ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, January 7, 1996 TAG: 9601110036
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY AND ELISSA MILENKY STAFF WRITERS
NOTE: Above
Best advice today: Stay home.
If you must go out, call first to see if the place is open, whether you're headed for church or hunting for a sausage biscuit.
The snow that began falling gently early Saturday morning caused dozens of wrecks in Southwest Virginia by afternoon and prompted Gov. George Allen to declare a state of emergency.
The storm, which developed slowly along the Gulf Coast near New Orleans, had the potential to drop as much as two to three feet of snow, said meteorologist Steve Nogueira of the National Weather Service office in Blacksburg.
The combination of heavy snowfall, a windchill in the single digits, and snow drifting and blowing in the wind could make this a dangerous storm similar to the March 1993 blizzard. That storm, which swirled across the entire East Coast, dropped 16 inches of snow on Roanoke and 32 inches on Blacksburg.
This storm also has a broad range.
As much as six inches of snow had fallen by Saturday afternoon in North Carolina, closing roads and traffic. By afternoon in Greensboro, 3.8 inches of snow had fallen, breaking the record of 1.9 inches set for the date in 1970.
Five inches of snow fell in West Virginia, where a passenger died in a traffic accident on a snow-covered road. Two drivers in Kentucky died in separate accidents on ice and snow-covered bridges.
Air travel was being affected throughout the region. Even though the Roanoke Regional Airport was able to stay open Saturday, some flights were canceled or delayed because of problems at other airports.
People planning to take a flight today should check with the airline involved to see if their flight is still scheduled, airport officials said.
The worst of the storm was not scheduled until today; however, to assure that stranded motorists or ill residents could be reached, the Virginia National Guard's heavy-duty vehicles were deployed throughout the state Saturday.
In Western Virginia, staffed vehicles are in Wytheville and Lexington.
Although interstate highways and other main roads were passable with chains or snow tires, the roads were getting slick as early as 5 p.m. Saturday. Side streets and subdivision streets were especially dangerous, police said.
Conditions could have changed by this morning, but there were so many accidents throughout the area Saturday that Roanoke City police quit investigating accidents in which no one was injured. State police had a waiting list of three or four accidents throughout the day even though the officers were working 12-hour shifts and everyone had been called to duty.
The Virginia Department of Transportation asked people to avoid driving altogether. Hospital emergency rooms were relatively calm Saturday because most accidents did not involve injuries. However, some hospital staff, such as nurses who work in labor and delivery, planned to stay overnight at the hospital so they could be sure of getting to work today.
John Pirkey Jr. of Roanoke, who is a manager of the Kroger store in Radford, also took VDOT's advice and stayed at the Executive Hotel next door to his store.
The 24-hour grocery stores close only if there is a power failure, he said.
The storm might not affect power supplies because the snow is not the type that clings to trees and pushes limbs onto power lines, but utility companies geared up for the worse anyway.
The winter storm warning was in effect for all of the state except Tidewater. Today and Monday, temperatures likely will remain in the 20s. Winds could be up to 30 mph in strength in some areas.
Sub-zero weather frosted much of the Midwest and Northeast. Record low temperatures were set or tied from New England to the Midwest. The coldest reading by midday was 42 below zero shared by Embarrass, Minn., and Shoreham, Vt. The lowest wind chill was 59 below in Greenville, Maine.
Records were set in Alpena Mich., 16 below; Hastings, Neb., 13 below; Newark, N.J., 6; Albany, N.Y., 19 below; Birmingham, Ala., 13; Montgomery, Ala., 19; Pinson, Ala., 11; Columbus, Ga., 19; Buffalo, N.Y., 9 below; New York City, 9; Erie, Pa., 3 below; Providence, R.I., 1; Burlington, Vt., 23 below.
The freezing temperatures are expected to remain today, dropping lower than 20 below zero from northern New England to northern Montana. Wind chills could range from 40 to 70 below.
The midday high Saturday for the continental 48 states was 80 in Homestead, Fla.
Staff writer Betty Hayden and The Associated Press contributed information to this story.
LENGTH: Medium: 91 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: WAYNE DEEL/Staff. Firefighters from the Hollins stationby CNBwalk carefully on snow covered grass after investigating one of
Saturday's many car wrecks. color. Graphic: Map by staff: Weathering
the storm.