ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, February 14, 1997 TAG: 9702140068
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JON CAWLEY STAFF WRITER
If the failure of last weekend's snow to cover roads and cause accidents was a blessing, the storm that blew into Western Virginia on Thursday afternoon was a payback for the previous good fortune. The snow was expected to turn to sleet or freezing rain before tapering off about midnight.
A steady screen of white flakes started to fall in the Roanoke Valley about 4 p.m. and by 5 only long shoots of grass poked through the fresh snow covering the valley's yards. Roads were also showing white coats and beginning to get slick - just in time for the evening rush hour. Three inches of snow had already fallen in Galax by then and 21/2 inches in Blacksburg, while a trace was recorded in Lynchburg.
Similar to the storm front that brought up to six inches of snow to Western Virginia last Saturday, Thursday's storm originated in the Gulf of Mexico but tracked more to the north this time, said National Weather Service meteorologist Steve Nogueira. Less snow was expected to accumulate this time, he said.
Many area school systems, including Franklin County, dismissed classes early Thursday, even before the snow began to fall in some cases, to avoid the slippery roads and traffic snarls many motorists experienced during rush hour.
State Police troopers based in Salem and Wytheville, and police officers from Roanoke, Blacksburg and Christiansburg and many other departments throughout Western Virginia, worked single- and multiple-car accidents.
In the New River Valley, the storm hit shortly after 3 p.m. and snarled rush-hour driving. Traffic on U.S. 460, one of the main links for commuters to and from Blacksburg, was bumper to bumper with multiple accidents.
Traffic crept along on Interstate 81, where tractor-trailers and several other vehicles slid into each other. A section of I-81 through Radford, Dublin and Draper Valley was reduced to one lane for about 90 minutes during rush hour because of accidents, Virginia Department of Transportation engineering supervisor Bill Whitlow said.
Early indications were that none of the accidents involved serious injuries.
In Montgomery County, a car ran off the road, over an embankment and landed on its roof near Ellett Valley about 5:40 p.m.
Despite the problems in the Roanoke and New River valleys, Whitlow said Thursday night wasn't that bad: ``It's just been one of those aggravating things.''
Whitlow said some primary and secondary roads, especially in the New River Valley, were covered with snow Thursday night but none had been closed. All of VDOT's snow-removal trucks were on the highways and were to remain so throughout the night.
``[The trucks] seem to be doing OK except where traffic bothers them. The main thing is to get people off the roads. One truck radioed in and said he was following a car that was doing 10 mph and that was slowing him down," Whitlow said.
Although he expected most roads to be cleared, Whitlow suggested that morning commuters leave home early. If sleet and freezing rain fell Thursday night there would be problems this morning, probably worse than Thursday evening's rush hour, he said.
Drivers who encounter a VDOT truck should stay out of the way, Whitlow said. Keeping 200 to 300 feet back will keep dropped chemicals and abrasives off cars.
Freezing drizzle was expected early today. The rest of the day should be mostly cloudy with a chance of rain that may mix with snow before ending late tonight. The high was expected to be about 40 degrees today, then drop to the low 30s tonight, The National Weather Service said.
Staff writer Lisa K. Garcia contributed to this story.
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: DON PETERSEN STAFF Buses wind through Rocky Mount afterby CNBpicking up students three hours early at Franklin County Middle
School. Other schools in Franklin County and throughout the area
closed early in anticipation of the storm. When the snow did start
to fall, rush-hour traffic often slowed to a crawl and many
accidents occurred. color.