Arlington’s Emergency Winter Shelter will remain closed tonight despite gusty winds and temperatures dropping into the upper 30s.
Kathy Sibert, executive director of the Arlington Street People’s Assistance Network (A-SPAN), says that illustrates the need for a year-round shelter. A-SPAN has been lobbying the county board for funding for such a shelter.
It’s a beautiful day, and it’s only getting better as the temperature heats up into the low 80s. But along with the warm temperatures and the low, spring-time humidity, gusty winds are expected, and that could present a dangerous combination.
The National Weather Service has, believe it or not, issued a wildfire warning for the area this afternoon. Although we live in an urban area, there’s still the danger that small brush fires can pop up on days like this. Typically, those are confined to small, self-extinguishing blazes that start in highway medians or next to dry athletic fields — wide open spaces with lots of dry grass and other kindling — but it doesn’t hurt to be vigilant about where you flick your cigarette today.
The official start of spring is only a few hours away, but mother nature has been providing abundant evidence of its impending arrival. Here are a couple photos of daffodils and tree buds blooming in Rosslyn today.
Just a reminder: as we reported on Tuesday, Chain Bridge will be completely closed to traffic and pedestrians this weekend.
With sunny skies and temperatures in the upper 70s, it looks like the repair work, which has been delayed three times due to weather, will finally go on as scheduled.
At Virginia Highlands Park in Pentagon City on Sunday, the county’s snow melter sat idle as 60 degree weather ate away at the monstrous piles of dirty snow surrounding the parking lot.
Soccer, football, tennis and basketball were all being played, with most of the participants emboldened enough by the mild temperatures to ditch their jackets and track pants for shorts and t-shirts.
Throughout Arlington, today’s wicked winds claimed numerous trees, power lines and — in at least two cases — cars.
Among areas where large trees were uprooted were N. Manchester Street at 9th Road, near McKinley Elementary School, and the 1200 block of Harrison St., off of Washington Blvd.
High winds continue to whip across the region. As of 9:45 a.m., there were 863 Dominion customers in Arlington without power.
Strong, gusty winds are knocking down tree branches large and small around Arlington.
Broken branches have been falling on roadways and on power lines, keeping police and power company crews busy all afternoon. As of 3:00 p.m., there were between 250 and 1,000 Dominion customers without power in Arlington, according to the company’s web site.
The snow we were expecting, for once, did not materialize. Instead, it looks like we’ll have 40-50 mile per hour wind gusts later today.
County road crews, who were prepared to temporarily halt pothole repairs to focus on clearing snow, can now continue patching Arlington’s pockmarked streets.
Arlington County has issued an alert regarding the potential for significant snowfall on Thursday.
National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Watch for our area, beginning late Wednesday night through Thursday night. There is potential for 5 or more inches of snow.
Update on 2/18 – Several public works crews were out on Military Road today. A police officer was posted at Military Road and 26th Road this afternoon to help Taylor Elementary students cross the street.
Huge boulders of ice, snow and road filth cover the sidewalks along Military Road in the Donaldson Run section of Arlington, near Taylor Elementary School, forcing pedestrians to walk dangerously close to fast-moving traffic on the busy commuter route.
We learned that the county received emergency support from the state in advance of Wednesday’s blizzard. Eight front end loader and 16 operators arrived from Richmond Monday night.
We also learned who was driving all those dump trucks and other heavy equipment, seen on main corridors during the height of the storms. Starting on Friday, on the eve of Snowmageddon, the county contracted with the following companies to provide snow removal services: DHC Corporation, Bell Brothers, Inc., Rock Hard Contracting, Inc., Sagres Construction, Inc., Martin & Gass, Inc., and DRC Emergency Services, LLC.
