Though the blizzard is long gone, some area grocery stores are still awaiting fresh shipments of milk, eggs, bread and meat to restock shelves stripped bare before and during the storm.

Shelves normally stocked with milk, eggs and bread were empty earlier this afternoon at the Safeway and Target stores on Wilson Boulevard in Rosslyn. Though employees at both stores declined to say much, they did say it may take another day before they can restock.

An employee at the Whole Foods at 2700 Wilson Boulevard said the store had just four cartons of eggs left, and a worker at Mom’s Organic Market (1901 N Veitch Street) said milk supplies were running low.

Some residents also have reported shortages of certain items at the Clarendon Trader Joe’s (1109 N Highland Street). Joe Flinchum, a supervisor at that location, said his store hasn’t received a delivery since last week.

“Our warehouse is really far away,” Flinchum said. “They’ve obviously been impacted by the weather just as we have. We may get a perishable food delivery tentatively tomorrow morning.”

But not every store in the area is out of fresh food.  An employee at the customer service desk of the Harris Teeter at 600 N Glebe Road said the store has everything except snow shovels and salt.


395-ridge-ot

(Updated at 4:25 p.m.) Police and firefighters were on the scene of a crash involving an overturned vehicle on I-395 earlier today.

The crash occurred near exit 8B on the southbound lane of I-395 just before 3:30 p.m. this afternoon.

No injuries were reported and everyone was able to safely escape the car, a Toyota, according to scanner traffic.

Workers removed the flipped car around 4 p.m. and traffic began moving normally shortly thereafter.


As the snow piled up on Saturday, a video from the Arlington County Fire Department took off.

The video, tweeted out by the fire department around noon that day, showed a T-Rex clearing clearing snow from around a fire hydrant. The message was clear: If a predatory dinosaur with useless little arms can shovel snow, so can you.

But here’s a secret: that wasn’t a real T-Rex. And the video wasn’t filmed around here.

“The actual video was not filmed in Arlington,” said Jamie Jill, the Arlington firefighter who originally shared the clip. “It was at my sister’s home in Bethesda.”

And it was Jill’s nine-year-old niece Janelle who played the role of the “civically minded” lizard, he added.

“When she first went out in the suit, there were neighbors out shoveling their cars and everyone started laughing and taking pictures,” Jill said. “She actually didn’t want to do it because she was embarrassed. I had to bribe her with a present.”

Janelle wasn’t as embarrassed when she found out she made the news, Jill said.

“When I showed her the news reports, she said she was going to tell everyone at school,” he added.

Will we see more of the tiny T-Rex in the future? That all depends on whether Janelle will don the dinosaur suit again, Jill said. And if she won’t, he added that he “might have to get the fire department to purchase one.”


Metro restored some aboveground service on several of its train lines today.

The transit authority reopened aboveground stations between Ballston and New Carrollton on the Orange Line, Union Station and Glenmont on the Red Line and Fort Totten and Branch Avenue on the Green Line at 11 a.m.

Though Metro announced yesterday its plans to reopen some stations that were closed during the blizzard, those plans did not originally include aboveground service restorations.

The stations between East Falls Church and Vienna and along the Silver Line are still currently closed. More stations may open throughout the day, according to Metro spokesman Richard Jordan. Though Jordan did not say which stations might be reopened next, he said to expect an update later this afternoon.

Fares will not be charged today, and trains will run every 20-25 minutes until midnight.

Metro will also restore service to the 5A bus route between L’Enfant Plaza and Dulles Airport at noon today.


Quincy park snowball fight

County Board Takes a Rare Snow Day — The Arlington County Board cancelled its Jan. 23 meeting due to the snow. Government officials can’t remember the last time a monthly meeting was called off on account of the weather. [InsideNova]

Snowfall Covers Graves at Arlington National Cemetery — Accumulating snow covered headstones at Arlington National Cemetery on Saturday. Army sentinels continued to guard the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier despite whiteout conditions. [Richmond Times-Dispatch]

Florida Teens Stuck in ‘Snowzilla’ — The monster blizzard stranded a group of Florida teenagers in Arlington all weekend. For many of them, it was their first real experience with snow. [WJLA]

Falls Church to Emulate Arlington’s Student Decal Competition —  The treasurer of Falls Church will copy Arlington’s student vehicle decal competition. Falls Church students stand to win $750, with lesser prizes for second, third and fourth place. [InsideNova]

Digging Out — From walking to work to dealing with limited Metro service, here’s how the D.C. area has coped with the remnants of the snow. [Washington Post]

Quincy Park snowball fight photo courtesy of John Kua


snow plow jan. 24(Updated at 8:40 a.m.) Primary roads across Arlington County have been plowed and are at least somewhat clear of snow, the county announced last night.

The county has begun “phase three” of its snow removal process, during which workers will clear snow-covered neighborhood streets. Crews may take until Tuesday night to reach every street, the county said.

Though some major roads remain treacherous due to patches of ice, most traffic across the area appeared to be light or moderate with no major backups or road closures reported as of 8 a.m. this morning.

Want to know which streets are clear? Arlington’s snow plow map keeps track of where road crews have and haven’t been. And starting at noon today, residents can use the county’s snow reporting form to “identify snow issues that need attention.” Residents can also report issues by calling the streets hotline at 703-228-6485.


Metro riders heading to work (Flickr pool photo by Kevin Wolf)Metro today announced it will reopen its stations for limited — but free — Metrorail and Metrobus service tomorrow.

Red, Orange and Green line trains only will run between 7 a.m. tomorrow and midnight.

Service on these lines will be limited to underground stops and trains will run every 20-25 minutes, Metro said.

Orange Line trains will run between Ballston and Eastern Market, Red Line trains will run between Medical Center and Union Station and Green Line trains will run between Fort Totten and Anacostia.

Buses will operate every 30 minutes on just 22 routes between 12 and 5 p.m. tomorrow. According to Metro, “many of these routes will operate on snow emergency routes only to keep vehicles off hilly terrain, narrow side streets and other problem areas.”

The following bus routes will have service tomorrow:

  • D.C.: 32, 33, 36, 53, 70, 90, A6, A8, P12, S4, U8, X2
  • Maryland: C4, D12, K6, Q2, V4, Y2, Z8
  • Virginia: 16A, 16E, 28A

snow plow jan. 24 2(Updated at 2:14 p.m.) Arlington County government offices and Arlington County Public Schools will be closed tomorrow due to anticipated road conditions.

Libraries across the Arlington area will also be closed tomorrow.

APS students will not have classes on Monday and Tuesday. Though school offices are closed tomorrow, the school has not yet said whether the offices would be closed on Tuesday.

Monday’s trash and recycling pickup is also cancelled tomorrow and Tuesday. Monday and Tuesday Service will resume on Feb. 1 and Feb. 2.

The county is currently in phase two of its snow removal process.

Photo of snow plow from earlier this morning


Want to relive the snowstorm? Two new time-lapse videos from ARLNow readers show the effects of “Snowzilla” as it blanketed the area this weekend.

Another video that Youtube user Josh Wagner shot from his apartment in Pentagon City shows the monster storm’s progression between Friday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 8 a.m.

Got a video you’d like to share? Tweet at us or send us an e-mail.


I66 29Though the snow has stopped falling, Virginia’s Department of Transportation (VDOT) says plenty of work must be done to dig out area roads.

Although VDOT says most interstates and primary routes in “minor to moderate condition,” many side roads are still completely covered in snow and ice.

“Even though the snow has stopped and dry weather is on the horizon, snow removal will be very extensive through the week,” VDOT said in a statement released earlier this morning.

VDOT urges drivers to “stay off roads to give crews space to clear snow and ice.”

Image via VDOT traffic camera


Power outage N Arlington(Updated at 8:50 p.m.) Hundreds of Dominion customers were without power in the northern part Arlington County earlier this evening.

Power returned to the area around 8:45 p.m., according to Dominion’s power outage map.

Tonight’s snowstorm caused the outage, the power company said.

Other readers had previously reported flickering power in Courthouse.


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