As Snow Falls, Guv Declares State of Emergency

Photo by John Arundel

ALEXANDRIA, VA. -  Governor Bob McDonnell (R) has declared a state of emergency for the state, authorizing state agencies to assist local governments responding to the winter storm  affecting the Commonwealth early Friday through Saturday.
 

Photo by John Arundel

The current outlook calls for the possibility of up to 20 inches of snow and high winds in Alexandria and the DC area; up to three-quarters of an inch of freezing rain for much of western and southwestern Virginia; and heavy rains and high winds in southeastern Virginia.
 
The precipitation, along with high winds and saturated ground, means that there is a high potential for power outages, hazardous road conditions and blocked roads.

The chances of a snow amounts rivaling the Dec. 18-19 event (16.4" officially at Reagan National Airport) are increasing.

Photo by John Arundel

Since record keeping began at Reagan National (DCA) in the early 40s, there have only been two winters in which DCA received multiple double-digit events, 1957-58 and 1986-87. 1898-99, which had our snowiest February (35.2") and snowiest winter on record (54.4"), featured paralyzing back to back storms in early February of 13.7" and 20.5" respectively.