Photos By Tommy Stafford : ©2010 www.nelsoncountylife.com : John Howard (left) and Jacob Allen pose for a shot with Snowbojac, to say so long to winter and hello spring 2010 this past Saturday at Wintergreen Winery's Snowvivor 2010 Spring Fling. Click any photo to enlarge.

Wintergreen/Nellysford
Nelson County, Virginia
No other way to describe it, perfect. The first day of spring was beautiful and warm! 80° to be exact! Ideal for the 2010 Snowvivor Spring Fling at Wintergreen Winery!

Merideth Young (far right) from Heards and her peeps toast to a sunny day and good-bye to a very tough winter!

Mississippi Conjure stepped up on stage after Hobojac to keep the spring tunes going!

The entire event was a day of fun that developed after the brutal winter folks here in Nelson experienced after 5 feet of snow. CBS-19 Chief Meteorologist, Travis Koshko came out to the celebration to assure folks that winter is on its way out, though we may have a few days of cold weather left, maybe even a snowflake! No! Yes, it has snowed here in April several times, so let’s not get too cocky, just yet!

Junior Publisher, Adam Stafford, decided it was nice enough to dance to a little Hobojac.

Check out lots more pictures from the 2010 Snowvivor Spring Fling by clicking on the photo above!

There’s plenty more pictures over in our Nelson Mag Facebook album by clicking on the photo above. Not our Facebook friend yet? Click here to become one now! You’re missing out on lots if you aren’t!

See more photos of how folks spent the 1st day of Spring 2010 by clicking here!

Photo via Nelson County Sheriff's Department : Jason Todd Cash was apprehended Thursday night near Schuyler, Virginia.

Schuyler
Nelson County, Virginia
After nearly two months on the run Todd Cash was apprehended Thursday night by lawmen. “He was captured in the Schuyler area on the Albemarle side late last night,” says Nelson County, Virgina Sheriff, David Brooks.

Cash was wanted on a list of several different charges listed below in earlier coverage.

Earlier story:
Lovingston
Nelson County, Virginia
Nelson County Sheriff, David Brooks, says his agency is looking for the man pictured above. Jason Todd Cash is wanted in connection with several felonies he committed back on January 24th. We first told you about the search by lawmen here.

Here’s the information Sheriff Brooks sent over this morning:

Jason Todd Cash
35 year old white male
5 ft 5 in tall
Blue eyes
Blonde hair

Last known address is 234 Midland Rd, Buckingham, Co. Mr. Cash also has connections in Nelson Co & Amherst Co.

Any information leading to his whereabouts, please contact the Nelson County Sheriff’s Office at 434-263-7050 or 877-570-8477(TIPS) Anonymous tip line

Wanted by Nelson County Sheriff’s Department on the following charges:
1- Felony – Assault & Batter by ramming vehicle
2- Felony – Attempt to kill police officer
3- Felony – Elude police officer
4- Felony – Driving habitual offender
5- Misdemeanor – Property damage less than $1000
6- Misdemeanor – Reckless Driving

Snowvivor 2010 Spring Fling is this weekend @ Wintergreen Winery. Say so long winter and hello spring! : Click image to enlarge for more details.

Nelson County, Virginia
Calling all Snowvivors! Don’t miss the inaugural event for the Nelson County Snowpocalypse Support Group. Come out and say goodbye to the Winter of 2010 and celebrate the first day of Spring. Music by Nelson’s own local talent featuring HoBoJac with special guests Mississippi Conjure. We’ll toast the Vernal Equinox which occurs March 20th @ 1:32pm.

The event will be at Wintergreen Winery from 2-6PM.

Abandoned car on Rt. 151 near Rt. 613 in Nellysford. (Tommy Stafford) Nellysford, VA. © 2009 NelsonCountyLife.com

Remember scenes like this one of Route 151 in December 19, 2009? – Let’s forget about that!!

No admission…just want to get everyone together to have a little fun and enjoy the camaraderie we have developed through our Snowpocalypse experiences! Family-friendly and you are welcome to bring non-NCSSG members.

Guests 21 years of age or older: Wintergreen wines will be available to purchase by the glass, bottle and/or case.
Non-alcoholic beverages also available for purchase.
Picnic foods available in the winery’s tasting room and shop or you may bring your own.
Please note: Due to ABC regulations covering the winery grounds, no outside alcohol is allowed.

Photos By Tommy Stafford : ©2010 www.nelsoncountylife.com : Tim Gorman, winemaker and owner of Cardinal Point Vineyard & Winery gets ready to move a pallet of freshly bottled wine into the storage area of the Afton, VA winery. Click any photo to enlarge.

Afton/Roseland
Nelson County, Virginia
The weather was perfect and many local wineries and breweries were busy now getting ready for the summer season ahead. St. Patrick’s Day was spent in proper style bottling over a thousand cases of wine at Cardinal Point in Afton. “This is all 2009 vintage, so everything is harvested this past September,” says Tim.

Melissa Staten, of Cardianl Point's tasting room, and Henry Graff, volunteer and NBC-29 reporter, help pack cases of wine Wednesday at Cardinal point.

“These are local volunteers that get paid in wine. Most have worked before so it’s like the A-Team. But I always say they’re the A-Team,” Tim laughs.

Jason Oliver, head brewmaster at Devils Backbone cleans out one of the brewing tanks Wednesday while a new batch of beer is brewing.

Head down the road a few miles from Cardinal Point and head brewmaster, Jason Oliver at Devils Backbone Brewing Company, was busy brewing beers for the upcoming spring and summer season. “The summer haze will come back. That was one of our summer beers last year. It blew me away with its popularity,” says Jason.

Siporah Winsheimer taps one of Jason's fresly brewed beers at DBBC.

“Since the beginning to this point I’ve probably done about 1600 kegs worth, Jason continues. Jason’s first batch was done on Halloween 2008.

Be looking for more great wines and beers from all of Nelson’s wineries and breweries this summer. Can’t wait!

The Blue Ridge Parkway is now totally open for the first time in months. Winter weather has pretty much kept the parkway closed since December 19, 2009.

Blue Ridge Parkway
Nelson County, Virginia
For the first time in months, all of The Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia is now open. The December 19th blizzard shut the parkway down for weeks. It briefly opened for a few days then another series of storms kept it closed in Nelson until Tuesday of this week when the final section between milepost 0 and MP 13 at Reed’s Gap opened for normal travel.

Listen to today’s report by clicking the play button below:

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What the BRP looked like as recently as February 21st. This is looking south from the intersection of Reed's Gap at Route 664. Click to enlarge.

It’s not unusual for the BRP to be closed for weeks on end during the winter months, but this year has been unique since recent winters have not been as severe.

No chance of snow up there in the near future! Temps today will be in the 50’s to near 60° on the parkway warming to the mid 60’s by the weekend.

You can always find out the latest BRP information in our BRP Road Report by clicking here. Updated each morning around 8:30 AM.

Enjoy!

Photo By Heidi Crandall : ©2010 www.nelsoncountylife.com : Captured just above the water in Roseland, this goose feels right at home with all of the drizzle and light rain lately. Click to enlarge.

Nelson County, Virginia
Just one more day, then things really do improve nicely! A stubborn area of low pressure way off to our east is finally releasing its grip which means skies will slowly begin clearing, especially later in the day Tuesday. We may start off with clouds, but the trend will be partly cloudy by nightfall.

On Wednesday major improvement begins with mostly sunny skies and temps in the mid to upper 60’s, touching or even slightly above 70° by Thursday.

The next chance for any organized rainfall looks to be Sunday of the coming weekend.

Listen to Tommy’s Audio Weather by clicking here.

Photo By Paul Purpura : ©2010 www.nelsoncountylife.com : Cyclists enjoy a cool pre-spring ride along Route 151 this past Sunday morning. Click to enlarge.

Nelson County, Virginia
After a soggy weekend, we’ll see a variably cloudy day Monday with some sprinkles here and there with a warming trend and sunshine for the rest of the week. Since Friday we picked up just under 2 inches of rain here at Nelson County Life in the Rockfish Valley.

Up at 3500 feet on our NCL-Wintergreen Nature Foundation site they were closer to a total of 3 inches of rain for the weekend, checking in officially at 2.77″ by late Sunday evening.

We may see some sunshine by Monday afternoon but the really sunny weather comes later this week with temps rising to the middle 60’s by the second half of the week.

Listen to Tommy’s Audio Weather by clicking here!

Daylight Saving Time Begins This Sunday Morning. Move Your Clock Forward One Hour Before Bed Saturday Night.

Nelson County, Virginia
Just a quick reminder that Daylight Saving Time begins this Sunday at 2AM, officially. But it’s best to move your clock forward one hour before turning in Saturday night. Then it’s good to go the next morning!

Not to worry, you’ll get that hour back in the fall later this year!

Meanwhile enjoy that extra daylight!

A Flood Watch continues for Nelson and much of the area until Sunday evening. Click on image for the absolute latest updates from the National Weather Service.

Nelson County, Virginia
! CANCELED – CANCELED – CANCELED !
Flood Watch / Flood Statement
Statement as of 1:44 PM EST on March 13, 2010

The Flood Watch for portions of Virginia and northeast West
Virginia has been cancelled. Additional rainfall amounts are
expected to be light…and the threat for flooding has diminished.

FLOOD WATCH
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC
107 PM EST SAT MAR 13 2010

THE FLOOD WATCH CONTINUES FOR

* PORTIONS OF MARYLAND…THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA…VIRGINIA AND
NORTHEAST WEST VIRGINIA…INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING AREAS…IN
MARYLAND…ANNE ARUNDEL…CALVERT…CARROLL…CHARLES…
FREDERICK MD…HARFORD…HOWARD…MONTGOMERY…NORTHERN
BALTIMORE…PRINCE GEORGES…SOUTHERN BALTIMORE…ST. MARYS
AND WASHINGTON. THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. IN VIRGINIA…
ALBEMARLE…ARLINGTON/FALLS CHURCH/ALEXANDRIA…AUGUSTA…
CLARKE…CULPEPER…FAIRFAX…FREDERICK VA…GREENE…KING
GEORGE…LOUDOUN…MADISON…NELSON…NORTHERN FAUQUIER…
ORANGE…PAGE…PRINCE WILLIAM/MANASSAS/MANASSAS PARK…
RAPPAHANNOCK…ROCKINGHAM…SHENANDOAH…SOUTHERN FAUQUIER…
SPOTSYLVANIA…STAFFORD AND WARREN. IN NORTHEAST WEST
VIRGINIA…BERKELEY…HAMPSHIRE…HARDY…JEFFERSON AND MORGAN.

* THROUGH SUNDAY EVENING

* LOW PRESSURE WILL CONTINUE TO BRING PERIODS OF MODERATE TO
HEAVY RAIN THROUGH THIS EVENING.

* THE LIKELIHOOD OF FLOODING OF SMALL STREAMS AND CREEKS IN
ADDITION TO URBAN AREAS IS EXPECTED THROUGH THIS EVENING.
ADDITIONALLY…MINOR TO MODERATE FLOODING OF FEEDER CREEKS AND
STREAMS OF THE POTOMAC AND SHENANDOAH RIVERS IS LIKELY TO LAST
THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

A FLOOD WATCH MEANS THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR FLOODING BASED ON
CURRENT FORECASTS.

MONITOR LATER FORECASTS AND BE ALERT FOR POSSIBLE FLOOD WARNINGS.
THOSE LIVING IN AREAS PRONE TO FLOODING SHOULD BE PREPARED TO
TAKE ACTION SHOULD FLOODING DEVELOP.

A Flood Watch has been extended for Nelson and much of the area until Sunday evening. Click on image for the absolute latest updates from the National Weather Service.

Nelson County, Virginia
FLOOD WATCH NOW IN EFFECT THROUGH SUNDAY EVENING

FLOOD WATCH
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC
950 PM EST FRI MAR 12 2010

THE FLOOD WATCH CONTINUES FOR

* THE WASHINGTON AND BALTIMORE METROPOLITAN AREAS…NORTH-CENTRAL
AND WESTERN MARYLAND…LOWER SOUTHERN MARYLAND…EASTERN WEST
VIRGINIA…AND NORTHERN AND CENTRAL VIRGINIA

* THROUGH SUNDAY EVENING

* LOW PRESSURE WILL BRING PERIODS OF RAIN THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT.
THE HEAVIEST RAIN IS EXPECTED TO OCCUR OVERNIGHT AND SATURDAY.
WIDESPREAD RAINFALL TOTALS OF 2 TO 4 INCHES CAN BE
EXPECTED…WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS.

* THESE RAINFALL AMOUNTS WILL BRING THE LIKELIHOOD OF FLOODING FOR
SMALL STREAMS…CREEKS AND URBAN AREAS OVERNIGHT THROUGH
SATURDAY. ADDITIONALLY…MINOR TO MODERATE FLOODING OF FEEDER
CREEKS AND STREAMS OF THE POTOMAC AND SHENANDOAH RIVERS IS
LIKELY TO START LATE TONIGHT AND LAST THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT.
ALONG THE MAINSTEM POTOMAC RIVER…MODERATE FLOODING IS LIKELY
TO START SATURDAY AT PAW PAW…HARPERS FERRY…POINT OF ROCKS
AND LITTLE FALLS…AND LAST THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT. ALONG THE
MAINSTEM SHENANDOAH RIVER…MODERATE FLOODING IS LIKELY AT AND
DOWNSTREAM OF MILLVILLE.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

A FLOOD WATCH MEANS THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR FLOODING BASED ON
CURRENT FORECASTS.

MONITOR LATER FORECASTS AND BE ALERT FOR POSSIBLE FLOOD WARNINGS.
THOSE LIVING IN AREAS PRONE TO FLOODING SHOULD BE PREPARED TO
TAKE ACTION SHOULD FLOODING DEVELOP.