People are coming in with war stories about their trips out in the storm. Let us know the conditions out there.
Let it snow, let is snow, let it snow!
58 Thoughts to “The January Snowstorm 1/30/10”
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The January Snowstorm 1/30/10
The snow may be heaven sent, but the cost to remove it from
roads comes from the taxpayer’s pocket. This has already been
an above average snow season and it is just the start of February.
Local and state pavements may not be all clean, but their
bugets are cleared out by heavy snows.
Poor Richard, I thought of that this morning, too. But it’s so pretty!
Live snowcam in Historic Manassas http://www.visitmanassas.org/camera/
My evening plans were cancelled. So it’s a warm fire in the family room and homemade pizza–life is good!
Homemade pizza sounds great, Emma. I made homemade potatoe soup for the first time. Perfect day/night for it. Safe and sound inside. I don’t plan to leave my house until Monday.
I did see one local school principal at Giant early this morning. They were crying that this snow didn’t happen on Monday. I’ve not heard students whine like this principal was.
Manassas City kids are off on Monday anyway.
This not a snow STORM.
It hasn’t been storming at all. The snow is light and beautiful; easy as powder to shovel. Couldn’t wait to get out and get my driveway cleared ; might have the joy tomorrow morning also. ENJOY! – Monday will be another story, though!
County kids are off Monday too. I guess it’s yet another Teacher Work Day. In my day there were only one or two Teacher Work Days a year. I think they have about 5 now.
Back when I went to school up in NJ, teacher work days were always half days. We never were lucky enough to get full days off for teacher work days. We did have maybe 4 or 5 of those 1/2 days (school went until 1 PM on those days) scattered throughout the year. They weren’t really half days actually, more like 3/4 days! Of course, a snowstorm like this, there would be school for sure on Monday. Even tomorrow morning there would have been school – or maybe if anything a 2 hour delay. But that probably is still true of schools further north. When I first moved down here I was surprised that if it snowed like this today, by tomorrow morning the schools would most likely be open or at worst case start 2 hours late. Of course, they were somewhat better equipped up there to plow the roads and get things cleared up, as they get a bit more snow at times then here, but not actually a lot more.
As always, the old town Manassas area looks pretty in the snow.
The roads aren’t good and there is lots of black ice. Westgate got plowed but plows aren’t keeping up with the cold. Not their fault.
They came through and plowed my street while I was out shoveling around 5 PM. Our streets are still plowed by the HOA – they have not yet been accepted into the county’s road system.
As typical, they tried not to do a good job but my neighbor went out to the tow truck as he was trying to leave and got him to do a better job. He left a big island of snow right in the middle of our street in front of our houses, for some reason. It’s not a wide street, and I don’t know why he did that but my neighbor chased after him and got him to come back and fix it.
Last time there were lots of complaints at the HOA meeting about the very poor job they did – as they only plowed one lane up the center of the street – and did not go near the curb to clear out a way for the mailman to get to the mailboxes. Of course, there was a lot of snow, etc. This time though he still did not get close to the curb, so had to dig out an area for the mailman once again.
The only good thing, with the HOA being responsible for it, the plowing is done in a timely manner. I’m sure our streets would not get done as fast if left up to VDOT once they get accepted into the road system. VDOT always does neighborhoods like this one, where the streets aren’t through streets – last.
I don’t miss the old neighborhood though – in a snowstorm like the last one there’s no place to put the snow really. Also, you could get your numbered reserved space cleared out, and leave and someone would be sure to park their car in it. Not only that, one time the plow came along, and as my space was cleaned out – decided to push a lot of snow through it and up until the sidewalk and my front yard. I came back home from work to be greeted by a huge mountain of snow, so bad that I had to borrow a neighbor’s shovel because there was no way to get to my front door easily. This was during back to back snowstorms in February 1995 I think. I was very angry to come home and find my yard piled up with snow as well as my sidewalk. The HOA told me: “it was hard to find places to put the snow, we did the best we could”. So the solution was to pile up snow on someone’s front yard AND their cleanly shoveled sidewalk – both in front of their house and the sidewalk and steps leading up to their front door? Brilliant!
I love the Internet. Our ministers used Facebook to get the word out that the four services are on time this morning, but Evensong is cancelled tonight and rescheduled for Feb. 14. Then they used e-mail to roundup shovelers to meet and get the parking lot/sidewalks cleared before the 7:30 am service. Yeah, Trinity Episcopal!
I must give a shout out to PW County. I was on the road yesterday form 9:45am until 3pm.
Prince William County roads were in much better shape than any secondary roads in Fx Co, the Fairfax County Parkway or 66 even. 66 was horrible, 3-4 inches of slushy snow. I got on to the PW Pky and what a relief, same for the secondary roads in Bristow and Nokesville. Thank you PW Co.
PS. Congrats to the new Miss America…Miss Virginia!
Great article in the Washington Post this morning, celebrating the life of Marvin Gillum.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/29/AR2010012904845.html
Glad to hear PWC did a good job on the roads. I haven’t been out yet. Last time Glenkirk Rd. and Rollins Ford Rd. near my neighborhood were not well done at all – even as late as the Monday after the storm.
Someone in our neighborhood at the last HOA meeting, said Rollins Ford on Monday at noon was so bad, that at the stop sign, someone else plowed right into them because it was still full of snow and basically unplowed. Of course, last time it took VDOT (or whoever plows roads in the county road system) many days to get to all the roads. However, Glenkirk Rd. is a major road – and I was shocked how bad it was when I went to work Monday morning and came home Monday evening. In fact, it didn’t really get to be “good” until Wednesday evening. Until then, it was very dangerous. I do not travel Rollins Ford Rd. during the week so can only say how it was hearing from neighbors, but it was very very bad last time.
I’m sure this time since there was less snow, things will be better on both Glenkirk and Rollins Ford.
Did not know the new Miss America was Miss Virginia – I didn’t even know it was on last night. It sure has changed from the days it was a big thing in Atlantic City in September.
He was indeed a very well known person in City of Manasas, and seemed like overall a very good person. It’s nice to see a good article on him in the Wash. Post.
Besides the snow, this has been some of the coldest weather of the year.
I worry about the homeless who live in makeshift shelters in spots all
across PWC. Remember a hunting trip years ago when we camped out
deep in the woods and it started snowing and the temperature fell below
10 degrees — never have tried that again. (At least the wind hasn’t been
too bad and this wasn’t a “heavy wet” snow, but still – Brrrr!)
I saw that also. HOw come Miss America is Miss Virginia and no one knew about it?
The snow plows always miss my cul-de-sac–took three days for them to remember us last big snowstorm. Oh, well, another good excuse to stay in and bake.
M-H, The Miss America contest has been in decline since they kicked
Bert Parks out the door!
I watched last night. She was a great representitvie for our state. She knocked her question on childhood obesity out of the park. Quick, concise, and right on the mark!A great choice not only for our state but for our nation.@Moon-howler
@Poor Richard
I hope you are including the City of Manassas and the City of Manassas Park in ALL spots across PWC with regards to makeshift shelters. Across PWC most certainly includes the two little cities situated smack dab in the middle of the county.
Lafayette,
Fairly sure this is an area wide issue – even in our
Shining City on the Hill.
Poor Richard, I think you just got served by Lafayette 😉
But I do like the “Shining City on the Hill” reference. I’ll have to remember that.
I can’t imagine how those people survive.
From PR’s description of his hunting trip one time – when I was young we went on a boy scout camping trip in January. I don’t know if anyone bothered to check the weather forecast – this was up in NJ – the temperature dropped down to 10 degrees that night. We all crammed into the scoutmasters tent and huddled together to keep warm – and no one got any sleep at all that night. What an awful experience that was. That was the last time I went on a winter scout camping trip! I learned my lesson.
How the homeless survive out there is beyond me.
Emma,
Picked it up from John Winthrop via Ronald Reagan.
I have to agree with you on that one, i remember them getting rid of Bert Parks. Also moving it out of Atlantic City and changing the time of the year, not sure if that was the right move either. I didn’t even realize it was on last night.
It is good it wasn’t one of those wet snows. I hate having to shovel a wet snow. That’s the ONLY good thing about this terribly cold weather – at least when it snows it is a dry one and easy to shovel. It made the last one a lot easier too as it didn’t seem too wet of a snow.
I didn’t realize that wasn’t a Ronald Reagan original – as I do remember him saying it. But of course. Reagan was a great communicator and probably reused lots of things other people said.
So I am to assume that the Miss America Contest is no longer in Atlantic City in September?
Tell me I am not 4 months behind with the news.
My favorite quote from “Miss Congeniality” (besides “It’s a scholarship pageant!”:
Victor Melling: Why is New Jersey called “The Garden State”?
Gracie Hart: Because “Oil and Petrochemical Refinery State” wouldn’t fit on a license plate?
Stan Fields: Miss Rhode Island, please describe your idea of a perfect date.
Cheryl “Rhode Island”: Well, my idea of a perfect date would be April 23rd. Because it’s not too warm or too cold, and all you need is a light jacket.
That’s one of our favorite comedies. I like how it poked gentle fun at the beauty pageant industry — “It’s not a beauty pageant; it’s a SCHOLARSHIP program!”– but still showed it respect and made the contestants look so pretty. One of my favorite scenes is Gracie sashaying down the stairs in her gown, handing Victor all her weapons on the way down.@cindy b
@Gainesville Resident I thought at the time that Reagan was making some kind of Biblical reference.
Perhaps President Obama should speak to the GOP using Cotton Mather’s
“Sinners in the Hands of a Angry God” sermon as his basis.
@Poor Richard
I didn’t think your were excluding any locality. 🙂
I hate the cold. I can’t begin to fathom what a night outstide in these temps. would be like.
There was a coalition of churches in eastern Prince William that opened their doors as temporary shelters, on a rotating basis, in the cold weather months. I don’t know if that system still operates. I heard that ACTS is also working on a required 10-year report on homelessness that will come out in 2010, after community input.
Poor Richard noted on the earlier “Kaine and McDonnell Axe NoVA Schools” thread that there is a joint “local opinion” piece in the Washington Post today on the LCI issue that is signed by Sharon Bulova, Corey Stewart and Scott York (page C5):
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/local-opinions/2010/01/insult_from_richmond.html
The shining city reference is biblical. Matthew 5:14
I didn’t realize until recently that it WAS a biblical reference. I just stumbled on it over somthing totally unrelated.
I went out this afternoon to do some food shopping. Glenkirk Rd. is the usual slushy mess. It does not appear to be treated, and will be very dangerous tonight and tomorrow morning. I’m not looking forward to driving on it tomorrow morning on the way to work. My other alternative would be Rollins Ford Rd., but I know from last time people said that it was even worse than Rollins Ford Rd.
I was very very disappointed in Glenkirk Rd.’s condition at 2:30 PM this afternoon and at 4 PM this afternoon (when I left my house and returned). Not good at all, the county should be ashamed of the condition of the road – although I guess it’s VDOT’s responsiblity. Don’t worry, I plan on writing the county BOCS about it – as this time the snow wasn’t that bad and there was NO excuse for Glenkirk Rd. to be in this condition. Also, it is a no-brainer that it will be a sheet of ice later tonight and tomorrow morning, unless it gets treated. I did not see any real evidence it was treated – it just had warmed up enough that things were getting slushy there. By now I bet it is in the process of freezing over. This is what happened last time – and it remained dangerous until at least the Wednesday night after the big snowstorm. Linton Hall Road and Rt. 29 west of Linton Hall Rd. – to the Wegmans, were fine, however and down to bare pavement.
Meant to say in the last sentence of the first paragraph: I know from last time people said Rollins Ford Rd. was even worse than Glenkirk Rd.
In fact, someone at the HOA said Monday afternoon last time, Rollins Ford Rd. was so bad, that when they stopped at the stop sign on it, someone rear ended them! Also, for me to go t work, it is very hard to make a left turn from Rollins Ford Rd. onto Linton Hall Road – there is no traffic light there and won’t be probably for a long time, since the other side of Rollins Ford is not done – it is to eventually be a 4 lane road. Glenkirk has a traffic light so it makes turning left onto Linton Hall Road very easy.
No, they stopped that tradition several years ago. It used to be right around Labor Day weekend. Growing up in NJ, it was a big end of the summer event, as I remember. Now I guess it is in Las Vegas in January – or I think it is held in Las Vegas. As I said, I didn’t even know it was happening last night, and only found out the news here on the blog this morning that Miss Virginia won.
That was indeed a great movie and funny the way it made fun of the beauty pageants.
Update on the roads this morning: Glenkirk Rd. somewhat better than I thought it would be, but did have some bad icy parts where slushy stuff from yesterday refroze.
However, University Blvd., between Wellington Road and Rt. 29 VERY BAD. Last time it was fine, so I didn’t expect trouble there. Big stretches still snow/ice covered. What a mess. If I had known that I wouldn’t have gone that way – but that’s how I usually go to get up to Rt. 29 and take it through the Battlefield into Centreville on my way to work in Reston.
The rest of my trip was uneventful and the roads were fine. Linton Hall Road (for the short stretch I traveled it), Rt. 29, etc. as well as roads in Fairfax County like the Fairfax County Parkway and Sunrise Valley Dr. were all fine.
It’s only ONE degree in Manassas this morning. Brrr!!
C’mon on spring/summer!!
I could NOT believe the temperature differences this morning. In Gainesville it was 12 degrees – but by the intersection of Rt. 29/Sudley Rd. it was 6 degrees! This by my car’s thermometer, which is admittedly maybe not the most accurate, i’ve found it sometimes to be +/- 2 degrees of the “real” temperature. However, there definitely was a 6 degree difference between Gainesville and the intersection of Rt. 29/Sudley Rd, that I’m sure of. And, I don’t doubt it got colder as you proceeded south on Rt. 234. Crazy weather. Up in Reston it was back up to 10 degrees at 6:25 AM when I pulled into the parking lot at work.
I hate the winter, cold weather, shorter days (but they are getting longer now, which I like seeing the sun set later each day), and snow and cold rain. The spring can’t come fast enough for me. Often I wish I lived in a place where there wasn’t any winter, to speak of.
It was still in my opinion bitter cold outside at 10 AM this morning. I didn’t know coming into work today, that the Humvee that had been down at Ft. Hood, TX was arriving back here today. Stood outside from 10 AM – 11:15 AM getting it off the flatbed and so on, had traffic backed up on Sunrise Valley Road for 5 minutes at one point. Anyway, too cold outside this morning for my liking, but I wasn’t really prepared and would have brought things like gloves and a hat or something, if i had known I was going to be outside that long today. BRRRR! I’m still thawing out here in my office! Figures, they pick one of the coldest days so far to deliver it. I didn’t know it had left Texas yet, let alone was going to arrive today. The guard desk calls and says “are you expecting a Humvee to be delivered to you today?”. Not a fun morning so far at work today.