The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for the entire D.C. region, with the weekend forecast calling for 7 to 14 inches of snow and sleet, possibly topped with a glaze of ice.
The warning is in effect from 11 p.m. Saturday through 4 a.m. Monday and includes Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William, Stafford, Fauquier, Spotsylvania, Fredericksburg and Culpeper.
In Loudoun and Fauquier, forecasters are calling for up to 18 inches of snow and sleet, with the highest amounts near the Blue Ridge mountains.
The closer-in suburbs could see anywhere from 7 to 14 inches of snow, again with highest totals to the north and west, the weather service warning said.
Snow will likely spread across the area late Saturday night, becoming heavy at times with rates of one to two inches per hour possible.
A mix with sleet or freezing rain is expected Sunday, with “significant icing” possible. A prolonged period of dangerous wind chills is likely beginning this evening and lasting through the middle of next week, with sub-zero wind chills possible at times.
“Power outages and tree damage are likely due to the ice,” the weather service said. “Travel could be nearly impossible.”
VDOT: Stay off the roads
The Virginia Department of Transportation began pretreating roads across the area Thursday and will continue today, but urges motorists to stay off the roads once the snow starts.
VDOT crews will be staged along area roads and ready to begin plowing once two inches has accumulated, but it may take an extended period of time to enter neighborhoods, the agency said in a news release.
VDOT will treat in priority order from interstates, primaries, secondaries and eventually neighborhood roads.
Preparing for power outages
Dominion Energy, Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative and the Rappahannock Electric Cooperative all say they are preparing for potential power outages this weekend.
“This is likely to be a severe storm and multi-day power restoration effort for most areas across our service territory,” Dominon Energy said in a Friday news release. “Heavy ice accumulation, severe damage to trees and power lines, and difficult travel conditions could prolong the power restoration effort over multiple days.”
The greatest concern for power outages is ice accumulation greater than 0.25 inches, which can add additional weight to power lines and can cause trees and large tree limbs to fall onto power lines, the release said.
Dominion, the region’s largest power provider, has mobilized hundreds of crews and thousands of line workers, patrollers, foresters and other personnel to support the restoration effort, including crews from contractors and peer utilities in other states, the release said.
“We are actively working to secure more crews through our mutual assistance partners, as well as continuing to stockpile and pre-stage all necessary materials and equipment in the areas most likely to be impacted,” Dominion said.
If there are outages, crews will work round-the-clock to restore power, prioritizing restoration for hospitals, schools, water treatment facilities and other critical community services, as well as areas with the largest number of outages.