THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 13, 1996 TAG: 9601130294
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
Watch out. That wet road may actually be a sheet of ice. If you can see it through the fog, that is.
Except for a few hours of snow, sleet and freezing rain in the pre-dawn hours, Hampton Roads escaped the worst weather Friday as temperatures rose well above freezing. But the mercury was expected to nose-dive again overnight, threatening to turn wet roads and walkways to ice while stirring up a batch of heavy fog.
``Other than spotty light snow flurries or freezing drizzle, no significant precipitation is expected'' overnight, said Wayne Albright, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Wakefield. However, with temperatures generally below freezing through early this morning and little evaporation expected, ``free-standing water on roads, bridges and walkways will become icy.''
The condition is referred to as ``black ice'' because the ice is clear and the road surface shows through. More often, icy road conditions in winter are the result of vehicles compacting snow as they drive over it, eventually pressing snow into an icy, white glaze.
``Patchy, dense fog will be another weather hazard, restricting visibilities in some areas to less than a half-mile,'' Albright said.
Despite the potential travel problems, daytime weather conditions should be milder than folks have experienced in the past week.
Today should be mostly sunny with a high around 40.
Tonight is expected to be clear and cold with areas of fog and a low in the lower to mid 20s.
Sunday is likely to bring morning fog with a change to sunny skies later in the day. The high should be in the mid 40s.
Elsewhere in the state, warmth would be welcome. A lot of it.
The second snowstorm in a week dumped 3 inches to 8 inches of snow from southwest to northern Virginia, adding to two feet or more that fell last weekend.
Schools and government offices were closed yet again while travelers found that getting around - especially by air - was difficult at best. Highway department crews are slated to work through the weekend clearing snow and ice from roads across the state.
A Valujet DC9 carrying 30 people from Boston skidded off a runway at Dulles International Airport after landing on Friday. No one was hurt, but the airport was forced to close for three hours just as airlines were struggling to bring a semblance of normalcy to their schedules.
In Colonial Heights south of Richmond, the roof of Marshalls clothing store in Southpark Shopping Center collapsed at about 11 a.m., causing heavy damage but no injuries. by CNB