“It’s Still Not as Bad as the Blizzard of ‘96” Henrico Man Says About Any Inclement Weather Event

HENRICO, Va. — Noting that the extensive snowfall that covered the entire commonwealth hasn’t been matched since, West End resident Ron Nabors, 61, has continued to compare every inclement weather event to the winter storm of 1996, sources confirmed Thursday.

“I don’t care how much snow we got that one night in 2000; nothing will ever compare to how crazy it was in 1996,” Nabors, who was living in Glen Allen when the infamous storm dumped over 18 inches of snow in certain areas of the Piedmont, explained in an unprovoked Facebook post last week, reminiscing on how frustrating it was to shovel his driveway out in freezing temperatures while his two children participated in a snowball fight with neighbors in the cul-de-sac.

“Even the soggy humid summers we have don’t hold a candle to how crazy it was when it took my pal Larry over an hour to get to the West End from Mechanicsville with his 4Runner. Hell, it took forever to get more than one lane cleared on Broad—and forget about getting to Ukrop’s with everyone else trying to stock up on their supplies.”

In a comment on a completely separate Facebook post from a friend regarding this year’s pollen season, Nabors again brought up the major winter storm that managed to blanket the entire state with snow, this time focusing on how long the area’s schools remained closed. 

“Yeah, pollen season is going to be rough this year,” he said. “But let me tell you, it’s not going to close schools for as long as the storm of ‘96 did. Every evening our eyes were glued to NBC12, waiting for the inevitable ‘Henrico County Schools: Closed Friday’ announcement.”

Nabors has also taken shots at the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that in 1996 he didn’t have the luxury of working from home with an office computer setup. 

“Sure, we had a computer room in the house, but I couldn’t just hop on Zoom for a quick meeting with the marketing department. That’s how wild it was back in ‘96.”

At the time of reporting, sources confirmed that while Nabors was watching Jim Duncan’s evening forecast, he commented that any possible thunderstorms the area may get in the coming days “still won’t be as wild as that blizzard from back in 1996.”