RICHMOND, Va. -- "Avoid unnecessary travel" during Monday's winter weather, the Virginia Department of Transportation urged early Monday morning. VDOT crews are now working in rotating 12-hour shifts to treat roads around the Commonwealth.
"Drivers attempting to travel may encounter slick roadways, crashes, disabled vehicles, reduced visibility and slow moving snow removal equipment treating the roadways," VDOT spokeswoman Lindsay LeGrand said. "Persistent frigid temperatures coupled with changing types of precipitation will continue to make travel a challenge throughout Monday."
We’ll see periods of snow through the morning before somewhat milder air moves in aloft, causing a gradual transition to freezing rain from south to north. A brief period of sleet (ice pellets) may occur between the transition from snow to freezing rain. A few inches of snow will accumulate, with an average of 2″-4″ by early afternoon in Metro Richmond, with lower amounts to the east and higher numbers to the west. There will be the potential for multiple hours of freezing rain, creating an icy glaze on top of the snow. This will occur earlier across southeastern Virginia, where a change to plain rain is likely by afternoon. Areas well west of I-95 may see snow and sleet through mid-afternoon, and then a prolonged period of freezing rain into the evening.
The freezing rain should transition to plain rain by later in the afternoon across the metro area and eventually by late evening north and west.
The order in which VDOT crews clear roads is as follows:
- Virginia interstates
- Primary roads (routes numbered 1-599)
- Major secondary roads
Henrico County and the City of Richmond, not VDOT, clear roads in those jurisdictions.
"Roads in the Richmond region are currently in minor to moderate condition, meaning that icy patches or snow could cover major portions of the roadway," LeGrand said. "Crews will continue treating the roads with salt and sand; salt to melt the snow and sand to provide traction."
