Earlier — All of the weather advisories for Arlington County have been cancelled and the snow has stopped falling, but the storm’s effects still linger around the county.
There are 250 customers without power according to Dominion’s outage map. Some of those are residual from Sunday’s ice storm, which knocked out power to about 1,700 Arlington customers.
(Updated at 9:55 a.m.) Forecasters tweaked their predictions overnight for what intensity of storm they expect to hit the D.C. region today. While there’s still some uncertainty, it appears the impact will be less than originally anticipated.
The latest forecast from the Capital Weather Gang suggests the area could experience drizzle in the morning, changing to light snow in the afternoon, but with little accumulation. It’s expected that areas south of Arlington will get the heaviest snow, but that could change if the storm suddenly surges north.
Crews are out today pre-treating roads with a brine solution. They’re focusing on primary (red) and secondary (blue) routes, which can be seen on the county’s online 2012-2013 snow map. Workers will deploy from 4:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. tomorrow to treat and plow roads as necessary during the storm.
Although areas north and west of D.C. may get around 4 inches of snow, significant accumulation isn’t expected in Arlington. The Capital Weather Gang’s forecast currently calls for a warm up on Saturday afternoon that should change the snow to rain or a wintry mix. However, a snow crew will remain on call through Sunday morning to treat icy roads in case a re-freeze occurs.
Tomorrow (Dec. 21) is the first day of winter, and Arlington County says it’s prepared to deal with wintry weather when it finally arrives in the area.
Although nothing more than a few possible snowflakes is in the forecast at this time, the Arlington County Department of Environmental Services says it will have its 46 snow plows and 92 drivers ready when the white stuff does begin to accumulate. And the county website has some new features to keep residents abreast of road conditions and snow plow progress.
ACFD Food Drive Ends Friday — The Arlington County Fire Department’s food drive, which began on December 1, will end this Friday, December 21. So far, ACFD has collected more than 1,200 pounds of food for the Arlington Food Assistance Center. Non-perishable food can be donated at all Arlington and Falls Church fire departments, and at the county government building at 2100 Clarendon Blvd.
County Hopes Residents Remove Snow to Avoid Fines — Arlington officials are reminding residents that it could be another year that snow piles up and needs to be removed from sidewalks. The county hopes residents follow the snow removal ordinance that was put in place in 2010. Failure to remove snow is a civil infraction that holds fines of $50-100, and moving snow from private property into public areas (like streets) is a Class 4 misdemeanor. So far, no tickets have been issued under the ordinance. [Sun Gazette]
Forecasters have been predicting some sort of precipitation on Sunday, but it’s unclear whether it will be mainly snow or rain. As is often the case in our area, weather models are changing by the hour. Don’t get your hopes up for a repeat of the Presidents Day Blizzard of 2003 — but do plan on the chance of the season’s most significant snowfall.
In advance of the possible storm, the Arlington County Department of Environmental Services has issued a Phase 1 Alert, meaning crews will pre-treat roads with salt or brine as necessary. They’re also preparing snow removal equipment and personnel for the weekend.
Coincidentally, Arlington County started its annual snow training this week. Workers have been hooking up trucks, doing some trial runs and making sure all equipment is ready for the season.
Water, Sewer and Streets Bureau Chief Operating Engineer Dave Hundelt said, “Conveniently we get a random forecast for flurries or light rain/snow and overnight temps right near freezing for this weekend.”
Update at 12:05 p.m. — The county has informed us that the previous numbers we were given were wrong. The article now reflects the updated numbers.
Last week’s snow and ice storm has resulted in a total of 679 complaints to Arlington County through its new Report a Snow Issue form, according to the county’s Department of Environmental Services.
Chamber Questions HOT Lanes Lawsuit — The Arlington Chamber of Commerce says ending the county’s lawsuit against the I-395 HOT lanes project is one of its public policy priorities for 2011. “We find it kind of bizarre that the county has taken the actions that they have,” Chamber President Rich Doud told the Washington Examiner. “As far as I can tell, they don’t have many friends agreeing with them on this from outside Arlington, and I guess counting us, not many friends inside Arlington, either.”
Costly Sunday Snow Preps — Arlington County brought in 150 employees over a 24 hour period to prepare for an expected Sunday snowstorm. The snow ended up skipping the Washington area on its way up to Philly, New York and New England. More from TBD.
The ordinance calls for snow and ice to be removed from sidewalks within 24 to 36 hours of precipitation ending.
The chief means for enforcement of the ordinance will, essentially, be neighbors tattling on each other, via a new web-based reporting form.
Yesterday a plurality of readers said the program should simply be dismantled. But that seems unlikely, given the county board’s expressed support for the program on Saturday.
Susan Kalish, spokesperson for the Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources, says the county has gotten a “deluge” of snowblower requests this year and will likely be deciding this week whether to purchase additional machines.
The Arlington County Board approved a controversial snow removal ordinance on Saturday by a vote of 4-1. Board chairman Jay Fisette cast the lone ‘no’ vote, calling the hefty penalties in the ordinance “overkill.”
The board also passed a fare hike for the county’s ART and STAR buses. The base ART bus fare will increase from $1.25 to $1.50.
