ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, December 6, 1996 TAG: 9612060027
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BETTY HAYDEN SNIDER STAFF WRITER
THIS WINTER'S first serious snowfall kept cashiers and police road patrols unusually busy in the Roanoke and New River valleys Thursday.
The Roanoke Valley's first measurable snow of the season caught many people off guard Thursday, sending droves to the stores for milk and toilet paper and stranding others in ditches and traffic jams.
The National Weather Service's Blacksburg office reported that 2 to 3 inches of snow had fallen in Roanoke, while parts of the New River Valley got 2 to 4 inches. A meteorologist said temperatures could climb above freezing overnight, but it will take most of today for the snow to melt.
Most people apparently weren't counting on snow Thursday because the Roanoke forecast called only for rain. Weather Service meteorologists said a low-pressure system off the South Carolina coast fueled the storm.
Police dispatchers around Western Virginia reported many minor automobile accidents and clogged roadways.
The timing of the unexpected storm, the brunt of which hit before and during rush hour, may be to blame.
Many of the motorists hurrying home in the storm ended up slipping and sliding into each other and off the road. Those accidents created bottlenecks on many roads, said Todd Marshall, a technician for the Virginia Department of Transportation.
U.S. 220 near the Franklin-Roanoke County line was blocked in both directions for several hours by two wrecked tractor-trailers, he said. Traffic on U.S. 221 was stalled at the bottom of Bent Mountain.
Highway crews' first priority was clearing the interstates and primary roads, Marshall said. The traffic congestion made it difficult to plow secondary roads.
In the New River Valley, cars and trucks began skidding off the roads about 4:30 p.m. at such a furious pace that officers had to tell victims of minor accidents to wait until they could get to them.
Giles County authorities said Virginia 100 was extremely slick. A tractor-trailer there slid down a bank, and two cars sideswiped early in the evening.
Blacksburg police reported 13 accidents by 5 p.m., with officers handling them as fast as the weather would allow. At Patrick Henry Drive and Harding Avenue, a car rolled onto its top.
One person who didn't mind the bad weather was Richard Spradlin, a manager at Garden City Grocery on Garden City Boulevard.
A steep hill in front of the store slowed traffic, bringing passengers in to load up on staples as drivers waited.
``It's nonstop,'' Spradlin said of the brisk business at 6:30 p.m.
The manager of the Towers Mall Harris Teeter store wasn't complaining about the sudden snowfall, either.
The rush started as soon as people saw that the snow would accumulate, Tim Wilson said. He estimated business was up by 40 percent.
The store had not run out of anything, thanks to a larger than usual shipment, he said.
Wilson was counting the store's blessings: ``We usually pay the weathermen for this kind of stuff.''
Staff writer Lisa K. Garcia contributed to this story.
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: 1. DON PETERSEN/Staff. A USAir worker (above) spraysby CNBde-icer on a plane before a flight leaves Roanoke Regional Airport
late Thursday afternoon. 2. ERIC BRADY/Staff. John Lee Jr. of
Franklin County has to wipe snow (right photo) from windows just to
see the stickers on cars at the Berglund dealership in Roanoke.
color.