Arlington and the rest of the D.C. area is now under a Flood Warning.
The National Weather Service says urban areas and streams are in danger of flooding as heavy rain continues to fall. Already parts of Old Town Alexandria have flooded and some streams in Arlington are overflowing their banks.
A flash flood watch has been issued for Arlington County and the surrounding D.C. metro area.
Forecasters expect 3-5 inches of rain to fall between now and Thursday as a storm system soaks the region for much of the week. The deluge may cause local creeks, streams and low-lying areas to flood. From the National Weather Service:
Temperatures are expected to fall throughout the day and drop below freezing tonight, prompting forecasters to issue a freeze warning.
The freeze warning is in effect for Arlington and the rest of the D.C. area until 9:00 tomorrow morning. Periods of rain and perhaps even a brief bout of snow is expected between now and then, as a cold front passes through the area.
The light snow has, however, caused some flight delays at Reagan National Airport.
Inbound flights are being delayed an average of 52 minutes at their origin, according to Flight Aware. Departure delays are averaging about 45 minutes.
Update at 9:35 a.m. — Runways have reopened at Reagan National Airport. Metro says it will resume normal Metrobus service at 11:00 a.m.
A late season snow storm has shut down the federal government as well as all Arlington County schools, government offices, courts and facilities.
Arlington and the rest of the D.C. region will be waking up to a white St. Patrick’s Day.
A Winter Storm Warning has been issued for the region. The National Weather Service says 4-8 inches of snow is possible, with most of the flakes falling overnight. The Capital Weather Gang, however, predicts that much of Arlington and the District will only see 1-3 inches.
Update at 5:05 p.m. — A Severe Thunderstorm Watch has been issued for Arlington and the surrounding D.C. region through 10:00 tonight.
The National Weather Service has issued a Wind Advisory for tonight and Thursday morning.
The Arlington Office of Emergency Management is asking all residents and office workers in Arlington to participate in a statewide tornado safety drill tomorrow morning.
The drill will take place at 9:45 a.m. on Tuesday. Participants are asked to “go low and stay low” by going to the lowest level of the building they are in, staying away from windows and doors, and crouching down and covering their heads, according to OEM.
Sidewalks and roads in many parts of Arlington are still covered with snow Monday afternoon, even though the flakes stopped falling around 2:00 p.m. But that hasn’t stopped plenty of folks in Arlington from venturing outdoors to enjoy the winter wonderland.
Temperatures are expected to continue to plummet into the single digits tonight, so any snow left on roads and sidewalks could turn into a slippery, icy mess.
About 4-6 inches of snow fell in Arlington, barely meeting the low end of the National Weather Service’s forecast. But the snowfall still managed to cause plenty of problems around town.
The local Virginia State Police barracks reported a total of 111 crashes, 84 disabled vehicles and 372 calls for service as of 3:00 p.m. That’s on top of numerous accidents reported on local Arlington County streets.
The snowball fight will be held at Quincy Park (1021 N. Quincy Street), near the Virginia Square Metro station, at 4:00 p.m. today. Organizers are billing it as “the most epic snowball fight in the history of Arlington” and are pledging to collect donations for the Frye Foundation.
So far, 11 people have RSVPed “yes” on the snowball fight’s Facebook page. That would be about half the size of the crowd that showed up at the Clarendon Metro station for a snowball fight on Feb. 6, 2010 — the snow storm also known as “Snowmageddon.”
The temperature had dropped from 34 degrees to 19 degrees from midnight to 8:00 a.m. in Arlington, according to ABC7 meteorologist Ryan Miller. Light, fluffy snow is falling in sheets, blown by 20-30 mile per hour wind gusts.
Forecasters are calling for 6-10 inches of snow to fall by the time the storm tapers off tonight.
