Blizzard warning issued for Eastern Shore, a foot or more of snow possible; Hampton Roads likely to see bone-chilling cold
Hampton Roads will miss the worst of a significant nor’easter that was bearing down on the East Coast Friday night and expected drop several inches of snow through Saturday afternoon, forecasters predict.
South Hampton Roads and the Peninsula are expected to get 3 to 4 inches of snow, while the Eastern Shore may see up to a foot or more of the white stuff, according to the National Weather Service in Wakefield. A winter storm warning is in effect for much of Hampton Roads, as well as parts of northeastern North Carolina. The Eastern Shore was upgraded to a blizzard warning Friday morning — meaning low visibility and powerful winds will accompany the heavy snow.
But the weather won’t be just snowy — gale force winds are expected Saturday and temperatures will be frigid throughout the weekend. Wind chill temperatures will hover around the single digits throughout Hampton Roads from Saturday night into Sunday morning, according to a Friday afternoon briefing from NWS Wakefield.
“Wind chill values may drop below zero for portions of the lower Eastern Shore,” the weather service warned.
The impending storm prompted Hampton Roads Transit to suspend all bus, light rail, paratransit and ferry service on Saturday. The agency will evaluate conditions before determining if service will reopen Sunday.
Norfolk city manager Chip Filer declared a state of emergency Friday afternoon, a designation that allows the city to seek state and federal reimbursement for some of the storm’s costs. The city also opened the York Street garage for free winter storm parking downtown through 8 p.m. Sunday.
There’s also potential for minor coastal flooding at high tide Saturday into Sunday, according to the briefing.
Virginia Beach is no stranger to the power of a nor’easter and the coastal flooding that can come with a storm of this magnitude, and city officials said they are prepared.
“It could be a problem along the coastal areas,” said Drew Lankford, the city’s public works spokesman.
Extra hands are on call and will be keeping an eye on city streets for flooding and downed trees as well as traffic signals that could get damaged in the high winds, Lankford said.
The impending winter weather is expected to create hairy travel conditions — particularly on the Eastern Shore. Subfreezing temperatures mean any wet pavement should be considered icy, the Virginia Department of Transportation said in a news release.
VDOT shifted additional resources to Hampton Roads to respond to the storm and has 325 trucks equipped with plows and salt spreaders ready to respond, officials said. The department had used approximately 60,000 gallons of brine to pretreat the region’s interstates and primary routes as of Friday morning.
Hampton public works crews have also been pretreating roads with brine and salt since Wednesday morning. The Hampton crews will work 12-hour shifts until the storm has passed and roads are cleared, according to Hampton spokesman Mike Holtzclaw. The city is also prepared to clean up damage from high winds, “but that’s not something you can really pretreat for like you do for the roads,” Holtzclaw said.
The 64 Express Lanes through Norfolk will be closed as early as 6 p.m. Friday through 5 a.m. Monday to allow for snow removal, according to VDOT.
Norfolk also removed street parking along Boush Street, Granby Street, Plume Street, Main Street, City Hall Avenue in front of Fairfax Building and the 400 block of Monticello Avenue to allow for plowing operations. Vehicles in these areas will be ticketed and towed starting Friday afternoon, according to city officials.
Staff writers Stacy Parker and Caitlyn Burchett contributed to this report.
Ali Sullivan, 757-677-1974, ali.sullivan@virginiamedia.com
