extreme cold | ARLnow.com

Published January 8, 2014 at 8:00PM | Updated January 8, 2014 at 11:38PM

Update at 8:45 p.m. — First Down Sports Bar and Grill had to shut down tonight, also due to a burst water pipe. From the businesses’ Facebook page: “We have had to close down suddenly for tonight because of a water pipe burst. Hopefully, we’ll be back up and running tomorrow. We will have an update on here as soon as we figure it out. Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused.”

Update at 8:35 p.m. — Tonight’s Arlington County Democratic Committee debate for County Board candidates was briefly evacuated tonight when a reported burst pipe triggered the fire alarm in the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association building.

News

Morning Notes

By Katie Pyzyk

Published January 8, 2014 at 8:45AM

Fisette Staying Out of Confederate Name Issue — Arlington County Board Chairman Jay Fisette said he has too much other business to worry about in the coming months to get involved with the request to remove the name “Jefferson Davis” from Arlington roads. Fisette says he’s sensitive to the reasons behind the request to remove the Confederate leader’s name, but the process for removal is laborious and has to go through the state. [Sun Gazette]

Burst Pipe at Reagan National Airport — Trader Joe’s in Clarendon certainly wasn’t the only business affected by a burst water pipe during Tuesday’s cold weather. Some pipes burst at Reagan National Airport yesterday afternoon and flooded the area near the baggage claim terminals for American Airlines and United Airlines. [DCist]

Around Town

Broken Water Pipe Closes Clarendon Trader Joe’s

By ARLnow.com

Published January 7, 2014 at 10:40PM | Updated January 8, 2014 at 11:25AM

Update at 10:00 a.m. — The store is back open, a tipster tells us.

The Clarendon Trader Joe’s store (1109 N. Highland Street) was closed tonight after a water pipe burst near the entrance.

News

Weather Causing Meter Malfunctions, Parking Enforcement Suspended

By Katie Pyzyk

Published January 7, 2014 at 2:30PM

The Department of Environmental Services maintains the county’s meters and reports this week’s colder weather and last week’s freezing precipitation led to a higher than usual number of malfunctions on the multi-space meters that dispense tickets. An average day typically requires around 15 repairs throughout the county. However, there were 29 repairs last Thursday, 76 on Friday and 61 yesterday.

DES also has received a higher volume of calls to the broken meter hotline (703-228-3298). Instead of the usual 40 calls per day, 90 came in on Friday and 117 came in on Saturday and Monday. DES does not yet have a tally for today, but anticipates similar numbers.

News

Campbell Elementary Evacuated Due to Report of Smoke

By ARLnow.com

Published January 7, 2014 at 2:00PM

Fire department personnel were dispatched to the school just after 1:00 p.m. for a report of smoke and an electrical smell. Students and staff were evacuated and spent time in the frigid outdoors while firefighters investigated.

No fire was found at the school, and a mechanical issue was suspected, according to fire department spokeswoman Lt. Sarah Marchegiani. Students and staff were able to reenter an unaffected area of the school once it was determined that there was no fire.

News

Cold Weather Causing Stress on Power Grid

By Katie Pyzyk

Published January 7, 2014 at 11:45AM | Updated January 7, 2014 at 2:56PM

Dominion is one of the power providers in the 13 states and District of Columbia that use the PJM Interconnect power grid. PJM informed all of its clients that the power grid is currently under stress because of the increase in electric heat use due to the frigid temperatures. It’s asking customers to help conserve energy.

“We are asking customers to consider altering their normal pattern of power usage to mitigate the draw that is on the electrical grid right now,” said Dominion Power spokesman Chuck Penn. “We are confident today, as we were yesterday, that we have sufficient power capacity to meet the demand, there are just some steps utilities are asking customers to take to ease the load. We are just responding to the request from PJM Interconnect.”

Schools

APS to Open Two Hours Late Tuesday

By ARLnow.com

Published January 6, 2014 at 6:55PM

Arlington Public Schools will open on a two hour delay Tuesday morning due to the extreme cold.

APS sent the following email to families Monday evening.

News

Emergency Shelter to Stay Open During Icy Weather

By Ethan Rothstein

Published January 6, 2014 at 3:15PM

Arlington’s Emergency Winter Shelter is now open, and will remain open continuously until the oncoming arctic cold front, expected to bring temperatures down to the single digits with a wind chill below zero degrees Fahrenheit, passes after tomorrow night.

The shelter, at 2049 15th Street N. in Courthouse, has capacity for 73 homeless clients, according to spokesman Jan-Michael Sacharko of the Arlington Street People’s Assistance Network (A-SPAN), which operates the shelter. However, it can provide some overflow shelter, if need be, and can send up to 15 people to the Residential Program Center on Columbia Pike.

Weather

Wind Chill Advisory Issued as Arlington Braces for Cold

By ARLnow.com

Published January 6, 2014 at 9:15AM

A Wind Chill Advisory has been issued Arlington and the surrounding region.

The advisory is in effect starting at midnight tonight. The National Weather Service says temperatures will gradually fall throughout the day, bottoming out in the single digits tonight.

Weather

Wind Advisory Issued as Bitter Cold, Snow Moves In

By ARLnow.com

Published January 2, 2014 at 3:00PM

The National Weather Service has issued a Wind Advisory for Arlington and the D.C. region Friday.

Wind gusts of up to 50 miles per hour are expected to combine with temperatures between 14 and 21 degrees for a bitterly cold Friday. Meanwhile, snow is currently moving in to the area, as forecasters are calling for about an inch of accumulation in Arlington through Friday morning.