Of course, a snow day for children means a chance to play. Above, Caden Hutson, 8, of Mathews, enjoys his makeshift sled. Below, Steven Rowe takes aim with a snowball.
The first few days of the new year proved to be anything but normal as schools, businesses and government agencies all across Virginia were forced to deal with hazardous weather conditions.
After an unusually warm winter weekend, several Virginia localities experienced early morning flooding on Monday followed by the first winter snow and freezing conditions as temperatures began to drop.
According to the National Weather Service Forecast Office at Wakefield, a record high temperature of 76 degrees was set in Norfolk on Jan. 1, breaking the previous record high of 75 for New Year’s Day which was set in 1952. A record high minimum temperature was also set the same day at 58 degrees, breaking the previous minimum record high of 55 degrees set in 1973.
According to the NWS, Gloucester Court House received over two inches of snow, with about two inches in Gloucester Point. In Mathews, Port Haywood was reported as having just over two inches of snow.
Power outages
According to Dominion Energy, heavy and wet snow as well as high winds caused downed trees and limbs, fallen power lines and broken poles and crossarms on Monday. Dangerous road conditions and hazardous working conditions caused by the storm slowed down restoration efforts. The hardest hit areas were Charlottesville, Fredericksburg, Woodbridge, Springfield and Richmond.
Dominion Energy crews were hard at work Monday afternoon as it began restoring services to about 40,000 customers in the Hampton Roads and northern North Carolina regions who were without power due to the winter storm. Nearly 400,000 Dominion Energy customers across Virginia had experienced a power outage, making this one of the top five winter storms in the power company’s Virginia’s history.
By 3:30 p.m. Monday, power had been restored to approximately 154,000 customers, with 4,400 customers still without power, most of whom were located in the Virginia Beach, Peninsula and Williamsburg areas.
There were 3,099 customers who lost power in Gloucester and 314 in Mathews during the height of the winter storm.
When the snow finally stopped falling Monday night, Dominion Energy crews were still working to restore power to the 460 remaining customers who were still experiencing outages.
As of noon on Tuesday, Gloucester had 18 customers still without power and Mathews still had 202 customers in the dark. Dominion Energy estimated that final power restoration would be completed by 11 o’clock Tuesday night.
Roadways
Mochi, a Pembroke Welsh Corgi, got a chance to explore the snow at his Gloucester Court House home.
The Virginia Department of Transportation has been working steadily to clear roadways and improve driving conditions. According to VDOT, crews have been plowing and spreading abrasives (salt and sand mix) throughout the storm and will continue to apply material where needed. Tree removal crews were mobilized and dispatched throughout the area to remove downed trees.
Temperatures dropped to well below freezing Monday night into Tuesday morning which impacted snow removal efforts as well as numerous downed trees and power lines blocking roadways.
VDOT’s goal is to have roads passable 48 hours after the completion of the storm. However, freezing temperatures, tree removal and power outages may impact this goal.
As of Tuesday evening, the agency was still making headway to remove disabled vehicles and tractor trailers from Interstate 95 between Ashland and the Washington, D.C. metro area, which had closed due to a multiple-vehicle crash during the winter storm on Monday, leaving several motorists stranded overnight and into Tuesday.
VDOT has continued to make updates on its social media pages, warning Vir-ginians to be aware of slick road conditions and possible black ice.
Delays and closures
Local students enjoyed two extra days of winter break due to Monday’s winter storm. Mathews County Public Schools closed ahead of Monday’s snowfall and remained closed on Tuesday. Gloucester students arrived to school Monday morning, but left only a few hours later as the school district decided to dismiss students early. GCPS remained closed on Tuesday.
Gloucester County offices closed at 2 o’clock Monday afternoon due to the inclement weather and opened late the following day. The Gloucester Point Beach area and all county parks closed on Monday and remained closed on Tuesday. Mathews County offices closed at 1 p.m. Monday.
Government offices in both counties operated on a delayed schedule on Tuesday due to predicted icy conditions. The Gloucester County Public Library closed at 5 p.m. Tuesday due to the potential for slick/icy roads in the evening.
Machicomico State Park was coated with a layer of the white stuff on Tuesday morning.