ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, February 4, 1996 TAG: 9602060020
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER NOTE: Below
WE'RE GOING TO LOOK LIKE a city full of shot-putters with all these upper-body workouts.
Shoveling snow. Most people in Western Virginia are getting good at it - almost as good as Northerners.
Saturday was the beginning of the weekend and supposed to be a day off. But almost everyone was working, digging out porches, driveways and sidewalks.
Some people had to shovel at home - then at work. At Rick Woodson Honda on Peters Creek Road in Roanoke, Diane Ferguson stood waist deep in snow between two cars as she helped scrape off 150 vehicles.
"People still come to look at cars, even when the weather is bad," she said. "I sold several four-wheel vehicles the last time it snowed."
Ferguson and three other salespeople spent several hours clearing snow. They had no customers Saturday morning, but they were hoping some would drift in by afternoon.
On Westover Avenue, Esber Nassif started the day shoveling the driveway and sidewalk at his house before moving on to help clear the parking lot at his father's laundry.
"I shoveled [Friday], and now I've got to do it again," said Nassif, a 16-year-old student at Patrick Henry High School.
Nassif didn't make any money shoveling, but he didn't mind - his father pays the insurance on his car.
Anthony Moore and Melvin Douglas shoveled for bucks, however. The 13-year-old students at Woodrow Wilson Middle School cleaned driveways and walks for $15 on Maiden Lane and other streets in the Raleigh Court neighborhood.
"I did it during the last snow, and we've shoveled at three houses this morning," Moore said.
The latest snow began falling in the Roanoke Valley Thursday night.
No serious storm-related accidents or injuries were reported Saturday, but a truck jackknifed on Riverdale Road in Roanoke.
Roanoke's emergency services center received requests to take kidney patients to dialysis centers, but there were few other emergency calls, said Michelle Bono, the city's public information officer.
Some businesses were closed Saturday, and several shopping malls opened late and closed early. Traffic was light on snow-packed roads.
Snowfall totals ranged from 11 to 16 inches in most of Western Virginia, with larger accumulations in some mountainous counties.
The National Weather Service reported that 11 inches fell at Roanoke Regional Airport and 16 inches fell in Montgomery and Pulaski counties.
The Roanoke Valley's snowfall this winter is already more than double the total for an average year. Nearly 52 inches has fallen, compared with the 23-inch average.
It is the third-highest snowfall recorded in a winter in the valley, topped only by 56 inches in 1986-87 and 62.7 inches in 1959-60.
With more than a month of winter left, the record could easily be broken, said Ken Kostura, a meteorologist with the weather service.
The next problem will be bitterly cold temperatures as arctic air flows into the region from the Midwest, where record lows have been reported in many states in recent days.
The weather service said the temperatures will drop into the single digits and possibly below zero in some places in Western Virginia during the next several nights.
The weather service issued a wind chill advisory for Saturday night. The low was expected to be 5 to 10 in the Roanoke Valley, with gusty winds that would create dangerous wind chills of 20 to 30 below zero.
Today's high is forecast to be in the mid- or upper teens, with northwest winds blowing 10 to 15 mph.
The cold temperatures will keep many roads and streets covered with packed snow and ice for several days, said Laura Bullock, spokeswoman for the Virginia Department of Transportation.
Primary roads in the region are passable, but many are covered with snow and have slick spots, she said. Snow plows concentrated on secondary roads Saturday.
Traffic is moving slowly, but no roads are blocked. "We want people to know the roads are not going to be bare. Motorists should be aware of this," Bullock said.
In Roanoke, snow plows spent most of Saturday clearing residential streets. The city received a shipment of 250 tons of ice-melting salt to supplement its dwindling supply.
Crews put down salt and abrasives on primary roads and thoroughfares to try to melt the snow and ice. But the temperature needs to be above 20 for it to work effectively, Bono said.
Fewer snow plows have gotten stuck in this storm than during last month's because there were several breaks during the snowfall, Bono said. City crews are not sure when they will finish plowing residential streets, she said.
The city has asked residents on narrow streets to park their cars on the side with even numbers; that way, plows can get through more easily than if cars are parked on both sides.
But Tom Bradley, who lives on Westover Avenue in Raleigh Court, was angry because he had heeded the city's request and a plow pushed snow against his car.
"I did what the city said, and now I've got to pay someone to dig out my car," Bradley said. "They came through here with a tandem truck and pushed snow against it."
Clark Crawley, a house builder who lives on Grandin Road, was being a good neighbor by clearing some driveways. But he said some people were reluctant to accept the offer, apparently afraid he might charge them.
"When you tell people there won't be any cost, it scares some people. They don't believe it," he said. "One woman ran because she must have thought I was going to do something to her."
Not everyone, of course, was shoveling Saturday.
The clerks at CMT Sporting Goods on Brandon Avenue were busy answering the phone from people wanting to rent cross-country skis. But it was too late - they were all gone, but some downhill skis were still available.
And the snow is not good for some sports businesses. Take Diving Enterprises, a diving equipment shop located in the CMT building. It had few customers Saturday.
"When it's just cold, people want to come and think about going to warm places," said Kyle Creamer, owner of the business. "But when it is snow like this, business can be slow."
LENGTH: Long : 120 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: DON PETERSEN/Staff. 1. Diane Ferguson really digs herby CNBjob at Rick Woodson Honda on Peters Creek Road in Roanoke. Ferguson
and the other salespeople at the dealership cleared snow off 150
cars Saturday morning. color. 2. Snow-covered coal hoppers create a
study in black and white Saturday below the Franklin Road Bridge
near Old Southwest.