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U.S. Park Police have released a series of beautiful photos showing the aftermath of this weekend’s snow storm. The photos were taken by Rescue Technician/Paramedic Sergeant Klebaner while on-board Park Police Helicopter Eagle 1 on Sunday. The chopper was making surveillance runs over some of the harder-to-get areas patrolled by the Park Police.
Among the photos are views of Reagan National Airport and Arlington National Cemetery.
The county has released a new video introducing us to the people behind the plows. Here’s what we learned:
Watch the video for yourself, after the jump.
Update at 8:05 PM – Arlington County government is closed tomorrow.
Update at 7:30 PM – The federal government is also closed tomorrow.
Arlington County schools are closed tomorrow. The school system sent this letter to parents, saying road conditions make it too dangerous for children to get to school.
Update at 4:45 PM – National Weather Service predicting 10 to 20 inches of accumulation for DC. Officially, the Winter Storm Warning for Arlington calls for 6-12 inches of snow.
Update at 2:15 PM – CWG now warns of 5-10 inches of snow and dangerously high winds.
More snow is heading our way Tuesday night, but it seems to be a bit of a wildcard forecasting-wise. The Capital Weather Gang, who did an incredible job correctly predicting, then covering all aspects of last weekend’s storm, is calling for 3 to 6 inches.
A team of 30 Arlington County “snow spotters” is canvassing the 376 miles of county-maintained roadways today, looking for areas in need of additional treatment.
The spotters are specially-trained employees of the Department of Environmental Services. Their observations are relayed back to county employees who map out the findings. The map then allows the snow removal crews to more quickly and easily identify problem spots.
Spotters work autonomously within an assigned area and do not take specific requests from residents.
The county says its snow removal crews are beginning to tackle neighborhood roads.
“Our crews are still working round-the-clock clearing massive amounts of snow from County-maintained roads,” Acting County Manager Barbara Donnellan said in a press release. “We are throwing everything we have into this effort, and have stabilized main roads and secondary roads throughout the County. Crews are beginning to work their way into the neighborhoods. We thank residents for their patience and understanding.”
Hats off to county snow crews and to the private snow plows that did a remarkable job of keeping main roads passable throughout the storm. A storm of this size and duration requires a sustained snow-clearing effort: plowing and shoveling and trucking, over and over again as snow keeps falling. It’s grueling work, and we are lucky to have such a dedicated team of snow pros serving our area.
Also, kudos to all the snow shovelers who kept walkways in front of apartments, businesses and homes clear for all of us.
Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your perspective), it’s looking like the snow crews won’t be getting much rest. Another storm is heading our way on Tuesday.
Arlington County schools are closed Monday. The Arlington County government, including libraries and recreation centers, is also closed on Monday. Fines won’t be assessed for overdue books.
Thomas Jefferson Community Center, meanwhile, is open for use as a warming center.
It’s amazing how a snow storm that was greeted with such dread, and which prompted calls to “shelter in place,” could actually inspire a greater sense of community. Rather than sheltering in place, many people decided to have fun together outside.
Young and old went sledding on streets and in parks. People could be seen carrying snowboards, wakeboards and cross-country skis. Dog owners were out in force. Footballs were being thrown around.
Others were out for a more utilitarian purpose: to dig out cars and sidewalks from under the 24+ inches of snow.
More photos from a snowy utopia, after the jump.
Arlington County snow crews continue to work around the clock, focusing their efforts on main roads and emergency routes. The county says crews will not reach most neighborhood roads until Monday.
Here’s a list of safety guidelines from the county’s press release.
Arlington Police and Fire personnel have been busy all day responding to calls of trees down, wires down, trees and branches on wires, trees catching fire due to lines falling on them, wires and trees blocking roads, and combinations thereof. There have been at least 16 such calls in the past two hours.
In some cases first responders have been able to clear trees from the road by themselves. In cases where wires are down or branches are leaning on wires, all firefighters can do at this point is block off the area and add the incident to Dominion’s long to-do list.
Power outages have been a problem all morning, although Dominion does seem to be making headway in getting more areas back on-line. Currently, there are just over 65,000 power outages reported in Northern Virginia. That’s down from more than 75,000 earlier this afternoon.
Among the power outages reported is an extended outage affecting apartment buildings near Pentagon Row in Pentagon City. These outages could be dangerous, due to the loss of heating in the affected buildings.
Here is an incomplete list of locations where emergency personnel have been called for trees, branches, or lines down.
Tow trucks and plows are responding to a mess just off I-395 North. Several vehicles, including an ambulance, are stuck on the ramp to eastbound King Street. The ambulance was responding to a call when it became stuck. The stranded vehicles are completely blocking the ramp.
Also on I-395, traffic cameras appear to show several cars stranded in the HOV lanes of I-395 South. A snow plow is now on the scene.
