Residents of the Roanoke Valley know that you donât have to drive all the way to Blacksburg or Bent Mountain to see a vast difference in how some winter storms play out. A cold rain or non-sticking âwhite rainâ snowfall downtown near the Market Square or the Roanoke River can be several inches of snow or tree-sagging ice on Peakwood Drive in South Roanoke or Hunting Hills in southwest Roanoke County or up by the Star on Mill Mountain. This happened repeatedly this winter, playing havoc with the local details of forecasts in a season featuring frequent borderline-temperature precipitation events.