Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 2, 1994                   TAG: 9403020148
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

SURPRISE! SNOW, SLEET, FREEZING RAIN FALL AGAIN

The National Weather Service forecast called for rain with a little mixed snow for Tuesday, but differing conditions throughout the area early Tuesday evening caused a string of minor accidents on roadways.

The weather service posted a winter weather advisory for the Roanoke area and a flash flood watch for the New River Valley and the rest of Southwest Virginia.

Jan Jackson, a meteorologist with the weather service in Roanoke, was tracking details on the varying conditions Tuesday night. At 8 p.m., Rockbridge and Bath counties were reporting 3-4 inches of snow, an inch-thick layer of sleet was on the ground in Roanoke, and freezing rain was falling in the New River Valley, Jackson said.

"It's a hodgepodge of things right now," he said. "We still expect most of it to change over to rain [late Tuesday night]. But temperatures in some areas, especially Montgomery and Floyd, may stay below freezing. Temperatures are coming up - it's just a matter of when they do."

Virginia Department of Transportation trucks were on the job Tuesday night, spreading salt and chemicals on primary roads.

Up to 2 inches of rainfall was expected across Southwest Virginia Tuesday and today. The rain could change back over to forms of frozen precipitation sometime today, Jackson said.