BREAKING: Arlington Public Schools to open on two-hour delay

Arlington Public Schools will open on a two-hour delay on Thursday due to expected freezing rain, the school system just announced.

APS follows Fairfax County Public Schools in announcing a two hour delay tonight. Other Northern Virginia districts have announced weather plans ranging from two hour delays to closures.

From APS:

CODE 2: All APS schools and offices will open two hours late Thursday, Dec. 15. The Extended Day program will also open two hours late and morning field trips are canceled. Custodial and maintenance staff and food service workers should report to work at their regularly scheduled time. All other employees should report to work two hours past their usual start time. For updates about Pool Operations, go to www.apsva.us/aquatics. For information about Arlington County operations go to www.arlingtonva.us.

More on the storm timing from the National Weather Service:

Here's a quick look at timing in regards to the wintry precip tonight into Thursday AM. Plan accordingly for slick roads & travel delays. Most locations change to rain late Thursday AM into the afternoon (outside of western MD). Drier conditions Friday. #VAwx #MDwx #WVwx #DCwx pic.twitter.com/UPDbPgz9dO

— NWS Baltimore-Washington (@NWS_BaltWash) December 15, 2022

Metro, meanwhile, said today that it’s tracking the weather and will respond to hazardous conditions as necessary.

Metro is keeping an eye on the sky and advising customers to be prepared for potential service impacts to Metrobus service tomorrow, December 15, if icy conditions materialize.

Metrobus plans to provide regular scheduled service tomorrow. However, if road conditions are observed to be hazardous, Metrobus customers may experience delays or detours as outlined in Metro’s light snow plan, which adjusts service on a route-by-route basis to keep buses off of steep hills, narrow roadways, and other challenging route segments during inclement weather.

Customers can review planned detours in advance to see how their service may be affected by clicking here. If conditions require that a route be detoured, customers will be notified via MetroAlerts email and text messages. Customers are also encouraged sign up for MetroAlerts and to follow @wmata, @metrobusinfo, and @metrorailinfo on Twitter for the latest service information.

Customers should allow additional travel time and use caution on platforms, escalators, parking lots and other areas that may be slippery.

Elsewhere across the system, Metrorail is expected to operate on a normal weekday schedule. MetroAccess will operate normally, with extra travel time possible based on road conditions.

VDOT is encouraging drivers to stay off the roads after the frozen precipitation starts falling overnight.

Motorists should avoid travel as frozen precipitation will create icy roadway conditions in portions of the Commonwealth tonight and tomorrow morning. Pavement temperatures will be at or near freezing levels. Temperatures will drop overnight and could cause treacherous conditions during the morning commute, primarily in the northern, northwestern and parts of central Virginia. As a reminder, bridges, overpasses and shaded areas tend to freeze first.

Freezing rain is forecasted to begin around 9 p.m. tonight in northwest Virginia and will continue through the morning.

Most Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) crews did not apply liquid pretreatment to roads in areas where the event is forecasted to start as rain, as the pretreatment application will wash away and be ineffective. VDOT crews are ready to treat roadways with salt, sand and abrasives once icy conditions begin to develop. Wreckers are pre-staged along certain routes and tree crews are available to handle downed trees.

Motorists should be vigilant, pay attention to weather forecasts in areas where they plan to drive, and delay travel in the impacted areas.