An early winter storm blanketed the region with a foot or more of snow over the weekend. The heavy snow started during the early morning hours Saturday and continued throughout the day, paralyzing travel in the area throughout the weekend into the early part of the week.

The National Weather Service at Wakefield reported that the storm, which moved up from the south along the Florida, Georgia and Carolina coasts, dumped an average of 9-12 inches of snow on the Middle Peninsula.

The Virginia Department of Transportation reported Saturday afternoon that travel lanes were completely covered in snow along the eastern areas of the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula, and added that high winds that accompanied the storm were hampering visibility, and causing snow drifts along many highways.

Temperatures Saturday and Sunday nights dipped into the single digits and didn’t make it above freezing until Tuesday afternoon. On Monday morning, VDOT reported that primary and heavily-travele...