towers, and the surrounding neighborhood is left resembling Hiroshima following the first atomic bomb drop. The twister, which dwarfed the power of an a-bomb with winds in excess of 200 miles per hour, according to NewsOK, destroyed some 13,000 homes, and the damage is estimated at about two-billion dollars. The EF-5 tornado, the most severe on the enhanced Fujita scale and about 1.3 miles in diameter, left 377 people injured and 24 dead.
A tragedy nevertheless, the low death toll is a testament to the preparedness of those who live in Tornado Alley. Moore, Oklahoma is in the very center of this bizarre microclimate. Since 1890, 22 tornados have passed over Moore or the surrounding area, all following a similar northeastern path. The Atlantic Wire has a Google Earth image of each storm’s path. For comparison, the EF-5 twister that hit Joplin, Missouri on May 22, 2011, a region less prone to twisters, left 122 dead and about 8,000 structures destroyed according to National Geographic.
Jon Goff of Nelson County, VA putting on protective gear to run a chainsaw in the cleanup effort in Moore, OK.
To survive a Moore twister, you have two options: get out or go under. Many evacuated before last month’s storm, and residents commented on the congested traffic. Storm shelters are a common installation in homes, and shelter suppliers can be seen in shopping centers along the highway. Moore resident, Danny Johnson, took refuge with his wife in their neighbor’s underground shelter, measuring about 8 by 10 feet and containing only Moore High School stadium cushions. I asked Danny what had stood on the vast mud pit in front of us, with a massive pile of rubble behind it. He replied, “That’s my house. That was my garage door in front of you! I retired in January, after finally paying of our 3,000 square foot home.” When I called Danny on June 26, he said, “We’re doing alright. We’re moving into a house this weekend.”
Moore resident, Danny Johnson, took refuge with his wife in their neighbor’s underground shelter, measuring about 8 by 10 feet and containing only Moore High School stadium cushions.
So what can be done to prevent these tragedies in the future? Moving an entire metropolis isn’t an option, and Mother Nature is a stubborn adversary. When I asked Danelia Smallwood, a resident of nearby Norman, Oklahoma, she responded promptly in tears: “Basements help, but we can’t afford them here. Our land is flat and our soil is hard. Even if we have them, people still die by drowning or suffocation when gas lines burst.” Then she turned to Plaza Towers Elementary school: “The best we can ask for is mandatory storm shelters in schools.” Her daughter, Amy Smallwood, waited out the storm in such a shelter at Oklahoma University. Though storm shelters are essential to surviving future twisters, much work needs to be done now.
In spite of the catastrophic loss of life and property, people in Moore still have faith.
The volunteer efforts in Moore are incredible, and the people there can actually restore one’s faith in humanity, despite the surrounding Hell. People have rushed to the site from all of the U.S. and the world. Volunteers work to move debris to the curb, where FEMA uses cranes and dump-trucks to haul it away. The houses that have not been condemned need to be gutted for renovation. Both secular and church organizations are at work, and Protestants, Catholics, Scientologists, Jewish Missionaries, and non-believers work side by side for a common cause. Operation Blessing, based in Virginia Beach, is one organization hard at work. First Southern Baptist Church, built for a congregation of 7,000, now houses volunteers as “the hotel.” As I reflected on stories of Hurricane Camille, which devastated Nelson County and the surrounding landscape of Central Virginia on August 19, 1969, I remember the old folks saying, “Then the Mennonites came.”
A memorial to remember those lost in the May 2013 Moore, OK tornado.One of the tool supply trailers that Jon Goff of Nelson County, VA worked out of while assisting in the tornado cleanup in Moore, OK a few weeks ago.
If you are interested in helping the residents of Moore, please visit Servemoore.com, to which the city is referring all volunteer efforts. The family of Christopher Legg can be helped through the Ross and Danni Legg Family Tornado Relief Fund. Many organizations have been overwhelmed by donations, but money and labor are still needed. Helping is easy. Shelter, showers, tools, and food are provided for volunteers. All you have to do is head west on the Trail of Tears.
Via NWS: Click on image above for the latest updates
Severe Thunderstorm Watch
Statement as of 8:55 PM EDT on July 20, 2013
The National Weather Service will allow Severe Thunderstorm Watch
425 to expire at 9 PM EDT this evening for the following areas
In Maryland this allows to expire 2 counties
In southern Maryland
Charles St. Marys
In Virginia this allows to expire 14 counties
In central Virginia
Albemarle Greene King George
Nelson Orange Spotsylvania
In northern Virginia
Culpeper Stafford
In northwest Virginia
Madison Page Rappahannock
In western Virginia
Augusta Highland Rockingham
In Virginia this allows to expire 7 independent cities
In central Virginia
Charlottesville City of Fredericksburg
In northern Virginia
City of Falls Church City of Manassas Park
In northwest Virginia
City of Harrisonburg
In western Virginia
City of Staunton City of Waynesboro
This includes the cities of…Charlottesville…Culpeper…
Dahlgren…Falmouth…Greenfield…Harrisonburg…Luray…
Madison…Monterey…Orange…Spotsylvania courthouse…
St Marys…Stanardsville…Staunton…Waldorf…
Washington and Waynesboro.
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 425
Scroll for county / state outlines
URGENT – IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 425
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
110 PM EDT SAT JUL 20 2013
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
SOUTHEASTERN INDIANA
NORTHEASTERN KENTUCKY
CENTRAL AND WESTERN MARYLAND INCLUDING PANHANDLE
SOUTHERN OHIO
NORTHERN VIRGINIA
CENTRAL AND NORTHERN WEST VIRGINIA INCLUDING EASTERN PANHANDLE
COASTAL WATERS
* EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 110 PM UNTIL
900 PM EDT.
* PRIMARY THREATS INCLUDE…
SEVERAL DAMAGING WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH POSSIBLE
SEVERAL LARGE HAIL EVENTS TO 1.5 INCHES IN DIAMETER POSSIBLE
THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 55
STATUTE MILES NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 95 MILES WEST OF
ATHENS OHIO TO 15 MILES SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF BALTIMORE MARYLAND.
FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH
OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU5).
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
REMEMBER…A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE
FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH
AREA. PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR
THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS
AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY
DO PRODUCE TORNADOES.
&&
DISCUSSION…INITIALLY LOOSELY ORGANIZED BELT OF TSTMS FROM NRN WV
ACROSS SRN OH…AS WELL AS SEPARATE AREA OF CONVECTION OVER CENTRAL
INDIANA…MAY ORGANIZE AND INTENSIFY TO SVR LEVELS AS THEY MOVE
ESEWD INTO DIABATICALLY DESTABILIZING AND FAVORABLY MOIST AIR
MASS…NEAR SRN EDGE OF FAVORABLE MID-UPPER LEVEL FLOW.
MULTICELLULAR BANDS AND CLUSTERS WILL OFFER DAMAGING GUSTS AND
SPORADIC LARGE HAIL BEFORE WEAKENING EARLY THIS EVENING.
AVIATION…A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT
TO 1.5 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 60
KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 550. MEAN STORM
MOTION VECTOR 28025.
…EDWARDS
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE FOR WS 425 NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
110 PM EDT SAT JUL 20 2013
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 425 IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 900 PM EDT
FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS
ALBEMARLE ARLINGTON AUGUSTA
CLARKE CULPEPER FAIRFAX
FAUQUIER FREDERICK GREENE
HIGHLAND KING GEORGE LOUDOUN
MADISON NELSON ORANGE
PAGE PRINCE WILLIAM RAPPAHANNOCK
ROCKINGHAM SHENANDOAH SPOTSYLVANIA
STAFFORD WARREN
VIRGINIA INDEPENDENT CITIES INCLUDED ARE
ALEXANDRIA CHARLOTTESVILLE FAIRFAX
FALLS CHURCH FREDERICKSBURG HARRISONBURG
MANASSAS MANASSAS PARK STAUNTON
WAYNESBORO WINCHESTER
$$
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE FOR WS 425
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
110 PM EDT SAT JUL 20 2013
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 425 IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 900 PM EDT
FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS
BARBOUR BERKELEY BRAXTON
CABELL CALHOUN CLAY
DODDRIDGE GILMER GRANT
HAMPSHIRE HARDY HARRISON
JACKSON JEFFERSON KANAWHA
LEWIS LINCOLN MARION
MASON MINERAL MONONGALIA
MORGAN NICHOLAS PENDLETON
PLEASANTS POCAHONTAS PRESTON
PUTNAM RANDOLPH RITCHIE
ROANE TAYLOR TUCKER
TYLER UPSHUR WAYNE
WEBSTER WETZEL WIRT
WOOD
$$
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE FOR WS 425
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
110 PM EDT SAT JUL 20 2013
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 425 IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 900 PM EDT
FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: July 19, 2013
RE: 17 year-old female charged in latest Nelson County High School Bomb Threat
FROM: ANTHONY MARTIN, COMMONWEALTH’S ATTORNEY ROGER COLLINS, NELSON COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS
CONTACT: 434-263-7010
A 17 year old female has been charged with making a bomb threat after an investigation by the Nelson County Sheriff’s Office.
On May 28, 2013, Nelson County Sheriff’s deputies along with other law enforcement agencies responded to the high school after school officials found the threat which was written on a bathroom door inside one of the class rooms.
The arrest was made after several students including the suspect were interviewed.
“The school administration takes all school threats seriously. Any individual making a safety related threat will be dealt with in a firm and consistent manner including expulsion from school,” said Roger Collins, Superintendent of Nelson County Public Schools.
A written threat to burn or bomb a building is a felony under Virginia law and carries up to 10 years in prison for adults. The juvenile was released to the custody of her mother pending a trial scheduled for October.
Near Gladstone
Nelson County, VA
Most students spend their days in a stuffy classroom. Not this group! The Expedition began on June 22 with students from Hopewell High School, Jamestown High School (Williamsburg) and Hickory High School (Chesapeake). Focusing on the Upper James, they’ll traveled from Iron Gate and finished their trip in Snowden on June 29. The Lower James, the last segment of the trip spanning from Richmond to Hampton, will include students from Woodside High School (Newport News), James River High School (Buchanan) and Highland Springs High School (Henrico) on July 27-August 3. This past Monday a group from two Chesterfield County schools, Clover Hill and Monacan high schools have been traveling the Middle James from Lynchburg to Cartersville between July 13-20, made an overnight camp at The James River State Park.
Supper is being prepared for students and teachers participating in the expedition along the middle portion of the James River this past Monday – July 15, 2013.
For the third year, students and teachers from across the Commonwealth are exploring the James River aboard canoes, bateaux, rafts and work boats. The three-part trip, separated into eight-day segments, gives participants the opportunity to learn about the importance of the James River’s health through hands-on experiences.
The Expedition is once again sponsored by Dominion Resources, parent company of Dominion Virginia Power, through a $50,000 grant made by The Dominion Foundation, the company’s philanthropic arm.
“The James River is a vital resource to Virginia’s communities and we’re proud to sponsor the trip for its third year,” said Hunter A. Applewhite, president of The Dominion Foundation. “Dominion Resources is committed to preserving and protecting our natural resources, and we believe this is an investment in the future of the Commonwealth.”
Wintergreen Resort
Nelson County, VA
A new year, a new tent and the Wintergreen Performing Arts Summer Music Festival is underway! The annual month long even got started July 8th and runs until August 4th. This year festival is titled In My Mind’s Eye.
To learn more about the 2013 Summer Music Festival at Wintergreen, click on the image above to see the entire month’s lineup and events.Larry Alan Smith (center stage) Artistic and Executive Director of Wintergreen Performing Arts on the opening night of the 2013 Summer Music Festival Season.Another big change at the 2013 season is the tent. Now known as The Dunlop Pavilion which was made possible by Gana and Jim Dunlop. This replaces the former Evans Center that was home to countless WPA Summer Music Festivals as well as other events.Click on our Facebook album cover image above to see more of Paul’s pictures from the opening night of the 2013 Summer Music Festival At Wintergreen.
Many areas across S Central Virginia remian under flood watches. Click on image above for the latest information.
FLOOD WATCH
FLOOD WATCH
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
1116 AM EDT SAT JUL 13 2013
…POTENTIAL HEAVY RAINFALL THIS AFTERNOON INTO TONIGHT…
.AN UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM OVER KENTUCKY WILL SHIFT WEST
TODAY…REACHING MISSOURI TONIGHT. AS THIS OCCURS…THE SURFACE
WINDS WILL SHIFT TOWARD THE SOUTHEAST TAKING MORE MOISTURE INTO
THE BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAINS THIS AFTERNOON INTO TONIGHT. THIS
UPSLOPE COMPONENT COMBINED WITH AN ALREADY SATURATED GROUND WILL
BE ENOUGH TO RAISE THE FLASH FLOOD THREAT FROM ANY SLOW MOVING
STORM. HIGH PRESSURE WILL WORK IN FROM THE NORTHEAST BY SUNDAY
MORNING DIMINISHING THE HEAVIER RAIN THREAT. HOWEVER…THICK
OVERCAST THROUGH MUCH OF TODAY MAY PRECLUDE THUNDERSTORMS…UNLESS
SOME SUNNY BREAKS DEVELOP LATER TODAY.
ASHE-ALLEGHANY NC-SURRY-WATAUGA-WILKES-YADKIN-PULASKI-MONTGOMERY-
GRAYSON-CARROLL-FLOYD-ROANOKE-BOTETOURT-PATRICK-FRANKLIN-BEDFORD-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF…WEST JEFFERSON…SPARTA…DOBSON…
BOONE…WILKESBORO…YADKINVILLE…RADFORD…PULASKI…
BLACKSBURG…INDEPENDENCE…WHITETOP…TROUTDALE…VOLNEY…
GALAX…FLOYD…ROANOKE…SALEM…FINCASTLE…STUART…
ROCKY MOUNT…BEDFORD
1116 AM EDT SAT JUL 13 2013
…FLASH FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH LATE TONIGHT…
THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH CONTINUES FOR
* PORTIONS OF NORTH CAROLINA AND VIRGINIA…INCLUDING THE
FOLLOWING AREAS…IN NORTH CAROLINA…ALLEGHANY NC…ASHE…
SURRY…WATAUGA…WILKES AND YADKIN. IN VIRGINIA…BEDFORD…
BOTETOURT…CARROLL…FLOYD…FRANKLIN…GRAYSON…
MONTGOMERY…PATRICK…PULASKI AND ROANOKE.
* THROUGH LATE TONIGHT
* ANY SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS WHICH DEVELOP THIS
AFTERNOON…WITH THE GROUND ALREADY SATURATED…MAY LEAD TO
LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL AND WATER PROBLEMS.
* THE FLASH FLOOD THREAT WILL EXIST ALONG THE BLUE RIDGE…AS
WELL AS IN URBAN AREAS SUCH AS BOONE…JEFFERSON…GALAX AND
ROANOKE.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
A FLASH FLOOD WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS MAY DEVELOP THAT LEAD
TO FLASH FLOODING. FLASH FLOODING IS A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION.
YOU SHOULD MONITOR LATER FORECASTS AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE ACTION
SHOULD FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS BE ISSUED.
REPORTS OF FLOODING CAN BE SENT TO THE BLACKSBURG FORECAST OFFICE
VIA FACEBOOK…TWITTER…OR PHONED INTO THE NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE AT 1…8 6 6…2 1 5…4 3 2 4.
Very heavy rains moved into Southern Nelson County Thursday evening creating flooding conditions in many areas from Lowesville to Roseland. “I have never seen rains like this. I was trying to get to my dad’s house off of Lowesville Road and we decided to turn around. I couldn’t even make it in my large work truck,” said Carlos Becerra by phone to us here at BRLM Thursday evening.
Photo Courtesy of Krista Monahan: Portions of Woodson Road were closed by deputies and VDOT Thursday evening after flooding rains caused it to wash out.
Radar estimates we looked at here at BRLM show as much as 2″ per hour falling with the storms. But people in the storm reported more. “My station here off of Roseland Rd in South Nelson we were showing rates of 4″ per hour. We picked up 1.7″ in just 30 minutes. My backyard is a pond and the driveway is a river filling the pond,” Stuart Smith told us.
“We have a camper at the river that my husband is rescuing in the dark with his tractor and the help of our neighbor,” Susan Shimp told us via our Facebook page.
Flash Flood Warnings were issued for the area by the NWS.
Unfortunately more rain is in the forecast on Friday.
Lovingston
Nelson County, VA Story By Woody Greenberg
When Joe Lee McClellan bought into the cable television system in Lovingston in 1973 it was offering six channels for $4.95 a month – two ABC stations, two NBC stations and two CBS stations, beamed in from Roanoke, Lynchburg and Richmond.
What was then known as community antenna television had been born in the mountains of Pennsylvania in 1948 when an enterprising couple selling television sets figured they could increase sales if they offered better reception by erecting an antenna on a utility pole and connecting it by cable with signal boosters to customers’ homes.
But when McClellan purchased the Lovingston system, which had been built in 1967, from Burkes Fortune, Gene Beard and the Rev. John Gordon the state of the industry had not progressed very much. “We had 85 customers in Lovingston. We went as far north as Sunny Mountain Store, out Rt. 56 to Sam Eggleston’s house,” McClellan says during a break from walking the floor of the National Cable Television Association’s annual convention, held recently in Washington, DC.
He began going to conventions to learn about cable. “They held conventions in state parks. It cost $2 a night to park your camper. They had a cable feed to each camp site and meetings in a room that held 16 people, but you could sit in your camper and watch the meetings on tv,” he recalls. “It was all done on a shoestring.”
Today’s NCTA conventions are three-day affairs that draw thousands of cable providers, programmers and equipment companies showing off the latest technology and are held in major cities around the nation. There are dozens of sessions on topics ranging from advertising to cable’s economic impact as it attempts to deal with increased competition from satellite and wireless systems.
McClellan admits he knew little about cable when he purchased the system, but with Wintergreen being talked about – the resort property had been purchased and building would soon start – he sensed a business opportunity. He thought that under Federal Communication Commission rules he would automatically have the right to build a system there if he already owned a system in the county. He later learned that Wintergreen, as a private community, was not bound by the FCC rules.
He had to bid against other providers to get the rights to build the Wintergreen system and financing was elusive, but he ultimately gained the right to build the Wintergreen system. By that time he had expanded the Lovingston system to Shipman and had more than 200 customers. Satellite-delivered signals expanded what he could offer customers.
“Back in 1983 we could offer 12 channels for $19.95 a month. HBO had just launched HBO/Cinemax. There was ESPN and TBS. One 16-foot dish could pick them all up.” The dish cost $5,000, the receivers, one for each channel, cost $3,000 each. You needed a modulator to put the satellite channel on the cable channel you wanted to assign it to, and a device to combine the signals onto the cable that brought the channels to the customers. The original equipment used vacuum tubes. Solid-state systems arrived later.
Today, Nelson Cable offers more than 200 channels at Wintergreen, as well as high speed internet and VOIP services, with tv packages beginning at $64.95 per month and internet service at $15.95, though one would need the $29.95 service to be able to stream Netflix. McClellan says he can compete head to head with satellite at Wintergreen. The Lovingston system offers only 34 channels and its customer base has shrunk.
McClellan would like to expand what cable can do at Wintergreen. On the floor of the convention in DC he could see the possibilities. Companies offered systems that would allow second-home property owners to control the lighting and heating systems in their homes using the internet in their primary residences. These systems also offer security monitoring using tv cameras visible on mobile devices wherever you happen to be.
He has hopes the new county broadband network will allow him to expand into other areas. But it will depend on whether it is cost-effective for him. He is used to operating on a shoestring.
