Update at 8:15 a.m. — County government offices and courts will open at 10:00 a.m. From Arlington Alert: “County plows are working around the clock, but road conditions remain slippery. If you must drive, please exercise caution.”
Arlington Public Schools will be closed Wednesday.
(Updated at 3:45 p.m.) Road conditions around Arlington are bad and are only expected to get worse as today’s snowstorm increases in intensity around rush hour.
Numerous crashes, involving cars, postal vehicles and buses, have been reported on Arlington’s roads and highways this afternoon. Other vehicles are getting stuck or spinning out of control on snow-covered hills. Sections of George Mason Drive and Carlin Springs Road are particularly treacherous, we hear.
(Updated at 11:25 a.m.) Arlington County government offices, facilities, public schools, pools, community centers and courts are closing at noon today due to the winter storm currently bearing down on the area.
All afternoon and evening activities at Arlington public schools have been canceled.
With 4-8 inches of snow likely, Arlington County says its crews are in a “Phase 1 alert” and are “prepped and ready to go.”
“We called in a team today to hook up our trucks with chains, spreaders and plows,” said Shannon Whalen McDaniel, spokeswoman for Arlington’s Dept. of Environmental Services. “We will also brine the roads throughout the night in preparation.”
(Updated at 10:40 p.m.) The National Weather Service issued a Winter Storm Warning for Arlington the rest of the D.C. area this afternoon.
As of Monday night, forecasters are saying that 4-8 inches of snow is likely on Tuesday, with the heaviest snow falling around the evening rush hour.
It might be cold and icy, but through a camera lens the snow that fell on Arlington last night can really look beautiful.
Arlington received about 2 inches of snow, according to the National Weather Service. Above are photos of the resulting winter wonderland sent to us via email, Twitter and Flickr.
The Arlington County government will still open on time. Federal government employees have the option for unscheduled leave or unscheduled telework today.
The Arlington County Office of Emergency Management reports that trees and wires came down around the county during the overnight hours. Crews are currently on the scene of a large tree and wires down in the roadway at S. 23rd Street between S. Kent Street and S. Lynn Street. The road will be closed until the obstruction is safely removed. The incident has knocked out power to more than 500 homes, according to Dominion Power.
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.
Arlington snow lovers have been disappointed yet again by a hyped-up storm that ultimately fizzled out. It’s enough for a weather-watcher to shed frozen tears — if only the temperature was cold enough for those tears to freeze.
Clearly, forecasting winter weather in the D.C. area is a challenge, given the area’s propensity for hovering just above the freezing mark when winter precipitation threatens. In fact, meteorologists are being challenged by yet another possible “mixed precipitation” storm, heading toward the Washington region this weekend.
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.
APS announced the decision just after 5:00 this morning. Classes are canceled but school offices are to remain open, with essential employees still expected to report to work.
The federal government, meanwhile, is closed this morning, as are Arlington County courts. But Arlington County government will be open, with an unscheduled leave and telework policy for employees. ART buses will operate on a limited schedule.
The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning for Arlington and the D.C. region.
Up to 6 inches of snow are forecast for the area. From NWS:
