Snow In Virginia

[kefirmaven]

OMG! Snow is rare here, but look at this mess!

http://www.wdbj7.com/Global/category...&nav=menu368_1

[reavilh]

The only good thing is that this is the weekend. Be careful if you have to go out, and please stay in if you can. Here in Missouri we have a light dusting. Just enough to make the ramp into the house slick as snot!

[kefirmaven]

I'm not going out today. The snow is halfway up the gate, that is how deep it is. It is still coming down gangbusters. I went out in it yesterday to get more shrink heat wrap window insulator kits, and some rapid melt (which is in the car). The snow plow has me blocked. I'd have to get somebody a lot stronger to dig me out!



The latest news on this. Flights canceled; Shelters set up near interstates for stranded motorists
Roanoke Regional Airport Roanoke Regional Airport
Downtown Christiansburg Downtown Christiansburg
Traffic stopped on Orange Ave. in Roanoke Traffic stopped on Orange Ave. in Roanoke

Shelters
Authorities in several areas are setting up shelters for motorists stranded on the interstates by the storm. Here are the shelters that are currently in operation (as of 1:15 a.m.):

Wythe County: George Wythe High School
Montgomery County: Christiansburg Fire Department
Carroll County: Hillsville United Methodist Church
Roanoke County: Fort Lewis Fire Rescue Station #9

Police in Montgomery county are removing people from the interstate in ATV's and fire department vehicles.

Wythe County declares local emergency because of motorists stranded on I-81 & I-77

UPDATE (1:55 am): Keith Dunagan with the Wythe County Sheriff's department reports that I-77 between Wythe County and West Virginia is now closed because of accidents.

12:30 am
Keith Dunagan with the Wythe County sheriff's department says the winter snow storm has caused major traffic jams along interstates 81 and 77. Dunagan says traffic is blocked on I-81 from exit 80 to exit 72. He also reports that traffic from Wythe County to the North Carolina line is blocked on I-77 and won't likely move for another two hours.
Wythe County is setting up a shelter at George Wythe High School in the town of Wytheville. Dispatchers tell News 7 that no one is in the shelter yet, but police are trying to move people from the interstates to this new shelter.

State Police Respond to more than 100 accidents
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- A winter storm barreling into Virginia already is creating headaches on the highways. Virginia State Police report that the Wytheville and Salem divisions received calls for more than 160 crashes during a two-hour, 15-minute span Friday. The majority of those crashes involve vehicle damage but no injuries.
Along Interstate 81 from the Tennessee border to Staunton 46 traffic crashes have been reported. Snowy and icy stretches of highway are reported along western and southwest Virginia.

Governor Declares A State of Emergency
Governor Tim Kaine declares a state of emergency in Virginia. That declaration activates many additional state resources to react to the winter storm moving through most counties and cities across the commonwealth. Read the news release here.

National Guard Activated for Winter Storm Help
Four hundred national guard member have been mobilized in the state and will stage in the following localities to help with the winter storm emergency:
Charlottesville, Lynchburg, Staunton, Covington, Radford, Roanoke, Woodstock, Stafford, New Market, Winchester, Wytheville and Lexington

Accidents & Road Closures
Click here for road conditions update from VDOT

We are hearing reports from the New River Valley that Rt. 460 between Blacksburg and Christiansburg is very treacherous. Apparently several tractor trailers have been involved in accidents but we have no confirmation yet from VDOT. Send us e-mail if you have information about this situation.

I-77 - Bland Co. - East River Mountain Tunnel - northbound lane is closed
Rt. 58 - Carroll Co. at Stillhouse Rd. - trailer accident
Rt. 220 Henry Co. at Greensboro Rd. - disabled vehicle
Rt. 220 Henry Co. at Reservoir Rd. - tractor trailer accident
I-81 - Montgomery Co. at mile marker 124 - disabled vehicle
I-81 - Montgomery Co. at mile marker 127 - disabled vehicle
I-81 - Rockbridge Co. at mile marker 188 - disabled vehicle
I-64 - Alleghany co. at mile marker 16 - tractor trailer accident
I-81 - Augusta Co. at mile marker 220 - multi-vehicle accident.

Bus Service:
Valley Metro is on snow routes.
Blacksburg Transit will have no service Friday night or Saturday.

Airports:
Early morning Saturday flights are canceled at the Roanoke Regional Airport. The airlines hope to be able to begin operations by mid-morning on Saturday. Passengers must check with their airline to re-book.

The flight schedules are changing rapidly as weather conditions deteriorate.

Phone numbers for local airlines:
US Airways Express – 1-800-428-4322
United – 1-800-824-6200
Delta 1-800-221-1212
Northwest – 1-800-221-1212
Allegiant – 1-702-505-8888

Forecast:

A WINTER STORM WARNING continues through 7pm Saturday.

The next phase of the winter storm is taking shape today. Low pressure will slowly drift to the Outer Banks of North Carolina before heading to the northeast.

Snow is expected to continue through early afternoon, with an additional 3" to 6" possible. In Southside, precipitation type may change several times today from snow this morning to freezing drizzle this afternoon. All other areas will remain ALL SNOW throughout the duration of the storm.

END IN SIGHT?
Snow will taper off from SW to NE this afternoon/evening. Storm totals will likely range from 12" to 16."

IN COMES THE WIND:
Winds will increase today out of the northwest at 10-20mph. This will lead to blowing and drifting snow, along with potential power outages. Winds will increase even more Sunday, with gusts 25-30mph.

REST OF THIS WEEKEND:
Lows tonight will fall into the mid-20s with wind chill values in the teens and single digits.
Sunday features blowing snow in the morning, with partly sunny skies and breezy conditions in the afternoon. Highs will reach the low 30s.

NEXT WEEK:
Don't expect much melting this week, with highs only reaching the mid 30s. Any snow that does melt will leave a glaze of ice at night, as lows fall to the mid 20s. Skies will remain partly sunny through Wednesday.

By Thursday (Christmas Eve), a storm coming out of the south will offer a mix of rain/snow. Temperatures will be borderline for an all snow event. Right now we'll see around a 40% chance of snow showers.

Friday (Christmas Day), a few rain/snow showers are possible, but temperatures will be warming to the low 40s.

Meteorologists Jay Webb and Brent Watts

[Prudenspurple]

Hope you stay warm and comfy with no power outages! We just caught the beginning of this storm and it moved through quickly so we only got around 6".
My inlaws in Federick, Maryland are battening down the hatches with 6" to 10" on the ground and lots more coming down!

Be Careful out there good folks!

TimothyT

[HillsideDigger]

The snow got to 10" deep here last evening in the NC foothills. The sun is now shining.

[kefirmaven]

We have at least 22 inches. Some area newsie websites have reports of sorts: http://www.rockbridgeweekly.com/rw_a....php?ndx=16183

http://www.roanoke.com/wb/xp-index

http://augustafreepress.com/

My nutcase brother is at Towers Mall, in Roanoke right now. CRAZY!

[RozieDozie]

Stay warm and safe, Kerifemaven. That's some storm!!!!

[kefirmaven]

Don't worry, I can't even get out of the house. I am blocked in!

I've heard on the radio that Botetout and Rockbridge County north on I-81 is blocked. There are from 500-1000 people trapped in cars. That same link on facebook reported that that part of Interstate is still messed up. We're not used to this, this is for sure.

[Gort]

Sounds like you have a snowstorm like what we had in 2004(Christmas Eve, early Christmas Day) ..
2 ft of snow(a record) for my area.

When we lived in SW Virginia... (was there for about 5-6 Winters), we only had 1 bad snow storm, and with ice...that was, iirc, Jan 1989. 1 ft of snow, and beneath that was ice, from a storm the day before.

One guy, when we first arrived to VA, told us about every 5 years, VA has a "snow storm" of around a 1/2 ft of snow,( or more)... and we just missed the one they had(by a week).
Seemed to be correct, about once every 5 years...but I had never heard of Virginia having as much snow as you have reported about.




You should be ok, it sounds like. Good thing you have power.
Hope it warms up soon, and starts to melt all of that snow.

Be careful, and try to keep us informed on how things are going, ok?

Boy, what a mess when that all melts !