Snow is forecasted for the Shenandoah Valley on Friday, January 28, ending in the early morning hours of Saturday, January 29. Amounts of three inches or less are expected in the Shenandoah Valley area with higher amounts in the Alleghany Highlands and western ridge tops,
The Virginia Department of Transportation Staunton District will have 750 to 800 pieces of equipment for snow removal operations for this storm. Brining operations began the morning of Thursday, January 27. VDOT crews will be out to plow and treat roads as the winter weather begins.
Interstate roads and primary roads are plowed and treated first, followed by heavily traveled secondary roads. Other secondary roads and subdivision streets are plowed next.
Travelers are asked to monitor local weather forecasts and to avoid driving if possible during the snow storm. Travelers, particularly on the eastern side of the Commonwealth of Virginia, should expect higher snow totals. Travelers can check VDOT’s 511 system for road conditions, traffic cameras and crash location at http://www.511Virginia.org or on the 511 app. Roads with snow conditions will be marked minor, moderate, severe or closed.
Area residents are asked to move their vehicles onto driveways or other off-street parking areas to allow plows to clear snow covered roads.
To help avoid snow plows moving snow onto a shoveled driveway or entrance shovel to the left of the driveway when facing the street. VDOT has a video demonstrating this technique https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYNrKsnW_Rs
Bitter cold temperatures are forecasted for Saturday into Sunday, causing refreezing of plowed and treated areas. Motorists should use extreme caution if traveling in these conditions.
For a text listing of winter weather road conditions go to http://www.511Virginia.org, look at the orange bar on the top of the page and click on “Text Views” and then click on “Road Condition Table”. Look at the pull down box that lists all jurisdictions. In this box individual counties can be chosen to view.
Road condition definitions:
Closed – Road is closed to all traffic.
Severe – drifting or partially blocked road.
Moderate – snow or ice on major portions of the roadway.
Minor – bare pavement except for isolated spots of snow, ice or slush. Driving with caution is recommended.
On the go? Then visit VDOT’s Free Virginia 511 Tools to get your 511 app for android or iOS. Traffic alerts and traveler information can be obtained by dialing 511.
The VDOT Customer Service Center can be accessed through its mobile friendly website at https://my.vdot.virginia.gov/. Agents are on site 24/7 every day of the year to assist the public. People can also call the VDOT Customer Service Center at 800-FOR- ROAD (800-367-7623).
The Staunton District Snow Page is on the VDOT website under Travel Center Snow Emergency Pages. The Staunton District Twitter feed is at @VaDOTStaunton.
VDOT statewide Twitter messages can be found at @VaDOT. The nine districts can be found at:Hampton Roads @VaDOTHR; Richmond @VaDOTRVA; Northern Virginia @VaDOTNOVA; Fredericksburg @VaDOTFred; Culpeper @VaDOTCulp; Lynchburg @VaDOTLynchburg; Bristol @VaDOTBristol; Salem @VaDOTSalem; Staunton @VaDOTStaunton.
VDOT can be followed on Facebook, Flickr, Twitter and YouTube. RSS feeds are also available for statewide information. The VDOT Web page is located at http://www.VirginiaDOT.org.
The VDOT Staunton District serves Frederick, Shenandoah, Clarke, Warren, Page, Rockingham, Augusta, Highland, Rockbridge, Alleghany and Bath counties.
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Road condition definitions:
Severe – drifting or partially blocked road.
Moderate – snow or ice on major portions of the roadway.
Minor – bare pavement except for isolated spots of snow, ice or slush.
Photo: Getty Images