In what is becoming an all-too-familiar cycle, road-clearing crews in the Fredericksburg area continued to work around the clock yesterday to clear snow and ice left from the weekend storm, as a new storm threatened to dump five or more inches of snow on the area tonight.
Yesterday and overnight, VDOT and Fredericksburg road crews were trying to get at least a single, passable lane plowed on as many residential streets as possible.
VDOT spokeswoman Tina Bundy said the agency believed it could get to 90 percent of the 4,000 miles of subdivision roads it is responsible for in Stafford, Spotsylvania and King George counties.
"You may not see bare pavement, but at least you will have a path so that you can maneuver out of the neighborhood," she said.
As they worked, the National Weather Service issued a winter storm watch for the area, effective this afternoon through tomorrow evening.
Kevin Witt, a meteorologist in the weather service's Sterling office, said the Fredericksburg area can expect five or more inches of snow, starting this afternoon and ending after sunset tomorrow.
The snow is expected to be heaviest tonight and tomorrow morning, Witt said.
That means Fredericksburg and VDOT crews probably won't come off their 12-hour rotations before they're out plowing another round of snow.
nowhere left
Jack Roberts, the city's superintendent of public works, said he expected snow removal operations to continue around the clock through the weekend, regardless of what falls today and tomorrow.
He said the hard-packed ice from last weekend's storm is proving difficult to clear.
Bundy said VDOT crews are trying to remove some of the giant walls of frozen snow that line plowed streets and block some turn lanes.
"We are truly running out of places to push the snow," she said.
VDOT teams from other areas of the Fredericksburg district that weren't as hard-hit by the storm have come to help with a load-and-haul operation, to take the snow off the roads.
Bundy said VDOT deposits hauled snow on any available piece of state-owned property it can find.
The city also loaded and hauled snow out of the downtown area Sunday night and Monday morning. Roberts said that snow goes to the old landfill off Cool Spring Road.
Bundy said VDOT crews expect to be working for the next few weeks to remove all of the snow and ice that has built up along area roadways, and the new snow will just slow that work down.
"It's going to hamper our efforts, because we're going to have to go back to the primary roads again," she said. "It's quite frustrating, but it's Mother Nature."
As today's forecast snow approaches, Roberts said the city has between 175 and 200 tons of salt on-hand, which should be enough for the near term.
"We'll attack it like we've done all the others," he said.
But as the storms just keep coming, Roberts said, "It's getting to where it's not fun anymore."
storms will keep coming
Witt, at the National Weather Service, offered no hope that the cycle will stop.
"It's probably not the last storm," he said, although he did say that last weekend's should stand as the "doozy" of the cycle.
Chris White, a local weather enthusiast who maintains the blog "Fredericksburg Weather," said there are two factors to blame for the consistent cold and wet weather.
First, El Niño--a phenomenon of unusually high temperatures in the Pacific Ocean near the Equator--sends lots of moisture toward the southern half of the United States.
That's the source of all the wet weather that comes our way from Texas.
At the same time, a semi-permanent low-pressure system sitting somewhere near Iceland steers the storms right to our area.
It also helps keep cold air from Canada pumping down to us, so all those storms turn to snow and ice, and our temperatures stay lower than normal.
"We're kind of in the bull's-eye," White said.
The good news: He sees at least a week's reprieve from the wet weather coming after today's storm.
Aside from that, we might just all have to count down the six weeks left until spring starts.
emergency shelters
Stafford County closed its two emergency shelters on Sunday afternoon. The shelters were run in cooperation with the Rappahannock Region of the American Red Cross in case power outages or highway accidents created a demand for aid.
Over their two days of operation, the shelters welcomed 12 people, most of whom were travelers wary of driving on Interstate 95 during the heaviest snowfall. Four people spent the night.
"We're not disappointed it wasn't well-used," fire and rescue spokesman Mark Stone said. "It's not over yet. Our joint operations center is still running. We're monitoring everything and we're ready to reopen an emergency shelter at any moment."
Orange County will continue to provide a shelter at Orange County High School through noon today, unless weather requires an extension. Call 540/672-1900 during daytime and 540/717-3396 at night.
Pets aren't allowed in the Orange County shelters. But dogs will be received at the Orange County Animal Shelter from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. today. It is recommended that cats be left at home with a supply of litter, food, water and warm bedding. Call 540/672-1124.
Hydrant reminder
Localities across the region have asked residents to make sure snow is cleared in a 3-foot radius around all fire hydrants. Critical time can be lost by firefighters searching for or digging out a hydrant when they respond to a fire.
In addition, residents should make sure their address numbers are visible, so that emergency crews can see them.
most schools closed
Surprisingly, even some kiddies are sick of snow and are ready to strap on their backpacks for class.
But that may not happen until next week.
Most Fredericksburg-area schools had canceled today's classes as of yesterday afternoon. They include the city of Fredericksburg and Stafford, Spotsylvania, Caroline, King George and Orange counties. Many area students also had most of last week off.
Loudoun County's school system announced yesterday that schools there would be closed for the rest of the week.
--Jonas Beals, Jeff Branscome and Robin Knepper contributed to this story.
Emily Battle: 540/374-5413
Email: ebattle@freelancestar.com