Arlington County has released a behind-the-scenes look at its battle against “Snowzilla” last month.
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The county is set to host a public “Snow Forum” at Key Elementary (2300 Key Blvd) in two weeks on Wednesday, Feb. 24. The discussion is scheduled to run from 7 to 9 p.m.
“We’re asking people to tell us about their experiences during and after Snowzilla, and to offer suggestions for how we can improve our efforts to quickly recover from snow and ice events,” Arlington County Manager Mark Schwartz said in a statement.
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It’s an uncertain forecast in part due to above-freezing temperatures today, but forecasters say D.C. area residents should expect 1-3 inches of snow between late tonight and Tuesday night.
The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Weather Advisory, warning of the potential for snow accumulation disrupting driving tomorrow, particularly during the morning commute.
The National Weather Service has included in a Winter Weather Advisory that includes mostly points east and south of D.C. The snow is expected to fall between 5 and 8 a.m., during the morning rush hour.
From NWS:
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Via email and social media, residents of both south and north Arlington have told ARLnow.com that mail delivery has been sporadic since the blizzard, with some only having received one or two deliveries in the past 10 days.
From a Barcroft resident, along Columbia Pike:
Care-free snow days, however, could eventually become a thing of the past.
APS is likely, in the near future, to consider the idea of having students “telecommute” from home when school is cancelled. They would do so from their school-issued computers — APS is in the process of outfitting every high school student with a Macbook Air and every second- through eighth-grader with an iPad.
A week ago, the first flakes started falling as the “Snowzilla” blizzard of 2016 got underway.
Before, during and after the snowfall, contributors to our Flickr pool were documenting the historic storm. Above is a photographic look back at the winter storm that crippled the D.C. region and much of the Mid-Atlantic.
It was hard enough for many Arlington residents to leave their house during last weekend’s blizzard — literally, two-plus feet of snow blocked many doors from opening — so imagine how hard it was to run a restaurant during the storm.
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School offices will be open on time but students will not have classes, APS said. The last school day for students was Wednesday, Jan. 20.
The last time APS students had this many days off in a row as a result of weather? During the “Snowmageddon” blizzard of 2010.
Arlington County and other D.C. area jurisdictions simply do not have the resources to clean up quickly from a monster snowstorm like this past weekend’s blizzard, officials told the County Board yesterday afternoon.
“We do not pretend to have the equipment and staff to handle this kind of record storm,” said County Manager Mark Schwartz. “It takes time. We don’t spend to the level of equipment or staffing, nor do our sister jurisdictions, to rebound as quickly as we would like when a record event happens.”
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As of 9:45 a.m., the northbound I-395 HOV lanes are jammed starting around Army Navy Country Club, while mainline I-395 slows near the Pentagon.
Memorial Bridge and Washington Blvd around the Pentagon is jammed. Traffic on eastbound I-66, approaching the Roosevelt Bridge slows near Rosslyn. N. Lynn Street in Rosslyn and the Key Bridge are also crawling.
Since the storm county crews and private contractors have been working in shifts around the clock to clear roads, sidewalks and parking lots. As expected, even today there are plenty of examples of places untouched or barely touched by snow crews.
Some Arlington residents — especially those along major arteries and Metro corridors — have had their street cleared to the point where it’s drive- or walk-able. Others, especially those in single-family home neighborhoods, have not been so lucky.