A potpourri of winter weather is forecasted to arrive in the Shenandoah Valley on Valentine’s night. A winter weather warning lasting from February 14 at 9 p.m. until February 16 at 10 a.m. may produce over four inches of snow beginning Sunday night followed by sleet on Monday and then rain into Tuesday. Driving throughout the Shenandoah Valley region should be avoided during winter weather conditions.
Drivers who must travel should be prepared for snow layered with ice on untreated roadways. Ponding with the possibility of hydroplaning may develop in many areas as the snow and sleet change to rain. Snow piles may create drainage problems on the roadways during and after the rain event.
The Virginia Department of Transportation will have crews staged throughout the Shenandoah Valley early in the evening on Sunday night. The VDOT Staunton District will have 850 pieces of equipment for this storm. Crews will work 12-hour shifts with approximately 1000 people per shift including VDOT and contractor crews. VDOT is working with utility and tree trimming crews in preparation for possible downed trees and debris due to icing.
Anti-icing will not be applied to roadways in the Shenandoah Valley due to very low temperatures. Many roads in the area have residual salt from previous weather events, which should help prevent ice from bonding to road surfaces.
In Alleghany County approximately 5.5-miles of Route 606 (Sulphur Spring Road) will be closed to through traffic beginning at 8 p.m. Sunday. Route 606 is a narrow roadway through mountainous terrain, and can be dangerous during winter weather. The road will reopen when conditions allow. The closure will be between Route 699 (Morris Hollow Road) and Route 703 (Airport Road).
For winter weather road conditions go to 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.
Traffic alerts and traveler information also are available at 511Virginia.org. 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.
For other assistance call the VDOT Customer Service Center, available 24 hours-a-day, seven days a week. Citizens can dial 1-800-FOR- ROAD (1-800-367-7623) from anywhere in the state to report road hazards, ask transportation questions, or get information related to Virginia’s roads. Get our web-based VDOT Customer Service app here
The Staunton District Twitter feed is at @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 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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